Glossary of Freight Terms

Backhaul - the process of a transportation vehicle returning from the original destination point back to the point of origin. A backhaul can be with a full or partially loaded trailer.

Capacity - the physical facilities, personnel and equipment available to meet the service needs of the customers. For example, over-capacity refers to more trucks than available freight.

Carrier - A firm which transports goods.

Centralized Dispatching - The organization of the dispatching function into one central location.

Chassis - A trailer-type device with wheels constructed to accommodate containers, which are lifted on and off.

Claim - Charges made against a carrier for loss, damage or overcharge.

Contract Carrier - A carrier that does not serve the general public, but provides transportation for hire for one or a number of shippers under a specific contract.

Commodity - An item that is traded in commerce. The term usually implies an undifferentiated product competing primarily on price and availability.

Common Carrier - Any carrier engaged in the interstate transportation of persons/property on a regular schedule at published rates, whose services are hired to the general public.

Consignee - The receiver of a freight shipment, usually the buyer.

Consignor - The sender of a freight shipment, usually the seller.

Container - A “box” typically ten to forty feet long, which is used primarily for ocean freight shipment. For travel to and from ports, containers are loaded onto truck chassis’ or on railroad flatcars.

Cubage - Cubic volume of space being used or available for shipping or storage.

Customs Broker - A person whose business it is to prepare shipping and customs documents for international shipments. Customs Brokers often have offices at major freight gateways, including border crossings, seaports and airports.

Deadhead - The return of an empty transportation container back to a transportation facility. Commonly used description of an empty backhaul.

Detention Fee - The carrier charges and fees applied when trucks are retained beyond a specified loading or unloading time.

Demurrage - The carrier charges and fees applied when rail freight cars and ships are retained beyond a specific loading or unloading time.

Direct to Store - Process of shipping direct from a manufacturer’s plant or distribution center to the customers retail store, thus bypassing the customers distribution center.

Dispatcher - An individual tasked to assign available transportation loads to available carriers.

Distribution Center (DC) - The warehouse facility which holds inventory from manufacturing pending distribution to the appropriate stores.

Dock - A space used for receiving merchandise at a freight terminal.

Drayage - Transporting of rail or ocean freight by truck to an intermediate or final destination; typically a charge for pickup/delivery of goods moving short distances (e.g. from marine terminal to warehouse)

Drop - A situation in which an equipment operator deposits a trailer at a facility at which it is to be loaded or unloaded.

Durable Goods - Generally, any goods whose continuous serviceability is likely to exceed three years.

Exempt Carrier - A for-hire carrier that is free from economic regulation. Trucks hauling certain commodities are exempt from Interstate Commerce Commission economic regulation. By far the largest portion of exempt carrier transports agricultural commodities or seafood.

Flatbed - A trailer without sides used for heavy haul freight like heavy machinery or other bulky items.

For-Hire Carrier - Carrier that provides trucking service to the public on a fee basis.

Freight All Kinds (FAK) - Goods classified FAK are usually charged higher rates than those marked with a specific classification and are frequently in a container that includes various classes of cargo.

Freight Forwarder - A person whose business is to act as an agent on behalf of a shipper. A freight forwarder frequently consolidates shipments from several shippers and coordinates booking reservations.

Free Trade Zone (FTZ) - An area or zone set aside at or near a port or airport, under the control of the US Customs service, for holding goods duty-free pending customs clearance.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) - the combined total weight of a vehicle and its freight.

Hazardous Material - A substance or material which the Dept. of Transportation has determined to be capable of posing a risk to health, safety and property when stored or transported in commerce.

Hours of Service - Ruling that stipulates the amount of time a driver is allotted to work.

In-bond Shipment - A shipment status in which goods are permitted to enter a country and temporarily stored for transport to a final destination where the duty will be paid.

Inbound Logistics - The movement of materials from shippers and vendors into production processes or storage facilities.

Interline Freight - Freight moving from point of origin to destination with two or more transportation lines.

Inventory - The number of units and/or value of the stock of goods a company holds.

Just in Time (JIT) - Cargo or components that must be at a destination at the exact time needed.

Lead-time - the total time that elapses between an order’s placement and its receipt. It includes the time required for order transmittal; order processing, order preparation and transit.

Less than Truckload (LTL) - A container or trailer loaded with cargo from more than one shipper; loads that do not by themselves meet the container load or truckload requirements.

