Transport Invoice Template: Goods Carriage Bill Format

A transport invoice template is the bill a truck owner, fleet operator or goods transport agency sends after carrying someone's goods. It should show who booked the load, the route, the vehicle, the consignment note (bilty or LR) number, the freight charge and any extras, then tax and the amount due. Get those fields right and most freight bills are paid without a single query.

This guide covers the goods carriage bill format used by transporters in India and similar markets, with notes on GST for goods transport agencies (GTAs), a filled-in sample and the mistakes that delay payment. If you run long-haul loads in the US with rate confirmations and BOLs, our trucking invoice template guide covers that workflow in more detail.

What a transport invoice is (and what it is not)

Road freight produces several documents, and mixing them up is the most common reason a transporter's bill is rejected. The transport invoice is only the bill for the service of carrying goods. The others do different jobs:

• Consignment note / bilty / lorry receipt (LR): issued when goods are booked. It records consignor, consignee, packages and weight, and travels with the truck.
• E-way bill: an electronic movement document required in India for most consignments above the value limit. Our e-way bill guide explains who generates it and when.
• Delivery challan: issued by the owner of the goods when they move without a sale, such as stock transfers or job work.
• Proof of delivery (POD): the signed and stamped copy of the LR or delivery note that shows the consignee received the goods.

For a quick comparison of the movement documents themselves, see waybill vs bill of lading. The invoice then pulls numbers from these documents so the customer can tie the bill to real trips.

Transport invoice format: required fields

A complete goods carriage bill has three blocks: header details, trip lines and totals. Use this checklist when you set up your transport bill format in Excel, Word or an online generator.

Section	Field	Why it matters
Header	Transporter name, address, phone, GSTIN or tax number	Identifies the supplier for tax and payment
Header	Invoice number and date	Unique reference for the customer's accounts
Header	Bill-to party name, address and GSTIN	The party paying freight, which may be consignor or consignee
Header	Place of supply and payment terms	Decides the tax type (CGST/SGST or IGST) and due date
Trip line	LR/bilty number and date	Links each charge to a booked consignment
Trip line	Vehicle number and type (e.g. 10-wheeler, 32 ft container)	Supports the rate charged
Trip line	From and to locations	Shows the route the rate applies to
Trip line	Packages, actual weight and charged weight	Needed when freight is per tonne or per kg
Trip line	Rate basis and freight amount	Per trip, per tonne, per km or per kg
Extras	Loading, unloading, detention, tolls, multi-point delivery	Itemised so each can be checked
Totals	Subtotal, advance received, tax, grand total, amount in words	What the customer actually pays
Footer	Bank details, tax note (e.g. reverse charge), signature	Makes payment easy and the tax position clear

Sample transport invoice (filled-in)

Here is a sample goods carriage bill for a month with three trips for one customer. The transporter has opted to charge 5% GST without input tax credit, and the figures are illustrative.

Date	LR No.	Vehicle	Route	Weight	Rate	Amount (₹)
03-Oct	LR-2214	MH12 AB 4521	Pune to Nashik	9 t	Per trip	18,500
11-Oct	LR-2231	MH12 AB 4521	Pune to Aurangabad	8.5 t	Per trip	21,000
24-Oct	LR-2260	MH14 CD 7788	Pune to Surat	16 t	₹2,350/t	37,600
Unloading charges, LR-2260						1,500
Detention at consignee, LR-2231 (6 hours at ₹400/hour)						2,400
Subtotal						81,000
IGST at 5% (inter-state, as shown on the bill)						4,050
Total						85,050
Less advance paid on 24-Oct						(15,000)
Balance due						70,050

Check the math: 16 tonnes x ₹2,350 = ₹37,600; 6 hours x ₹400 = ₹2,400; the trips and extras add to ₹81,000; 5% of ₹81,000 is ₹4,050. Whether you use IGST or CGST plus SGST depends on the place of supply, so treat the tax line here as a layout example rather than a ruling for your case.

