Drayage Bills of Lading: One Bill, Many Containers

Every container on the same bill of lading is grouped under one bill, so the whole shipment can be followed by its B/L number.

A bill of lading (B/L) is the shipping line’s document for one shipment. One bill often covers several containers that get picked up on different days, by different drivers. In Docklify each container still gets its own drayage order — that is how dispatch and driver pay work — but the orders now sit under their bill, so the bill is the one place to see the whole shipment.

Step 1: How containers get grouped under a bill#

1. Bills are entered through the API or an import (for example a delivery-order import): the entry carries the bill of lading number together with the containers on the bill, and the system files every container’s order under that bill. There is no bill entry form in the app yet — orders created in the app work exactly as before, with or without a bill.
2. Each container gets its own drayage order. Where one order carries several containers, the first container is the order’s primary container — the one lists and the dispatch board show.
3. Submitting the same bill twice through the API does not duplicate anything: containers already on the bill are skipped and only new ones are added.
4. If the bill number already belongs to another customer, the system stops and tells you to check the number — one bill belongs to one customer.

Step 2: What the grouping gives you#

1. The whole shipment can be pulled up by bill number through the API: every container on the bill, the order each container belongs to, and how far each order has got — picked up, delivered, empty returned.
2. A bill belongs to exactly one customer, and access follows the same rule: a customer can only ever reach their own bills and containers through the portal — never another customer’s.
3. Dispatch and billing keep working per order, exactly as before — the bill groups orders, it does not replace them.

Orders without a bill are fine#

The bill is optional. Orders created before bills existed, or orders where the B/L number is not known yet, simply have no bill attached — they dispatch, track and bill exactly as before, and a bill can be linked to the order later once the number is known. Nothing waits on the bill.

Docklify features used in this article#

• Drayage orders: one order per container; lists and the dispatch board show the primary container.
• Bill entry (API / import): bill number plus its containers, filed under one bill; resubmits do not duplicate.
• Bill lookup (API): whole-bill container list and progress counts by bill number.
• Customer scoping: a bill belongs to one customer only; portal access is limited to that customer’s own bills.