The packing list is the document that describes the physical shipment: how many pieces, packed how, weighing what, marked how. Customs uses it to verify what arrives against what was declared. Warehouses use it to check receipts. Insurers use it after a loss. It is the least glamorous document in the file and the one that stops the most containers.
Prices do not belong on a packing list. Value lives on the commercial invoice, and mixing the two creates problems when the consignee's customer sees a document they were not meant to see.
Everything else can be approximate in appearance. The piece count cannot. When a consolidator receives cargo at the warehouse it tallies pieces, and that tally goes onto the house bill and into the manifest. If your list says 40 cartons and the tally says 38, the manifest reports 38, the invoice says 40, and the entry has a discrepancy that has to be explained before release.
On consolidated containers this affects everyone in the box, which is why consolidators check tallies carefully and why shipments with sloppy documentation get less flexibility on cut-offs.
Net weight is the goods. Gross weight is the goods plus packaging plus pallet. Both belong on the list. For full containers, the verified gross mass of the packed container is a separate SOLAS requirement submitted before loading, and it has to be consistent with what your documents claim. The limits and the VGM obligation are covered in container weight limits.
Shipping marks link the paperwork to the boxes on the floor. They should appear on the cargo and on the list identically, and they should include the house bill or order reference. Cargo arriving at a consolidation warehouse without visible marks is the single most common cause of misrouted pallets, because a warehouse handling several shippers' freight has no other way to identify yours.
One line per package type with a running total, not a wall of text. A summary block at the top: total packages, total net weight, total gross weight, total volume. A separate line for pallets if they are being shipped as part of the load. If the shipment is multi-container, a list per container. These are not customs requirements, they are the difference between a document that is used and one that is retyped.
Requirements vary by destination, but in practice customs, carriers and consolidators all expect one, and letters of credit usually call for it.
No. Values belong on the commercial invoice. The packing list describes the physical shipment.
Net weight is the goods alone. Gross weight includes packaging and the pallet.
The parties, references, descriptions and quantities must agree. Discrepancies between the two are a standard trigger for customs questions.
The shipper. A forwarder can format it, but the content has to come from whoever packed the goods.
Shipping consolidated cargo where documentation errors are expensive? Send us your document set and we will check it against the lane.