The three transport documents a forwarder in Turkey handles every day: what each one proves, how master and house versions differ, and the details that cause most problems.
A forwarder in Turkey moves goods by road to Europe and the Middle East, by sea through ports such as Ambarlı and Mersin, and by air through Istanbul. Each mode has its own transport document: the CMR consignment note for road, the bill of lading (B/L) for sea and the air waybill (AWB) for air. They look similar on paper, but they do different legal jobs.
This guide covers what each document is, where master and house versions come in, and the practical details that most often cause delays.
CMR: the road consignment note
CMR refers to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road, signed in Geneva in 1956. It applies to international road carriage for reward when the places of loading and delivery are in two different countries and at least one of them is a party to the convention. Turkey is a party, as are most European countries and several countries in the Middle East and Central Asia.
The CMR consignment note is evidence of the contract of carriage and of the goods the carrier took over. It is normally made out in three originals: one for the sender, one that travels with the goods to the consignee, and one kept by the carrier. Its main fields cover the sender, consignee and carrier, places and dates of loading and delivery, description and packaging of the goods, gross weight, and any instructions or reservations.
Two points are worth remembering:
- A CMR note is not a document of title. Holding it does not give the right to the goods, unlike an original bill of lading.
- Reservations matter. If the driver notes damaged packaging or a count that does not match at loading, write it on the CMR. Without a reservation, the goods are generally presumed to have been taken over in apparent good condition.
The CMR note is a transport document; it does not replace customs documents. Road shipments that cross borders under customs control often also travel under a TIR carnet or another transit procedure, which is a separate matter.
B/L: the bill of lading
A bill of lading has three functions: it is a receipt for the goods loaded on the vessel, evidence of the contract of carriage, and, in its negotiable form, a document of title. Whoever holds a properly endorsed original B/L has the right to take delivery of the goods. Originals are usually issued as a set, commonly three.
Not every shipment needs original bills. Common alternatives are:
- Telex release (surrendered B/L): the originals are surrendered at origin and the carrier's office at destination is told to release the cargo without them.
- Sea waybill: a non-negotiable document. The named consignee can take delivery by proving identity, with no originals involved.
Master B/L and house B/L
When a forwarder consolidates cargo or acts as the contracting carrier, two layers of bills appear. The shipping line issues a master B/L to the forwarder or its agent. The forwarder issues a house B/L to its own customer for each shipment inside. In an LCL consolidation, one master B/L may cover many house bills.
The details on the house B/L must be consistent with the master, especially container and seal numbers, port of loading and discharge, and the vessel and voyage. When they do not match, the cargo can be held at destination while the documents are corrected.
Arrival notice and delivery order in Turkey
Before the vessel arrives, the shipping line or its agent sends an arrival notice listing the expected arrival and the charges to be paid. To collect the cargo in Turkey, the consignee or its forwarder pays the charges and presents the original B/L, or relies on the telex release. The line's agent then issues a delivery order (ordino), which allows the cargo to be released from the port or temporary storage area. In an LCL consolidation, the consolidator first collects the master delivery order and then issues a house delivery order to each consignee.
Containers also come with a free time period. After it, demurrage and detention charges apply, so the timing of the delivery order matters.
AWB: the air waybill
The air waybill is the transport document for air cargo. Unlike an original B/L, it is not negotiable and not a document of title: the cargo is delivered to the consignee named on it. Each AWB has an 11-digit number, the first three digits being the airline's prefix.
As with sea freight, consolidations create two layers. The airline issues the master air waybill (MAWB) to the forwarder, and the forwarder issues a house air waybill (HAWB) to each shipper in the consolidation.
Chargeable weight
Air freight is charged on the higher of the actual gross weight and the volumetric weight. Under the IATA standard, volumetric weight is calculated by dividing the volume in cubic centimetres by 6,000. A light but bulky shipment is therefore charged on its volume. Getting dimensions right at booking avoids invoice corrections later.
Details that cause most problems
- Party names that do not match. The shipper and consignee should be written the same way on the commercial invoice, packing list and transport document.
- Turkish characters on English documents. Letters such as İ, Ş and Ğ are not handled well by many foreign systems. Print English documents in plain capital letters, without Turkish characters, so names match the booking.
- Weights and package counts. Gross weight and number of packages should be identical across the CMR, B/L or AWB and the customs documents.
- Retyping. Every time the same data is typed again into a new document, the risk of a mismatch grows. Documents generated from one shipment record avoid most of these errors.
How TMSdeck produces transport documents
TMSdeck is a transport management system for road carriers and freight forwarders in Turkey. Documents are generated from the order or forwarding file, so the parties, goods, weights and references are entered once. Available documents include the CMR consignment note, B/L instructions and shipping instructions, house B/L, house AWB, pre-alert, arrival notice and delivery order. English documents are printed in capitals without Turkish characters, while the program interface stays in Turkish.
See the freight forwarding and road transport modules, read about choosing freight forwarding software in Turkey, or request a demo.