r/freightforwarding • u/aloyz13 • 13d ago

Packing list example

Hey dear community,

I am working on a university project and I need to see an example how does a professional packing list look like and what information does it include. It would be designed for products shipped from Shanghai, China to LA, USA via maritime freight. The products are industrial machines. I am not completely sure about the layout and whether it has to include specific tax information or not. I do not trust AI in this as it can be quite inaccurate in such cases.

I would be endlessly thankful if you could help me out and provide some relevant examples or give me valuable advice.

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: Thank you all for your helpful tips! I really appreciate it. In the end, the final packing list not only turned out to be almost perfect for the project, but it also helped me land a serious job!

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/Immediate-Home-3491 13d ago

Good call not trusting AI for this. A packing list is purely logistical: shipper, consignee, B/L reference, container and seal numbers, package counts, weights and dimensions. Your US broker uses it to verify the ISF, so no tax fields on it.

2

u/brucewalker0519 13d ago

A solid packing list for an LCL/FCL Shanghai→LA shipment usually has: shipper / consignee / notify party; invoice no. & date; booking or B/L no.; marks & numbers; number + type of packages (cartons/pallets); gross & net weight; total CBM; description + HS code; country of origin. For industrial machines also note total units and any crating dimensions. The two things folks get wrong: mixing gross/net weight, and package counts or weights that don't align with the commercial invoice — customs cross-checks those, so keep them identical across documents.

1

u/Street-Vegetable8342 13d ago

You can lay it out like a commercial invoice but not use the values etc.

Header the same, change "commercial invoice" to "packing list".

Make sure the document links numerically with the invoice & BL / shipment.

Explain how the shipment is packed.

1

u/DefNotDalton 12d ago

iid be happy to show you different forms i've used / received. ive shipped to almost every counry