People treat a freight bill of lading like a shipping label with more boxes. The carrier’s own rules tariff treats it as the point where liability, payment terms and classification are fixed, and it is specific about which parts of your version of the document count. This page collects those rules with the item numbers, so you can check every line against the carrier’s publication. SMKlog is independent of FedEx, issues no bills of lading, and none of this is legal advice.
A signature at the dock acknowledges receipt, not your printed terms.
All four come from item 360 of the FedEx Freight 100-Y rules tariff published at fedexfreight.com, effective 2026-01-05 and read 2026-07-28.
The tariff states that terms and conditions on a pre-printed bill of lading handed to the carrier at pickup, and signed by a driver or dock worker, do not apply unless an officer of the carrier has agreed in writing. If your document says the carrier owes full replacement value, that clause is not in force merely because somebody signed the sheet.
Item 360 says the driver’s signature on the bill of lading acknowledges receipt of freight only. The contract that governs the movement is the tariff plus the classification’s own bill of lading contract, whatever your form says above the signature line.
If the consignor does not state prepaid or collect in writing, shipments other than those originating in Canada move prepaid and the charges fall on the consignor. Leaving the box empty is a decision, not a deferral.
Anything written in the remarks section is treated as information for the carrier, and the tariff disclaims any obligation or liability arising from it. Special handling has to be bought as a service, not requested in a comment box.
Corrections are a published product. Four carriers price them, and the rules around what may still be changed are as important as the amount.
| Carrier and item | What is being changed | Published charge |
|---|---|---|
| FedEx Freight, item 360 | Change of payor, or of payment status between collect and prepaid, requested in writing | $50.00 |
| Estes, item 360-03 | Corrected bill of lading | $20.00 |
| Old Dominion, item 365 | Corrected bill of lading | $40.00 |
| XPO, item 205 | Corrections to bills of lading, per correction | $47.35 |
The FedEx Freight item also sets out what can no longer be changed at all. A request to move charges from prepaid to collect is refused once section 7 of the corrected bill of lading has been signed by the consignor, once the shipment has been delivered, or if the shipment has been lost or damaged. A change to the declared or released value of a commodity is refused after delivery. Requests to change the description, the weight or the piece count have to arrive with supporting documentation such as an original invoice.
The route from a description you wrote to an invoice you did not expect runs through two items of the same tariff. Item 980 gives the carrier the right to check, and item 981 sets the tolerances and the fee.
| Situation | What follows |
|---|---|
| Description, weight or other bill of lading information incomplete or believed incorrect | Carrier may open packages to inspect contents, verify gross weight, verify density and collect other evidence |
| Reweigh comes in less than 50 lb over the bill of lading | No fee and no change to the transport charge |
| Reweigh comes in 50 lb or more over the bill of lading | $40.00 validation fee, plus recalculated freight, fuel and service charges |
| Reweigh comes in 200 lb or more under the bill of lading | $40.00 validation fee, plus recalculated freight, fuel and service charges |
| A bill is adjusted after an inspection | $40.00 validation fee, and only one validation fee is applied per shipment |
| Weight found to be understated | The increase is charged at the highest rated commodity in the shipment |
That last row is the expensive one. Understate the weight on a mixed pallet and the extra pounds are not priced at the average class of what you sent; they are priced at the dearest thing on the pallet. Weighing the wrapped pallet on a proper scale before it leaves is a five-minute job that removes the whole mechanism.
The description is what an inspector reads, and a vague one invites the density fallback in item 640, which starts at class 400 for freight under one pound per cubic foot. Name the article, and give the classification item number if you have it.
A wrapped pallet holding twenty boxes is one handling unit if it stays wrapped. Write what the driver will actually count, because that number is what both ends sign against and what a claim is settled on.
Item 360 notes that where a pricing programme carries a pallet weight waiver or allowance, the pallet weight has to appear on the original bill of lading as its own line. Leave it off and the carrier works from the weight on the document.
Exceptions written and initialled at pickup or delivery are the cheapest form of protection available on a freight shipment, and they cost nothing. Once a clean receipt is signed, the argument gets much harder.
SMKlog sells United States domestic parcel labels and routes pallets, crates and oversized loads to a review with a person. The carrier that moves the freight issues the bill of lading, and the tariff cited here belongs to that carrier. If you are unsure which side of the parcel line your shipment is on, the calculator will settle it.
Start a freight review The federal minimum contents How the same tariff prices the move
Item 360 of the FedEx Freight rules tariff says pre-printed terms on a shipper’s document, signed by a driver or dock worker at pickup, do not apply unless an officer of the carrier agrees in writing. The tariff and the classification’s own contract govern instead.
FedEx Freight charges $50.00 to change the payor or the prepaid and collect status, in writing. Estes publishes $20.00 for a corrected bill of lading, Old Dominion $40.00 and XPO $47.35 per correction.
Not once section 7 of the corrected bill of lading has been signed by the consignor, not after the shipment has been delivered, and not if it has been lost or damaged. Those three refusals are written into item 360.
Under item 981 there is no fee while a reweigh lands within 50 lb over the stated weight. At 50 lb or more over, or 200 lb or more under, a $40.00 validation fee applies plus recalculated charges, and any understated weight is charged at the highest rated commodity in the shipment.