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Glossary of Terms

Provided by the Express Carrier Association

ANC – Advanced Ship Notification. An electronic transaction set providing detailed shipment manifest information to carriers and consignee’s.
Ancillary Charges – Extra fees charged to Customer over and above the Freight Charge
Assembly – Labor-intensive warehouse work designed to put together a finished product per the specifications of individual client from several SKU’s stored in warehouse.
Bill of Lading - The transportation documentation that acts as a contract of carriage between the shipper and carrier; also provides a receipt for the goods tendered to the carrier.
Blanket Wrapping – Specialized transportation handling service designed to protect certain commodities such as furniture, large appliances, household goods or large office products such as copiers.
Break Bulk – Carrier facility designed to unload consolidated shipments and cross dock them to delivery vehicles.
Carrier –Any entity acting under or pursuant to its Operating Authority.
COD – Collect upon Delivery. Payment is required from the consignee at the time of delivery.
Collect – Billing term in which consignee receives freight invoice instead of shipper.
COFC - Container of flatcar; intermodal container that ships without chassis on rail flatcars.
Consignee - The receiver of a freight shipment.
Consignor - The sender (shipper) of a freight shipment.
Consolidation – Converting individual, smaller shipments into larger, multi-shipment loads in order to achieve transportation savings.
Container – A metal box designed to be transported via ocean vessel or rail. They are usually 20’ x 40’ in length.
Courier Service – A service designated primarily for the transportation of parcels, mail, documents or other small items either on-demand or scheduled basis.
Cross-docking – The operational process of transferring freight from one vehicle to another at a dock facility. Usually this involves skidded and shrunk-wrapped LTL freight transferred using forklifts.
CWT - Hundredweight or per 100 lbs.
Dedicated Vehicle – Vehicle which contain freight from a single, exclusive shipper.
Demurrage - Charges that are assessed when consignor or consignee fail to load or unload shipments in specified time limits. Also known as detention.
Density - The physical characteristic measuring mass in pounds per foot; affects equipment utilization and rate decisions.
Desk Top Delivery – Inside delivery of small shipments directly to user’s desk/work area.
Detention - See Demurrage.
DIM Factor – Dimensional Weight Factor. A method of compensating air freight carriers for the cubic requirements of freight that is very light yet very bulky. In most cases, a DIM factor of 194 is used for domestic shipments and 166 for international shipments. Calculation is LxWxH/194 = DIM weight. If DIM weight is greater than actual weight, the freight is rated at DIM weight.
Document Reconstruction – The cost to reproduce or reconstruct lost or damaged Non-Negotiable Instruments from microfilm, microfiche or other records.
Drayage – Refers to the inland move of containers to and from either rail yards or ocean ports. They are pulled by tractors and specialized chassis equipment.
EDI – Electronic Data Interchange. There are several standardized transaction sets with the most common being shipment status information, ASN’s and invoicing functions.
Expedited Shipment - Shipments that need to move more quickly than normal service, usually at a higher cost.
Face Value – The dollar amount to be made payable to one party from another on a check, cash letter or other Non- Negotiable Instrument.
FAK - Freight all kinds; either a mixture of products and/or special rates being applied.
Flatbeds - Some shipments require that the main deck be free of walls or ceiling constraints. To facilitate loading or unloading, these shipments may require a flatbed trailer. A wide variety of flatbed trailers accommodate the trucking of almost any type of surface shipment. Flatbeds are also used for trucking anything that cannot be moved in a van, such as: special equipment; wide, long, oversized or heavy haul loads; or, any other type of trucking that can legally move by highway in North America.
Freight Bill – A carrier document describing shipment with control number sometimes referred to as the “pro number”. Used by carrier for shipment tracing purposes.
Fuel Surcharge - Surcharge imposed by carriers when fuel prices reach over certain levels.
Heavy Haul and Oversized Shipments - Heavy haul and oversized are also known as over-dimensional shipments and can pose special challenges for shippers. Shipments can be both heavy haul and oversized in nature. Heavy haul shipments may require special routings because only certain highways allow extremely heavy vehicle weights. These shipments also may require special trucks and trailers or special permits issued by various state or local government agencies.
Hot Shot – Time critical shipment of any size requiring dedicated equipment that picks up freight on demand and transports direct to consignee without any intermediary stops.
