If you are going to ship the good and you hire the services of the freight company, you will be given a document called the bill of lading. Some simply call it B/L. There are different types of bill of lading and these are the negotiable and non-negotiable by which the negotiable one can be used for some business transactions such as trading it while goods are being shipped or even selling it. If you are the customer or the shipper, make sure of it that you have your copy of bill of lading kept and that is very important because it's the only way you can prove to have an authority over the shipment and claim it if needed.
Another bill of lading you get is the airway bill or the AWB which proves that the freight services company has received your item in good condition. This also gives the full responsibility of the item to the company and for them to give you assurance that they will deliver the item still in very good condition.
With international freight services, another term you must know is the bonded warehouse. There are also certain countries which their authorities don't want anyone to pay for the freight services until they have a word that the items being shipped have already reached the customs of the receiving country. If there is a need for your item to be sent back, you won't have to pay for anything.
These customs are authorities who are working for the government and they are tasked to collect the duties of all items coming in and out of the country. There are also custom brokers who can help you out with clearing your items from the customs authorities. Those who do this can't do anytime they want because they need to be license brokers, one that the government has allowed to work on such. The main reason too of having custom authorities is to make sure the items to be shipped are cleared and they are to be legally acceptable by the receiving country. Visit the linked page to learn more about road haulage services bristol.