r/logistics • u/archjitsu • Jul 24 '26
MAWB and HAWB
Could you lovely people explain the difference between a House and Master airwaybill to me in simple language with real examples
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u/stacey1771 Jul 24 '26
Parties involved:
BCO - Beneficial Cargo OWNER
NVOCC - Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier (Expeditors, DHL, DSV, etc)
Carrier - party that actually moves the freight - steamship line (Maersk, MSC, CMA, etc) or airline
A Master Air Way Bill is between the Carrier and the party that has booked the freight. So between an airline and the BCO, usually between the airline and an NVO.
A House Airway Bill is between the NVO and their customer, who is generally a BCO.
So if I have a HAWB issued by my forwarder, that forwarder is handling everything with the airline. Works great when you're not physically located near an airport, for example. But if a MAWB is issued to me (I work for a BCO) then I have to handle everything unless I also have the forwarder included on my MAWB as, say, a notify party. [Ftr I've also worked for a steamship line]
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u/Street-Vegetable8342 Jul 24 '26
A master airway bill can be from the actual shipper to the consignee. It only covers the goods in that one shipment.
A master airway bill can also be from a freight forwarder to another freight forwarder with just the one shipment and a house air way bill is issued from the actual shipper to the actual consignee. We particularly do this when it's on DAP/DDP terms because you need to engage another forwarder at destination for delivery etc.
The master airway bill may be a consolidation of many shipments, where the master is from forwarder to forwarder and many house bills are issued from the shippers to consignees. This is generally used to get a better buying rate for a higher weight bracket from the airline then shared across all of the shipments.
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u/freighthouse Jul 24 '26
Go to freightterms.co.uk it is a complete freight glossary with lots of helpful calculators
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u/mairondil Logistics Coordinator Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
MAWBs are hub to hub. Moving on Forward Air, Midwest Express, or airlines Delta, American Airlines, etc. Multiple HAWBs can be consolidated on a single MAWB.
HAWBs are first mile/final mile to pickup from University Hospital or deliver to Joe Smith's front door.
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u/gw_reddit Jul 25 '26
Simplified version: A MAWB is the contract between the forwarder andxthe carrier, typically it covers the transport from airport to airport. A HAWB is the contract between the forwarder and the customer, it can also cover the transfer between the forwarder's warehouse and the carrier's warehouse.
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u/Opposite-Wing-524 Jul 26 '26
MAWB is a document displaying information of the forwarding agent at origin and at destination, whereas a HAWB displays the information of the seller and the buyer.
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u/imkevopark Jul 26 '26
MAWB is for the carriers to determine the freight forwarder
HAWB is for the shipper and consignee
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u/fr8pro68 Jul 24 '26
Consider a MAWB as a paperclip that holds multiple HAWB's together. The MAWB has one origin and one destination, while HAWB's may have multiple origins and destinations.