What is the ruling on buying and selling shipping receipts, and is the profit gained from this considered a collection fee or usury? And what is the ruling on the fees of shipping offices that are paid to drivers in advance and then the amount is collected from the companies?

The answer includes two issues:

1. Discounting bills of lading with shipping offices: This is Islamically prohibited because it is a usurious transaction that combines riba al-fadl (usury of surplus) and riba al-nasi'ah (usury of delay). It involves selling a deferred debt for immediate cash, and exchanging a currency for a larger amount of the same currency. Naming what the offices take as "fees" does not change the fact that it is a currency exchange contract, not a rental contract. The correct method is for drivers to submit the bills of lading to the shipping office to follow up on and collect them for a specific fee; this is a valid rental contract and there is no harm in it.

2. The shipping office paying the driver's fare to the driver for the driver to follow up on it, and the office taking more than it paid: This transaction is prohibited for the same reasons mentioned in the first issue. However, if the office rents drivers and then sublets them to another party for more than it rented them for, there is no harm in that, based on the principle of the permissibility of renting out what has been rented.

In summary: The shipping office's exchange of a deferred debt for immediate cash in a lesser amount is impermissible, whereas the shipping office charging a known fee to collect the debt or follow up with the drivers is permissible.