OOCL develops Internet B/L

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 11/1/1998

For centuries, ocean carriers have acknowledged the receipt and carriage of goods by issuing three identical, hand-signed paper copies of bills of lading (B/Ls) to the shipper. In today's electronic age, when companies can transmit information instantly around the globe, shippers and carriers question whether that practice still makes sense.

At least one carrier has said no--and it has done something about it. Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has introduced Internet bill-of-lading services, first in the United States and now in its Singapore regional headquarters.

The on-line format, available on the carrier's Web site, allows shippers to create B/Ls at their desks and transmit them electronically to the carrier, thus avoiding the need to hand-carry documents to OOCL's offices. Using a template feature, shippers can easily re-create regularly used information, such as shipper and consignee names, and product descriptions. OOCL's Web site also allows shippers to transmit copies of the B/Ls to their overseas customers.

Ocean carriers have offered booking, tracking, and tracing over the Internet for some time. But because signed original B/Ls convey title to goods and are used in negotiating international payment instruments, legal issues have slowed the acceptance of online documents. That's why OOCL requires shippers to comply with specific security-control procedures before it will accept an electronic B/L.

Format standards for the container shipping industry also are under development; in the U.S., that effort is spearheaded by the Information Systems Association, a group of ocean carriers working to harmonize their information-management systems.