multimodal bill of lading (B/L)

B/L issued for containerized door-to-door shipments that have to use different ships and/or different means of transportation (aircraft, railcars, ships, trucks, etc.) from origin to destination. Unlike in case of a through bill of lading, the principal carrier or the freight forwarder (who issued the multimodal B/L) takes on full liability under a contract of carriage for the entire journey and over all modes of transportation. Also called combined bill of lading, combined transport bill of lading, intermodal bill of lading, or multimodal transport bill of lading.