Lorry Receipt Format Free A4, Excel and a triplicate LR book — bilty or consignment note
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The two fields an LR turns on
Everything else on a lorry receipt is description. These decide what happens at the delivery door and who bears a loss.
- To Pay
- The consignee pays freight on delivery. The driver collects before unloading, or should.
- Paid
- The consignor settled at booking. Nothing due at the far end.
- To Be Billed
- Neither pays at the door — it goes onto a monthly transport bill instead.
- Carrier's risk
- The carrier is liable for loss or damage. Freight is higher, and the carrier's insurance is what responds.
- Owner's risk
- No liability except on proof of negligence. Cheaper, and the usual default in Indian road transport.
Tick the wrong freight term and the driver either gets turned away or hands over goods he should have collected for. Tick owner's risk without telling the consignor and you will hear about it after the first damaged consignment, because it changes what any claim can recover.
What goes on a lorry receipt
- LR number and date
- Unbroken series. The transport bill will reference this number, and so will the consignee's goods-inward register.
- Consignor and consignee
- Name, address and GSTIN where registered. The consignee's details are what the driver navigates by.
- From and to
- Actual places, not just cities. “Chennai” covers eighty kilometres of possibilities.
- Vehicle and driver
- Vehicle number, driver name and licence. This is the line that makes the receipt attributable.
- Invoice or e-way bill number
- So the LR, the tax document and the movement authorisation all point at each other.
- Packages
- Count, and the kind — bags, cartons, bundles, loose. Said differently on delivery, it becomes a dispute.
- Description of goods
- Specific enough for a check post to match to the load.
- Actual and charged weight
- Both, where they differ. Charged weight is what the freight is computed on.
- Rate and freight
- Per tonne, per package or per trip. Write the basis.
- Declared value
- For carriage. It is not an insurance valuation unless a policy number is entered beside it.
- Insurance details
- Policy number and insurer if the goods are insured, blank if they are not. Blank is a statement too.
Lorry receipt, bilty, consignment note — one document
Three names, one document, and which you use is regional. “Lorry receipt” and “LR” are the common usage across South India. “Bilty” is what the same paper is called through the North and West. “Consignment note” is the formal term, and it is the one that appears in the rules.
That formal term does real work: issuing a consignment note is what makes a transporter a goods transport agency, which in turn puts the freight on reverse charge under Notification 13/2017. So the LR is not just an acknowledgement of goods — it is the document that establishes what kind of supplier you are.
A check post accepts any of the three names. What it does not accept is goods moving with nothing at all, which is the situation a small operator sometimes finds acceptable until the first time it is not.
How to fill a lorry receipt
- Take the next LR number
- From the pad, before anything else. This number goes on the transport bill later, so it has to be real and unique.
- Fill both parties
- Consignor is who is handing over. Consignee is who receives — with a phone number, whatever the form says.
- Count the packages at the vehicle
- With the consignor's man watching. A count agreed at loading is worth more than any clause on the reverse.
- Note the condition
- Anything torn, wet, dented or short — write it on the face. Silence means “apparent good order”, and that is a promise.
- Weigh, or state the basis
- Actual and charged. If you are billing a contracted minimum, say so rather than writing a weight that is not true.
- Tick the freight term and risk
- Both. These are the two fields the consignee reads first.
- Enter the e-way bill number
- If the consignment needs one. The LR number goes into the EWB; the EWB number comes back onto the LR.
- Split the copies
- Consignor, consignee and driver. The driver's copy is the one that gets shown at a check post.
Lorry receipt vs e-way bill
Not alternatives. You often need both, and each references the other.
| Lorry receipt | E-way bill | |
|---|---|---|
| Who creates it | The transporter, on their own stationery. | The GST portal. |
| What it is | An acknowledgement of goods received for carriage. | A number authorising the movement. |
| When it is needed | Every consignment a GTA carries. | Above ₹50,000 consignment value, in most states. |
| Expiry | None. | One day per 200 km, extendable. |
| If the vehicle changes | No reissue. | Part B must be updated. |
| Legal effect | Makes the transporter a GTA. | Permits the goods to move. |
Owner's risk and what a claim can actually recover
Under owner's risk the carrier is not liable for loss or damage unless negligence is proved, and proving negligence against a transporter after the fact is difficult. That is the trade: the consignor accepts the exposure and pays less freight for it. It is the default across most Indian road transport and it is not, in itself, unfair — it is priced in.
Carrier's risk shifts liability to the transporter, costs more, and is worth it for high-value or fragile consignments where the freight difference is small against the goods. What matters is that the consignor knows which one they are on before the goods move, which is why it belongs on the face of the LR as a tick-box rather than in conditions on the reverse.
