Playbook
Correcting shipping instructions or a draft B/L: request, verify and close the amendment.
A field-by-field approach to authorised SI or draft B/L corrections, document versions, returned revisions and escalation.
Ocean freight
OCEAN FREIGHT / BOOKING AMENDMENTS ↗
The correction belongs to a specific revision.
A request to amend shipping instructions or a draft bill of lading needs more than a replacement value. The operator must know which document state and version the instruction applies to, and who authorised the change.
Pilot scope · Agree the source records, permissions and approval boundaries with your operations team.
Discuss this amendment
01 / THE REQUEST
What starts it?
An authorised person requests a specific SI or draft B/L field correction. The operator first confirms the document state and current revision; later document states may require a different process.
02 / THE RECORD
What needs to be known?
- Current SI or draft B/L and its version or issue state
- Authorised instruction identifying each field to change
- Original and requested values, with the supporting source
- The responsible approver and permitted correction scope
- Returned carrier or document revision and any quoted charge
03 / PROPOSED WORKFLOW
What we propose
to handle.
- 01
Prepare a field-by-field correction schedule against the named revision.
- 02
Flag missing authorisation, conflicting instructions or an uncertain document state.
- 03
Draft the correction request within the operator-approved scope.
- 04
Compare the returned revision with the authorised values and identify any new difference.
04 / AUTHORITY
What must a person approve?
A person with the appropriate authority approves the document state, each field correction and any accepted cost. Customs decisions, dangerous-goods judgement and document-release authority remain outside this workflow.
05 / COMPLETION
What proves the change?
The returned SI or draft B/L revision matches the authorised fields, and the operator has reviewed any difference outside that scope. The record identifies the checked version and remaining charge or document actions.
06 / EXCEPTIONS
If the response
doesn’t match.
An unexpected version, an unauthorised field change, a mismatch or a rejected request goes back to the responsible person. Receipt of a new PDF alone does not prove that the correction is complete.
THE AMENDMENT RECORD
What the record
should contain.
- Named source revision and document state
- Authorised field-by-field correction schedule
- Approval record and requested submission
- Returned revision and comparison with approved values
- Unresolved differences, charge position and responsible owner
WORKFLOW REVIEW
Which version does the approval refer to?
We would trace how the correction is authorised, submitted and checked, including how conflicting instructions and unexpected revisions are handled. We would use that review to agree a workflow map, recurring failure points and a proposed pilot scope.
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