Line Haul - The movement of freight over the road/rail from origin terminal to destination terminal, usually over long distances.

Liquid Bulk Cargo - A type of bulk cargo that consists of liquid items, such as petroleum, water or liquid natural gas.

Live Load - A situation in which the equipment operator stays with the trailer or boxcar while being loaded or unloaded.

Load Lock - A metal bar used inside trailers to secure freight.

Logbook - A daily record of the hours an interstate driver spends driving, off duty, sleeping in the berth or on duty not driving.

Logistics - All activities involved in the management of product movement; delivering the right product from the right origin to the right destination, with the right quality and quantity, at the right schedule and price.

Lumpers - Individuals that assist in the unloading of cargo, quite commonly used in the food and retail industry.

Node - A fixed point in a firm’s logistics system where goods come to rest; includes plants, warehouse, supply sources and markets.

OS&D - Over, short and damaged. Report is issued at warehouse when goods are damaged or a shipment is short or over the quantity listed on the bill of lading or packing slip; claim is usually filed with the carrier.

Outbound Logistics - The process relating to the movement and storage of products from the end of the production line to the end user.

Operating Ratio - A measure of operation efficiency defined as: (operating expenses/operation revenues) x 100

Owner-Operator - Trucking operation in which the owner of the truck is also the driver.

Placard - A label that identifies a hazardous material shipment and the hazards present.

Pool/Drop trailers - Trailers that are staged at facilities for preloading or unloading purposes.

Private Carrier - A carrier that provides transportation services to the firm that owns or leases the vehicles and does not charge a fee.

Prepaid - A freight term, which indicates that charges are to be paid by the shipper. Prepaid shipping charges may be added to the customer invoice or the cost may be bundled into the pricing of the product.

Proof of Delivery - Information supplied by the carrier containing the name of the person who signed for the shipment, the time and date of delivery and other shipment delivery related information.

Pull Logistics System - “just in time” logistics system driven by customer demand and enabled by telecommunications and information systems rather than by manufacturing process and inventory.

Purchase Order (PO) - The purchaser’s authorization used to formalize a purchase transaction with a supplier. The physical form or electronic transaction a buyer uses when placing an order for merchandise. Push Logistics System- Inventory based logistics system characterized by regularly scheduled flows of products and high inventory levels.

Reverse Logistics - A specialized segment of logistics focusing on the movement and management of products and resources after the sale and after delivery to the customer. Includes product returns and repairs for credit.

Receiving - The function encompassing the physical receipt of material, the inspection of the shipment for conformance with the purchase order(quantity and damage), the identification and delivery to destination and the preparation of receiving reports.

Return to Vendor (RTV) - Material that has been rejected by the customer or buyers inspection department and is awaiting shipment back to supplier for repair or replacement.

Roll-on/ Roll-off (ro/ro) Cargo - Wheeled cargo, such as automobiles, or cargo carried on chassis that can be rolled on or off vehicles without using cargo handling equipment.

Seasonality - Repetitive pattern of demand from year to year (or other repeating time interval) with some periods considerably higher than others. Seasonally explains the fluctuation in demand for various recreational products, which are used during different seasons.

Shipper - Party that tenders goods for transportation.

Shipping Manifest - A document that lists the pieces in a shipment.

Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) - A category of unit with unique combination of form, fit and function.

Stock Outs - Merchandise that is requested by a customer but is temporarily unavailable. Also referred to as (OOS)

Stop off Charge - Charge associated with a load that has more than one drop off point. Typically the first stop of a multi-stop load is free, then the charge applies to subsequent stops.

Supply Chain - Starting with unprocessed raw materials and ending with final customer using the finished goods.

Team - Two drivers who operate a truck equipped with a sleepr berth; while one driver sleeps in the berth to accumulate mandatory off-duty time, the other driver operates the vehicle.

Third-party Logistics (3PL) Provider - A specialist in logistics who may provide a variety of transportation, warehousing and logistics related services to buyers or sellers. Ton-mile- A measure of output for freight transportation; reflects weight of shipment and the distance it is hauled; a multiplication of tons hauled by the distance traveled.

Transit time - The total time that elapses between a shipment’s pick up and delivery.

Transloading - Transferring shipments from one vehicle/container to another at a terminal interchange point.

Truckload (TL) - Quantity of freight required to fill a truck or at a minimum, the amount required to qualify for a truckload rate.

Warehouse - Storage place for products. Principal warehouse activities include receipt of product, storage, shipment and order picking.