endeavor have devised special shipping forms to suit their requirements. These forms list the articles in which they deal, and provide an appropriate space in which to indicate the number and style of packages that may be shipped. A notation or a clause provides that the shipment so described is subject to the terms and conditions of the uniform bill of lading of the carrier.

In cases where these special forms are practicable, their use will eliminate a considerable amount of clerical labor necessary in preparing the usual bill of lading form.

DRAFTS

For the delivery of goods sold on consignment, C.O.D. as it were, and transported by freight, the socalled "shipper's order form of bill of lading" is used. The industry notifies the customer at destination and consigns the shipment to his order. To get possession of the goods, the notified consignee must first obtain the bill of lading from the local bank by paying for the shipment.

Where such bills of lading are prepared by the traffic department, the original copy, after it has been properly executed, should be passed to the financial department so that the draft, invoice, and other necessary documents can be attached, and the negotiable papers then transmitted to some bank at destination, and the customer notified so that he may be prepared to accept the shipment on its arrival.

MANIFESTS

On shipments destined to foreign countries, adjacent or nonadjacent manifests are required. They are

intended primarily for the convenience of the customs officers.

A specimen form of manifest appears in Fig. 30. Detailed instructions are printed on the back of this form for the guidance of shippers. Under normal conditions, no goods can be shipped out of the country until such a manifest has been satisfactorily filed. Special attention is directed to the necessity for careful and accurate description of the goods that are being shipped. The shipper is required to certify to the correctness of the manifest, either in person or thru a duly authorized representative whose credentials have been filed at the customs house.

This matter, however, pertains especially to the export department, a subject which will be considered in another section of this work.

EXPORT LICENSES

In times of war, it is necessary to curtail the exportation of foodstuffs and materials that are needed to prosecute the war successfully, and as a consequence, the government intervenes and prohibits the exportation of such goods.

To make sure that alien enemies residing in the country do not circumvent the prohibitions of the law, export licenses are required. The first step in making a foreign shipment is to procure such a license.

Regulations such as these are issued by various war trade boards appointed by belligerent countries, and in cases involving shipments from or to countries engaged in war, the question of whether export licenses are required or not, should be given careful consideration.

The preparation of these documents, the bills of lading, manifests, and export licenses may be placed in the hands of the bill of lading clerk.

FILING RECORDS

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the necessity of having adequate records so that the absence of an employee charged with a particular function will not throw the traffic machine out of gear. All records should be in a definite order so that any member of the department can refer to them and locate the desired information. Each shipment has assigned to it an invoice number by which that particular shipment is identified in the account of the firm, and the invoice number is used as the index number of the bill of lading.

That is to say, the invoice number assigned to a shipment is shown as the number of the bill of lading in the space provided therefor, and the memorandum bills of lading are then filed in numerical order according to such numbers. Each shipment has assigned to it an invoice number by which that particular shipment is identified in the account of the firm, and the invoice number is used as the index number of the bill of lading. That is, the invoice number assigned to a shipment is shown as the number of the bill of lading in the space provided therefor, and the memorandum bills of lading are then filed in numerical order according to such numbers.

The foregoing system has proved quite satisfactory in the great majority of cases.

Some concerns, however, do not conduct their commercial transactions in this manner, and must devise