Transportation Documents

Speaking task

Exercise XIV. Work in groups: Study some English proverbs, explain and try to complete a dialogs with them:

1. That ship has sailed.

2. Tastes differ.

3. Actions speak louder than words.

4. No pains, no gains.

5. To cry with one eye and laugh with the other.

Supplementary Information

Transportation documents are usually attached to commercial invoices as a proof of shipment which also enables the buyers to receive the goods. Transportation documents include bills of lading, air waybills, road carriage bills and others depending on the mode of transportation used.

Since sea and river shipments are considered most economical, they are most often used and bills of lading are thus most popular transportation documents.

Bills of lading usually contain the following details:

- name of consignor

- name of consignee

- name of vessel

- shipping date

- weight

- measurement

- marking

- number of cases

- contents of the cases

Sometimes, when the packing is bad or the cases are damaged, the master of the ship makes a certain note of it on the bill. It makes the bill dirty then. If no notes are made on the bill it is clean. Usually the contracts say that only clean bills of lading can be attached to the commercial invoices and thus considered a proof of shipment.

Here is a part of a specimen bill of lading:

Bill of Lading No 156 Shipper: Rechflot of Ukrainian Consignee: Petro Co., Liverpool, England Ocean vessel: Alexander Pushkin Port of loading: Odessa Port of discharge: Liverpool Freight payable at: Odessa Description of goods: Chemicals ST Gross weight: 5 100 kgs Net weight 5 000 kgs Number of bags: 100 bags Shipped on board in apparent good order and condition. Place and date of issue: Odessa 19 November, 2010 For the Master: Rechflot of Ukraine

Writing task

Exercise XV. Sum up what the text said about transport documents.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-25