Another option

DECLARE @xml xml
SET @xml = '<pbXML>
   <Shipment>
       <BillNr>9999</BillNr>
       <ConsigneeId>123456</ConsigneeId>
   </Shipment>
</pbXML>'

SELECT @xml.query('/pbXML/Shipment/BillNr/text()')

>The following returned what I needed:
>
>

>CAST(XMLInString as XML).value('(/pbXML/Shipment/BillNr)[1]', 'varchar(10)')
>

>
>Thanks again for your help,
>Daniel