How to check a draft bill of lading against your SI.
4 min read · Updated 4 November 2026
After the SI is submitted, the carrier sends back a draft bill of lading. This is the last free chance to fix errors: once the B/L is issued, most corrections become amendments with a fee.
Compare these fields one by one
- Shipper, consignee and notify party: spelling, address, tax IDs
- Vessel, voyage, port of loading and port of discharge
- Every container number, seal number and container type
- Number and type of packages per container
- Gross weight and measurement per container, and the totals
- Cargo description and HS code
- Freight terms and the type of B/L requested
Where draft B/L errors usually hide
Long cargo descriptions cut off at the carrier's line limit, containers listed in a different order with weights swapped, and notify party details merged into the consignee. Read the totals last: if the per-container figures are right, the totals usually are too.
Make it a habit
Check the draft against the approved SI, not against memory or the shipper's original email. If the SI itself was checked against the booking and VGM first, the draft check becomes a quick comparison instead of a fresh investigation.
Free tools for this
Questions
- Is checking the draft B/L really necessary if the SI was right?
- Yes. Carriers re-key or reformat data too, and line limits can cut descriptions. The draft is where carrier-side errors show up.
- What if the draft B/L has an error?
- Reply to the carrier with the correction before confirming the draft. Before issue it is usually free.
Let LOGIDOC do the checking
LOGIDOC reads every SI, VGM and booking confirmation from your inbox, flags the errors before the cut-off, and lays the approved data out for the carrier's website. Book a 30-day pilot or try the demo.
Stop re-typing. Start checking.
Run LOGIDOC next to your current process for 30 days and see the errors it catches.