Two kinds of waybill number
- The carrier’s number — DHL, FedEx, J&T and every courier assign one when they accept a parcel. It is the number you track. You do not choose it.
- Your own number — assigned when you create a waybill or delivery note for a consignment you dispatch. This is the one the waybill maker asks for.
Both can appear on the same shipment: your waybill WB-0042 travels inside the box the courier labelled with its own 12-digit number.
Choosing a scheme
| Scheme | Example | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Sequential | WB-001, WB-002 | Most businesses |
| Year prefix | WB-2026-014 | Filing by year |
| Invoice-linked | WB-INV-0042 | One consignment per invoice |
| Depot or vehicle prefix | LDS-0142 | Several dispatch points |
Keep waybill numbers in their own series, separate from invoices (INV), receipts (REC) and delivery notes (DN), so a document can never be mistaken for another type.
Tie it to the invoice
Quote the invoice or order number on the waybill, and the waybill number on the invoice. When a customer says a pallet never arrived, the signed waybill with that number is the answer.
Where the waybill number goes
- On the document — top right, next to the dispatch date, in a size the driver and the receiver can read.
- On the package label — if the consignment is more than one carton, each label carries the number and “1 of 4”.
- On the invoice — a line such as “Delivered under waybill WB-0042 on 14 March” closes the loop for accounts.
- In your records — a single list of number, date, receiver, invoice and whether the signed copy came back.
Waybill number formats used by carriers
You will meet several formats on other people’s paperwork. Air waybills are eleven digits (airline prefix, serial, check digit). Courier waybills are usually ten to fourteen digits, often with a two-letter prefix, and are encoded in the label barcode. Road consignment notes vary by haulier. None of these constrain your own numbering: your waybill number identifies the consignment in your records, and the carrier’s number identifies it in theirs. Write both on the document when you have both.
What to do when a number is wrong
Never reuse or overwrite a number. If a waybill was issued with a mistake, cancel it in your records with a note (“WB-0042 cancelled — wrong receiver”) and issue WB-0043. A gap you can explain is fine; a number that appears twice with different goods is the kind of thing an auditor or a dispute picks apart.
Part deliveries
Give each part its own waybill number and state what remains outstanding — “2 of 3 pallets; 1 pallet to follow on WB-0043”.
Questions
Can I track a parcel with my own waybill number?
No. Tracking uses the carrier's number printed on their label. Your own number identifies the consignment in your records.
Should the waybill number match the invoice number?
They can reference each other, but keep separate series so the two documents are never confused.
Keep reading
Make the document: invoice creator · receipt maker · quotation maker · waybill maker · Word templates