Transportation is first valued as the "third profit source", which refers to the profit source of enterprises. The first profit source of enterprises comes from the increase of sales revenue, the second profit source is the reduction of production costs (for manufacturers) or procurement costs (for distributors), and the profit obtained from cost reduction becomes the third profit source of enterprises.

Here, transportation is defined as the distribution and configuration of goods, including a series of processes such as loading and unloading, transportation, warehousing, and handling by manufacturers and distributors. The emphasis on freight transportation has been raised to the level of reducing costs and increasing profits, becoming the first turning point in the definition of freight transportation.

In order to ensure the safe handover of import and export goods, various documents need to be prepared throughout the entire transportation process. These documents each have their specific purposes and are interdependent with each other. They not only connect the ship, port, and cargo parties together, but also distinguish their respective rights and businesses.

Introduce some major shipping documents according to actual business procedures.

The consignment note, commonly known as the "delivery note", is a document filled out by the shipper based on the terms of the trade contract and letter of credit, and used by the carrier or its agent to handle the shipment of goods. The carrier, based on the contents of the consignment note and taking into account the vessel's route, port of call, shipping schedule, cabin space, and other conditions, considers it appropriate and accepts the consignment.

The bill of lading is a document issued by a shipping company that accepts the shipper's request for shipment and instructs the captain to load the cargo onto the ship. The bill of lading can be used as both a basis for loading and one of the main documents for the shipper to handle the export declaration procedures with the customs. Therefore, the bill of lading is also known as the "customs declaration". For the shipper, the bill of lading is the proof of completing the shipment of goods. For shipping companies or their agents, the bill of lading is an instruction document notifying the shipowner to accept the shipment of the batch of goods.

The bill of lading, also known as the chief mate's receipt, is a receipt for the goods received by the ship and a proof that the goods have been loaded onto the ship. The first mate on board signs the first mate's receipt based on the date, quantity, and cabin space indicated by the tally personnel on the tally sheet, and verifies it with the loading sheet. The shipper shall exchange the loaded bill of lading with the carrier or its agent based on the first mate's signed receipt.

Due to the fact that the main items of the three documents mentioned above are basically the same, the practice of some major ports in China is to combine the consignment note, loading note, receipt, freight notice, etc. into one document of up to 9 copies. The functions of each link are as follows: the first link is kept by the shipper for the purpose of preparing shipping documents. The second and third copies are freight notification copies, with one copy retained and the other copy collected from the shipper along with the bill of lading for freight charges. The fourth bill of lading can only be received and loaded onto the ship after being stamped with the release seal by the customs. The fifth and sixth copies of the receipt shall be kept by the cabin attendant. The seventh and eighth copies are cabin allocation receipts. The ninth page is the application for payment of port fees for export goods. After the goods are loaded onto the ship, the port area will collect port charges from the consignor.