Several types of bills of lading are official documents that serve as an evidence of a contract between a shipper and a shipping company or ship master, in which the later has agreed to carry the goods on behalf of the shipper to a stated destination. Apart from simply a straight bill of lading, other types of bills of lading include the combined transport, through and direct bills of lading. The difference between them may lie in the form of transportation or the conditions stated in the documents.

One of the types of bills of lading is the combined transport bill of lading, which is normally issued in situations when the shipping company takes responsibility for picking up the goods from the shipper as well as delivering the goods to the consignee upon arrival at the destination. This type of bill of lading is called a “combine” bill of lading because it usually involves more than one form of transportation. For instance, the shipping company may pick up the goods from the office, warehouse, storage or the shipper's home by truck. It would then be loaded onto a ship, unloaded upon arrival at the destination, and delivered to the consignee by truck.

Through bill of lading is similar to combination since both types of bills of lading involve other means of transport. The only difference is that the other forms of transportation will not be provided by the shipping company. In this instance, the different stages of transportation will involve other carriers such as truck rentals, rail transport, and even air transport. Where this is the case, the shipping company may only accept liability for any damage to the goods only while the goods are on the ship and at sea. Liability for damages while the goods are in the possession of the other transporters may be limited to them.

Direct bill of lading is used when the goods are only moved from the originating port to the destination port. In this case, the shipper will have to make his or her own arrangements regarding the delivery of the goods from the storage to the shipping company. When the goods arrive at the destination port, the consignee, or the person who has been named on the bill as the recipient of the goods, will make the arrangements to pick up the goods from the shipping company. Most times, this type of bill has a clause at the back granting the shipping company the authority to transfer the goods to another ship before its arrival at the stated destination.