All right, guys. In this particular module, we will talk about POLs and BODs. What's the difference? What's the similarities? And why are they of the utmost importance? That's one of the most important sets of paperwork that the driver will be responsible for. So let's talk about BOLs and BODs. right so let's just talk about driver paperwork briefly before we dive into bols and pods so when transporting freight guys drivers typically receive paperwork at the pickup and at the delivery okay very important to know there is there is a lot of um a transference of paperwork going on during these pickup and deliveries and your driver, you need to be aware of what all this paperwork is in case you need to submit certain documents on behalf of your driver, okay? Just depending on what type of dispatcher you are in the event you ever start your own dispatch company and you want to offer certain services such as handling back-end paperwork and things like that, you need to know about this stuff, okay? So this paperwork is called BOL, which stands for Bill of Lading, and POD, which stands for Proof of Delivery. Okay, so let's go ahead and talk about these. All right, so first thing we're going to talk about is the BOL, which stands for Bill of Lading. A bill of lading is a legally binding document between the shipper of the goods and the carrier detailing the type, quantity, and destination of the goods being carried. The BOL also serves as a receipt of the shipment once they are received at the agreed upon destination, okay? this document must accompany each freight shipment and must be signed by an authorized representative from the carrier shipper and co-signing okay so uh basically what that means is this bill of lading serves as a receipt let's look at it here so it has a ship from section this is going to tell us where it's picking up from okay this tells us where it's going And if they want to include any third party freight charges, that information will go there. This customer order information section just talks about what type of merchandise is being transported. So it'll describe, put the description in here. It'll talk about how many packages, what the weight is, if there's pallet slips for it, all this type of stuff. carrier information. So this is all information that is filled out by the shipper. Okay. Generally you will receive, or your driver will receive bill of ladings at the shipper. Okay. At the pickup. Okay. And it defines what is being picked up, where it's being picked up from and where it's going. Okay. And so, so it's just important for you to understand this. Don't, freak out and say, oh my God, I don't know how to fill this out. This is not anything you fill out. It is done generally by the shipper. Now, in the event that a shipper does not have a BOL or does not provide a BOL, your driver will want to provide a BOL, have some BOL forms that can be filled out and signed by someone at the shipper that shows what he is picking up. It's kind of like proof of receipt it's saying okay this is what was put on my truck just in case there's any confusion or misinformation between the time it's picked up and delivered we have it on paper okay we need it documented and we need it signed that says okay this is what I'm picking up this is what's on my trailer okay we need details so that's what this document serves as okay and as it says here it needs to be um um an authorized signature from all parties involved. So that would be the driver, the shipper, and the co-signee, aka the receiver, okay? Everybody's signature needs to be on here so that everybody is aware of what's on here and in agreement of what's on here, okay? So that is what a bill of lading is. Now let's go on and talk about Oh, I'm sorry. I missed a little part. So in a nutshell, let's talk about what the primary functions of the BOL are. Okay. The BOL serves three primary functions. As I mentioned, it serves as a receipt for freight services showing what we have picked up. Okay. It's also considered as a contract between the shipper and the carrier, okay? And then it serves as a document of title, which also could be defined as ownership, okay? It's showing that, okay, this is the shipper's materials. It's going on my truck and it's being delivered to X customer, which is AKA the receiver, okay? So that is somewhat of a contract, okay? And also could be considered a document of title, okay? So that is the primary functions of a BOL, guys, okay? Next, let's go over PODs, proof of deliveries. A proof of delivery... is a document that is signed by the co-signing, which is the receiver of a shipment that confirms that a shipment has arrived with all of the items accounted for and with no visible damage. That's a very important part, okay? We want to make sure that they received it with no scratches, no bruises, okay? Everything is in good condition. The co-signee, which is the receiver, signs and dates the proof of delivery after examining the shipment. The shipper also receives a copy of the POD for their records. Okay, so once your driver has delivered the merchandise, once the co-signee, which is the receiver, has looked over everything and it all looks good to go, they are going to provide you, or they should provide you, with a POD, okay? This is an example of what a POD would look like. It'll have their, you can put their company info here, their information, and, um, I'm sorry, this would be our information. This would be the carrier information here, okay? Delivered to them, whatever their information is. And, you know, it might say, this is what they received. So-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, blah, blah, blah. Received by, you know, whoever received it would put their information there. And that's pretty much it. This is just a document that says, hey, we got the freight. It's in excellent condition. No issues. And we're all squared away. They would also be the ones to send a copy of the POD to the shipper. So that's not something that you or your driver would need to worry about. That would be between them, between the shipper and the receiver. Our only job is to deliver the freight. After that, we're out of it, okay? If they want copies, that would be for them to get to each other, okay? So let us talk about... the three primary functions of the POD. So, The first primary function is it serves as a cargo receipt showing that the shipment has arrived as well as accounting for the number and the condition of the goods, okay? Second, it is a title of cargo identifying the intended owner of the shipment, okay? Meaning that it identifies who was supposed to receive the shipment, okay? Which would be the co-signee. And then last but not least, once again, it serves as a legal contract between the carrier and the co-signee, a.k.a. the receiver, showing a transfer of responsibility, which simply means, hey, this clears me from any and all responsibility of this freight. It has now been put in your hands and that releases me from any form of responsibility whatsoever. It is yours. And here you go. So that's basically what it means. So, but that pretty much is going to conclude this chapter, guys. You know, like I say, you know, during load transport, a variety of paperwork is handed and given and transferred and all that. And it's important for you to understand what this paperwork is in the event that, you know, depending on if you ever decide to start your own dispatch company and you offer something to handle back-end paperwork services, you need to know what this paperwork is about. In the event that you need to submit PODs and rate confirmations to factoring companies in order to be paid, you need to be able to identify them, know what they look like so that you're submitting the right things, okay? So it's very important for you to know what this paperwork is that is being handled during the time of loads being transported. Okay, so again, that is going to conclude this chapter. As always, I thank you for your time and we will see you in the next video. okay I hope that adequately explained what a bol is its purpose and the significance of checking it once you arrive to the shipper and receive your bols now every blue moon you will receive your bol via fax or email from the broker or the shipper but most of the time you will receive your bol at the shipper once you have been loaded so it is very very important that you check the commodity or the cargo make sure it's accurate make sure your weight is accurate or as close to the dispatch as it could possibly be your origin uh your uh point of origin needs to be correct and your destination needs to be correct and particularly your point of origin definitely needs to be correct what if as a driver you're stopped by the dot and you tell the dot that you just picked up a load in memphis tennessee but somehow your bill of lading says the original place of pickup was Dallas, Texas. And sometimes I have seen that happen, especially with a company that have multiple facilities. I have seen the original pickup location be incorrect so you want to make sure that information is correct because if you have to try to explain that to a dot officer he's going to wonder how the heck you got all the way from dallas texas to memphis tennessee and your logs do not reflect that your electronic logs do not reflect that so those are small situations but they can turn into uh having to take a lot to try to explain the situation. And then you're trying to prove this. You're trying to prove that. And you don't want to be in that situation. So always take the time. I always encourage drivers to take the time to read the BOLs and the PODs. You'll get a BOL more often than you will a POD, POD proof of delivery. Some companies require that. Some brokers, some shippers, some do not. But you will always receive a BOL. So hopefully that gave you some insight into how the BOL, its purpose and the information that's supposed to be on the BOL. That will end this particular module. So we'll move on to the next one.