The declared value is a separate thing again. It exists so a carrier knows what is in the vehicle and can decline or price accordingly — it is not a sum insured. Unless a policy number sits beside it, nobody is going to pay out against that figure.
LR book: duplicate or triplicate?
Triplicate is the working standard, and the three copies have distinct jobs. The consignor keeps one as proof of handover. The consignee gets one, signs it, and it becomes their goods-inward record. The driver carries one, and that is the copy shown at a check post and surrendered at delivery.
Duplicate works only where you are both consignor and carrier — your own goods in your own truck — because then two of those three roles are the same person. If you carry for anyone else, print triplicate. The book on this page is laid out that way, pre-numbered, with the copy label on each sheet so nobody has to remember which is which.
When the paper stops being enough
An LR pad is fine for issuing. The difficulty is everything afterwards: which consignments are delivered, which are delivered but unsigned, which are unbilled, and which have a To Pay freight that nobody collected. Every one of those is a question about a stack of counterfoils.
Fleetbooks issues the lorry receipt and keeps that state, so the transport bill assembles from consignments already recorded rather than being copied by hand — which is where LR-number mismatches come from, and mismatches are what hold bills up. It also tells you which To Pay freight is still outstanding, which is money you have already earned.
Questions operators ask
What is a lorry receipt?
A lorry receipt is the document a transporter issues when taking goods from a consignor, recording what was handed over, in what condition, to which vehicle and driver, and where it is going. It is also called a bilty or a consignment note — three names for the same document.
What is the difference between a lorry receipt, a bilty and a consignment note?
Nothing substantive. “Lorry receipt” and “LR” are common in South India, “bilty” in the North and West, and “consignment note” is the formal term used in the rules. The fields are the same and a check post accepts any of them.
What does freight To Pay mean on a lorry receipt?
That the consignee pays the freight when the goods are delivered, rather than the consignor paying at booking. “Paid” means it is already settled. “To Be Billed” means it goes onto a monthly transport bill instead of being collected at the door.
Is a lorry receipt the same as an e-way bill?
No. An e-way bill is a portal-generated number authorising the movement; a lorry receipt is the transporter's own acknowledgement of the goods. You often need both, and the e-way bill number goes onto the LR so the two reference each other.
What is owner's risk on a lorry receipt?
It means the goods travel at the consignor's risk and the carrier is not liable for loss or damage unless negligence is proved. It is cheaper and is the usual default. Carrier's risk shifts liability to the transporter and costs more — worth it for high-value or fragile consignments.
How many copies should a lorry receipt have?
Three in normal practice: consignor, consignee and driver. The driver's copy is what is shown at a check post and surrendered at delivery. Duplicate is only enough where you are both consignor and carrier, since two of the three roles are then the same person.
What is the difference between actual weight and charged weight?
Actual weight is what the load weighs; charged weight is what the freight is computed on. They differ where a contracted minimum applies, or for light bulky goods billed volumetrically. Show both when they differ and state the basis, or the gap reads as an error.
Does issuing a lorry receipt make me a goods transport agency?
Yes — issuing a consignment note is what defines a GTA, and that has direct tax consequences: the freight goes on reverse charge under Notification 13/2017 unless you have elected forward charge. Carrying goods without issuing one is not a tax position, it is an unbillable trip.
What is declared value on a lorry receipt?
The consignor's statement of what the goods are worth, so the carrier knows what is in the vehicle and can price or decline accordingly. It is not a sum insured. Unless an insurance policy number is entered beside it, nobody will pay out against that figure.
What should I do if goods are damaged before loading?
Write it on the face of the LR before the vehicle moves — torn, wet, dented, short count, whatever it is. Silence means the goods were received in apparent good order, and that is a promise you have then made. A note at loading costs nothing; the same note at delivery is an argument.
Can I issue a lorry receipt for my own goods in my own truck?
You can, and it is worth doing — it gives the movement a document, a number, and a record of condition. A duplicate book is enough in that case, since the consignor and the carrier are the same person.
How is a lorry receipt linked to a transport bill?
The transport bill lists the LR numbers it is billing for, one line per consignment. That reference is what lets the customer match your bill to their own goods-inward register — and one wrong digit is the most common reason a transport bill is held up.
When the paper stops being enough
A lorry receipt on paper works until you need to know which ones are still unpaid, or how this month compares to last. That is a search through a stack. Fleetbooks issues the document, numbers it, and holds the answer — alongside the trip it belongs to and what that trip actually cleared.