Your shipping bill consists of vital information about your package, from details about the recipient to how much you can expect to pay for a shipment. To avoid any bad surprises or accidentally overpay for shipping, you want to make sure to read your invoices carefully.
In this post, we’ll take a look at three leading carriers (FedEx, UPS, and DHL) and the structure that each of their shipping bills follows.
Here is the format that each shipping bill from FedEx follows:
The first thing you’ll see on your shipping invoice is your contact and bank information. Here are the different things that it will consist of:
There are two types of invoice types when it comes to FedEx shipping bills. These include:
This part of the invoice covers all of your package’s shipping information, such as:
Next, your invoice will include all of the information about the shipper. These details include:
Here you’ll see a breakdown of charges incurred at Air Waybill level.
This part of the shipping invoice confirms that your recipient received the order. The bill will show you the signature, date, and time of your shipment to show proof.
As you reach the end of the shipping bill, you’ll see a summary of all charges, such as taxes, discounts, and more factors that could affect the price.
Finally, the invoice ends with the remittance address to the UPS office.
UPS is another popular option to get your shipping and packaging handled. Here’s how shipping bills from UPS are formatted:
On each UPS invoice, you get a summary of your account which includes your previous invoices with the provider.
The bill will have a section that outlines UPS’s payment terms and what they entail.
In this section of the bill, you’ll get an overview of any outbound shipments during the invoicing period and get a tracking number for your package. It will also include information on your shipping zone and product weight.
There may be other additional costs that impact the total cost of your bill. Some of these can include late payment charges, same day pickup, and other factors.
Your package’s dimensions can also add extra charges. UPS determines how much you can expect to pay by taking into account the length, width, and height of your package.
The invoice will cover which taxes you’ll have to pay for each item you ship.
If you’re paying by cheque, this section includes the amount due and return form to fill out.
DHL is one of the global leaders in the logistics industry. Here’s how to read the format of each of their shipping bills:
DHL has different forms to shipping bills, such as:
Your shipping bill starts by identifying which one corresponds to your package.
Next, your DHL bill will cover all of your customer’s billing information, which includes:
This part of the bill covers the shipment origin details of the package and the destination receiver. It includes the total number of pieces associated with each waybill and the total weight of the shipment.
It’s possible that you chose a particular form of service and have some extra charges that impact the price of your shipping bill. They will all get covered in this section.
By taking everything above into account, the invoice shows you how much you can expect to pay in total.
The invoice ends with all the bill and payment information (including the customer’s billing address), so you can proceed to pay the invoice in full.
Make sure you take the time to read your shipping bill carefully. While shipping invoices may defer from carrier to carrier, they all provide you with information on the recipient and take into account extra charges that could impact the cost.