Straight Bill of Lading

A straight bill of lading is generally accepted to be one that makes the goods deliverable to a named consignee and either contains no words importing transferability or contains words negating transferability (such as "non-transferable").

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of a straight bill is that the consignee is identified when the bill is issued and cannot be altered later. As a result, approving the bill does not allow the shipper or consignee to transfer legal title and ownership of the goods to a third party.