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Title 49, TransportationRelease 119-110

§80104 Form and Requirements for Negotiation

Title 49 › SUBTITLE X — MISCELLANEOUS › CHAPTER 801 — BILLS OF LADING › § 80104

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows a negotiable bill of lading (a shipping paper that can be transferred) to be passed to someone else by signing it on the back or by handing it over. The signature can be blank or to a named person. If the goods are to be delivered "to the order" of a specific person, that person must sign. A person who holds the paper can also transfer it if the carrier promises to deliver to that holder or if the paper is made to be passed by delivery. A transfer stays valid even if the previous holder acted wrongly or lost the paper, as long as the new holder paid for it in good faith and did not know about the problem. If someone keeps the paper after selling, mortgaging, or pledging the goods, then later giving it to a buyer who paid in good faith with no notice has the same legal effect as if the first buyer had approved that transfer.

Full Legal Text

Title 49, §80104

Transportation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)General Rules.—
(1)A negotiable bill of lading may be negotiated by indorsement. An indorsement may be made in blank or to a specified person. If the goods are deliverable to the order of a specified person, then the bill must be indorsed by that person.
(2)A negotiable bill of lading may be negotiated by delivery when the common carrier, under the terms of the bill, undertakes to deliver the goods to the order of a specified person and that person or a subsequent indorsee has indorsed the bill in blank.
(3)A negotiable bill of lading may be negotiated by a person possessing the bill, regardless of the way in which the person got possession, if—
(A)a common carrier, under the terms of the bill, undertakes to deliver the goods to that person; or
(B)when the bill is negotiated, it is in a form that allows it to be negotiated by delivery.
(b)Validity Not Affected.—
The validity of a negotiation of a bill of lading is not affected by the negotiation having been a breach of duty by the person making the negotiation, or by the owner of the bill having been deprived of possession by fraud, accident, mistake, duress, loss, theft, or conversion, if the person to whom the bill is negotiated, or a person to whom the bill is subsequently negotiated, gives value for the bill in good faith and without notice of the breach of duty, fraud, accident, mistake, duress, loss, theft, or conversion.
(c)Negotiation by Seller, Mortgagor, or Pledgor to Person Without Notice.—
When goods for which a negotiable bill of lading has been issued are in a common carrier’s possession, and the person to whom the bill has been issued retains possession of the bill after selling, mortgaging, or pledging the goods or bill, the subsequent negotiation of the bill by that person to another person receiving the bill for value, in good faith, and without notice of the prior sale, mortgage, or pledge has the same effect as if the first purchaser of the goods or bill had expressly authorized the subsequent negotiation.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 80104(a)(1)49 App.:108.Aug. 29, 1916, ch. 415, §§ 27, 28, 30, 37, 38, 39 Stat. 542, 543, 544. 80104(a)(2)49 App.:107. 80104(a)(3)49 App.:110. 80104(b)49 App.:117. 80104(c)49 App.:118. In subsection (a)(1), the words “If the goods are deliverable to the order of a specified person” are substituted for “the person to whose order the goods are deliverable by the tenor of the bill” for clarity. The text of 49 App.:108 (last sentence) is omitted as unnecessary because of the restatement.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

49 U.S.C. § 80104

Title 49, Transportation

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110