GST on transport invoices: the GTA options

In India, a goods transport agency is a business that carries goods by road and issues a consignment note. After the GST rate changes that took effect on 22 September 2025, a GTA generally has two forward-charge choices: 5% GST without claiming input tax credit, or 18% GST with input tax credit. For many business customers, such as factories, companies and registered persons, the tax is instead paid by the recipient under reverse charge. You can check the current schedule on the CBIC GST rates page.

On the invoice, this means one of two things:

• Forward charge: show the tax rate, the tax amount and your GSTIN, and add it to the total.
• Reverse charge: show freight without tax and print a clear line such as "Tax payable on reverse charge basis: Yes". The recipient pays the GST directly.

An individual truck owner who simply hires out a vehicle without issuing consignment notes is treated differently from a GTA, so the right tax line depends on how you operate. Our GST invoice guide lists the general invoice fields. This is general information, not tax advice; rates and definitions change, so confirm your position with a GST practitioner.

How to make a transport invoice, step by step

1. Agree the rate before loading. Put the rate basis, extras and payment terms in writing. A transport quotation that lists detention and unloading rates saves arguments later.
2. Collect trip documents. Gather the LR copy, e-way bill number, weighbridge slip if weight-based, and the signed POD for each trip.
3. Choose the billing cycle. Bill per trip for one-off customers and monthly for regular accounts.
4. Enter each trip as a row. Date, LR number, vehicle, route, weight and freight. Keep extras on their own lines.
5. Apply tax correctly. Forward charge at your chosen rate, or a reverse charge note with no tax added.
6. Deduct advances. Drivers often collect an advance for diesel or tolls; show it as a deduction so the balance is clear.
7. Number and send. Use a continuous series such as TR/26-27/045, export to PDF and attach POD copies.

Rate bases and how to show them

Per trip (fixed rate)

Common for full-truck loads on a regular route. Show the route and vehicle type so the customer can check the agreed rate card.

Per tonne or per kg

Used for part loads and bulk materials. Show both actual weight and charged weight, because many transporters apply a minimum chargeable weight. If the minimum is 10 tonnes and the load is 8.5 tonnes, the line should say "Charged at minimum 10 t".

Per km

Typical for dedicated vehicles. Show opening and closing odometer readings or the agreed distance, the rate per km and any minimum daily kilometres.

Variations by customer and region

• Parcel and part-load carriers often bill per package or per kg with a docket charge per consignment. A per-drop model is closer to our logistics invoice template, which also covers warehousing and forwarding charges.
• Pakistan transporters commonly call the consignment note a "bilty" and list the bilty numbers on every freight bill; provincial sales tax on services rules vary by province, so check with your provincial authority.
• Construction and mining customers may want trips listed against challan numbers from the site, since material receipts are recorded there.

Common transport billing mistakes

• No LR or vehicle number on the line. The customer cannot match the bill to their gate entries, so it goes on hold.
• Charging the wrong party. Check whether freight is "to pay" (consignee pays) or "paid" (consignor pays) on the bilty, and bill that party.
• Adding GST when reverse charge applies. The customer will reject the invoice or pay only the freight.
• Lump-sum extras. "Other charges ₹6,000" invites a dispute. Itemise detention hours, toll receipts and labour.
• Missing PODs. Many companies only release payment against signed delivery proof.
• Reusing invoice numbers across branches. Give each branch a prefix so the series stays unique.

Transport invoice in Excel vs an invoice generator

A spreadsheet works if you have a few trips a month: set columns for date, LR, vehicle, route, weight, rate and amount, and use a SUM formula for the subtotal. As trips grow, spreadsheets tend to break on numbering, tax formulas and PDF layout. An invoice generator keeps the header, totals and numbering consistent and produces a clean PDF each time.

When your next trip is delivered, you can build this goods carriage bill in our free invoice generator: add each trip as a line item, include the tax note that fits your GST option, and download the finished bill as a PDF without signing up.