20 practical guides
Shipping document and freight guides
Freight documentation is learned on the job, usually from whoever sat next to you, and usually in fragments. These guides set out how each document works, what each field means, which calculations underpin the charges, and where the genuine legal boundaries sit — written for people who have to get a shipment out this afternoon rather than for an exam.
Ocean freight
Transport documents, equipment, release methods and the time-based charges that follow a container to destination.
12 min read
How to Read a Bill of Lading: Fields, Terms & Checklist
Learn how to read B/L parties, routing, containers, cargo, freight terms, dates, originals and release instructions.
Read guide11 min read
Telex Release vs Original Bill of Lading: How Cargo Gets Released
How original, telex, express and sea waybill releases differ, when each is appropriate, what happens if an original is lost, and how to choose before the document is issued.
Read guide13 min read
Shipping Container Types and Sizes: Dimensions, Capacity and Payload
Internal dimensions, capacity and payload for 20ft, 40ft, high cube and 45ft containers, plus reefer, open top, flat rack and tank equipment — and how to choose by cargo density.
Read guide10 min read
ISO 6346 Container Check Digit: Formula & Example
Understand the ISO 6346 container-number format, letter values, modulo-11 check digit calculation and validation limits.
Read guide12 min read
LCL vs FCL: Cost, Transit, Risk and Where the Crossover Sits
How LCL and FCL are priced, what LCL local charges actually cost, where the volume crossover falls, and the handling and transit differences that matter as much as price.
Read guide10 min read
Verified Gross Mass (VGM): Rules, Methods and Common Errors
What VGM is, who is legally responsible, the two permitted weighing methods, cut-offs, and the tare and packaging errors that cause most VGM discrepancies.
Read guide18 min read
Demurrage and Detention: Calculation, Free Time, Examples & Invoice Audit
Calculate demurrage and detention with free-time dates, tiered rates and worked examples. Audit invoices and understand the software features that prevent charges.
Read guide15 min read
Shipping Instructions Format for Word: Complete Field Guide & Free Template
Download and complete a shipping-instructions Word format with shipper, consignee, routing, container, cargo, freight and bill-of-lading instructions.
Read guideAir freight
How air documents differ from ocean, how chargeable weight is rated, and what dangerous goods paperwork actually requires.
11 min read
Air Waybill vs Bill of Lading: Title, Liability and Release
Why an air waybill is never a document of title, how liability regimes differ between air and sea, and what that means for payment security, release and claims.
Read guide14 min read
Chargeable Weight Calculator Guide: Air Freight, Volumetric Weight & Examples
Learn how to calculate air-freight and courier chargeable weight in kg or lb, choose the correct divisor, handle multiple packages, rounding and invoice checks.
Read guide14 min read
Dangerous Goods by Air: Classes, Documents and Acceptance
The nine hazard classes, what a shipper's declaration must contain, lithium battery provisions, why consignments are refused at acceptance, and where trained personnel are legally required.
Read guideTrade and customs
The rules that decide duty: trade terms, classification, origin, and the document set every export needs.
16 min read
Incoterms 2020 Explained: All 11 Rules, Risk and Cost Transfer
Every Incoterms 2020 rule explained — where risk transfers, who pays for what, which rules suit containers, and the mistakes that cost money on real shipments.
Read guide15 min read
HS Code Classification: Structure, GRI Rules and How to Classify
How Harmonized System codes are structured, how the General Rules of Interpretation work in order, how many digits each country needs, and what misclassification actually costs.
Read guide14 min read
Rules of Origin: Preferential Claims, Criteria and Verification
How origin is determined, the difference between preferential and non-preferential origin, tariff shift and value-content rules, self-certification, and what happens in a verification.
Read guide13 min read
Export Documents Checklist: What Every Shipment Needs
The core export document set, the conditional documents driven by commodity and destination, who issues each one, and the sequencing errors that hold shipments at the border.
Read guide10 min read
Commercial Invoice vs Packing List: Differences & Checklist
Compare the purpose, fields and customs role of a commercial invoice and export packing list, plus the data that should match.
Read guideCosts, controls and calculations
Checking what you are billed, controlling what you pay, and the arithmetic underneath both.
10 min read
How to Calculate CBM for Shipping: Formula & Examples
Calculate shipping CBM from centimetres, metres or inches for one or multiple carton sizes and avoid common conversion errors.
Read guide12 min read
Freight Invoice Audit: Finding Charges That Should Not Be There
How to audit ocean and air freight invoices line by line, the charge patterns that recur, how to evidence a dispute, and why the total is the least useful number on the bill.
Read guide12 min read
Three-Way Matching: PO, Invoice and Goods Receipt Controls
How three-way matching works, what each document proves, sensible tolerances, why international shipments need a fourth check, and how to resolve each type of variance.
Read guide13 min read
Letter of Credit Documents: Discrepancies and How to Avoid Them
What banks actually check under UCP 600, the discrepancies that recur on first presentation, and a practical checklist for preparing a compliant document set.
Read guideAbout these guides
Who are these guides written for?
People who handle freight documents as part of their job — export coordinators, forwarder operations, customs brokers, accounts payable teams checking freight invoices, and shippers who move goods internationally without a dedicated logistics function. They assume you know your own business and explain the freight side.
Are the guides specific to one country?
Mostly not. The underlying standards — Incoterms, the Harmonized System, ISO 6346, SOLAS, the air and sea dangerous goods regulations — are international. Where something is genuinely jurisdiction-specific, such as United States tariff columns or demurrage billing rules, that is stated rather than presented as universal.
How current is the information?
Each guide carries an updated date, and the ones covering standards that change — tariff schedules, dangerous goods regulations, trade agreements — say explicitly that the current edition governs. Treat the guides as orientation and the governing document for your shipment as authority.
Do the guides replace professional advice?
No. Classification, origin determination, dangerous goods acceptance and customs valuation all carry legal consequences and, in several cases, require trained or licensed people. The guides explain how these things work so you can have a better conversation with the person who is qualified to decide.
Which guide should I start with?
If you are new to international shipping, start with the export documents checklist and Incoterms. If you handle ocean imports, start with reading a Bill of Lading and the demurrage guide. If you handle air, start with the air waybill comparison and chargeable weight. If you approve invoices, start with three-way matching and freight invoice audit.
Do the guides connect to the free tools?
Yes. Where a guide explains a calculation — CBM, chargeable weight, container check digits, demurrage, LCL freight — there is a free tool that performs it, with no account required. The guide explains the method; the tool does the arithmetic and exports an audit.