Blind shipment

A blind shipment hides the real shipper from the consignee, or the consignee from the shipper — typically when a distributor has its supplier ship straight to its own customer. The carrier moves it on two bills of lading and charges a fee: USD 210 at FedEx Freight, USD 150 at Old Dominion, USD 200 at Estes.

How it works

Old Dominion defines a blind shipment as one where it acts as intermediary because the shipper is unaware of the actual destination and/or the consignee is unaware of the actual origin. Estes spells out the paperwork: two bills of lading, both prepaid. The first, from the real shipper, is consigned to the third party in care of the carrier's terminal serving the consignee; the corrected one shows the third party as shipper and the real consignee's name and address.

Worked example: a distributor's drop shipment

1. A distributor sells pallets of goods to a retailer, and has its supplier ship them direct.
2. The supplier's bill of lading names the distributor, care of the carrier's terminal that serves the retailer.
3. At that terminal the carrier switches to the corrected bill: the distributor as shipper, the retailer as consignee.
4. The retailer sees only the distributor; the supplier never learns who the retailer is.
5. The distributor pays both bills, prepaid, and the blind-shipment fee.

What carriers charge

The mistake people make

Asking after pickup. FedEx Freight considers only requests made before pickup, and Old Dominion handles a late request as a reconsignment — with the reconsignment charges on top of the blind-shipment fee.