Inside Delivery – A delivery where there is not dock facility and involves moving the freight off the truck to a location with the building specified by the customer.
Integrated Carrier – A carrier owning all of the assets required to provide the service it markets to the shipping public.
Interline – The handing off of freight from a transportation company that picks up freight to a partner company that makes the final delivery. This service is intended to allow small regional companies to compete with larger carriers outside their designated coverage area.
Intermodal - Shipments moving two modes, ie: rail and ground.
Intrastate California - This is the most popular segment of the trucking business on the West Coast.
LCL – Less than Container Load. Typically an ocean freight term used to describe load consolidated within 20’ or 40’ ocean container.
Lift Gates – Powered equipment on the tail of either a straight truck or trailer which raises and lowers freight from truck floor to ground. Designed to reduce time and injury at facilities without loading docks.
Light LTL – Freight shipments weighing less than 1000 lbs.
Linehaul – Truckload transportation for consolidated freight covering the longest stem of the move.
Local Cartage – Local pickup and delivery service providers to either shippers or air freight forwarders.
Logistics – The management of inventory and related information from its origin to final destination. Supply chain management.
LTL (Less-Than-Truckload) - This is a shipment that does not fill an entire truckload. Specialized carriers provide service exclusively for this type of shipment. These providers services are priced by weight, density, value and ease of handling in combination with distance. Pricing is calculated based on cents per hundredweight rating. They also consider volumetric pricing, or dimensional weight pricing, if a commodity's density is the issue. Their services are readily available in the U.S. and Canada. The National Motor Freight Classification standards are commonly used in order to identify the best pricing for a particular commodity on a particular shipping lane. Example: A 10,000 pound shipment of ball bearings takes up less space in a trailer than does 10,000 pounds of ping pong balls! Carriers commonly use a system of pricing that accounts for weight, as well as density, volume and distance.
Milk Runs – same as Pedal runs
NFO – Next Flight Out service provided by a forwarder through use of commercial airlines.
NMFC - National Motor Freight Classification. This publication contains descriptions for commodities transported by LTL carriers. The NMFC contains class descriptions and rankings used to determine pricing.
Non-negotiable Instruments – Items of no intrinsic value including, but not limited to, canceled and For Deposit Only, stamped checks, cash letters, data processing media, letters of transmittal, non-negotiable stocks, bonds, drafts, notes, vouchers, accounts, bills, deeds, letters of credit, passports, tickets, interoffice documents and correspondence, manuscript notes and mechanical drawings.
On Demand – Unscheduled, usually time sensitive request for transportation service requiring immediate response on the part of the service provider.
Operating Authority – Certificates, permits, licenses and other documents, issued by federal or state governmental agencies having jurisdiction over Carrier and evidencing Carrier’s registration and authority to conduct transportation services for hire in interstate and intrastate commerce.
OS&D – Over, Short, Damaged. A report designed to provide all exceptions from a consolidated shipment once received by delivering carrier. This report is critical in the transfer of cargo liability.
Oversized Package – A package between 84” and 130” in length and girth but weighs less than 30 lbs. will be rated at the 30 lb small package rate. (Standard provision established by UPS)
Pallet - A small platform, usually 40 x 48 on which goods are placed. Depending on how it's loaded into the trailer, 22-24 pallet positions fit in a 48' trailer; 26-28 pallet positions in a 53' trailer.
Parts Inventory – The strategic stocking of fast moving parts at carriers warehouse for the purpose of reducing transportation costs and delays by stocking parts closer to the end users and having them available “on demand” whereby the carrier delivers parts as needed.
Pedal Runs – LTL shipments loaded onto trailer such that the truck can drop them off in order on a given route.
Pick & Pack – Fulfillment of orders of more than one SKU into a shipping container from the warehouse floor.
Piggyback - Rail-truck service. Same as intermodal.
POD – Proof of Delivery
Pool Distribution – Consolidation of LTL shipments into truckloads destined to a single regional distributor who breaks the load and performs final delivery for purpose of reduced cost and improved transit times.
PUP – A 28’ trailer designed to be pulled in tandem by a tractor. Some of these are of the drop frame variety providing additional cubic capacity.
Rail Shipments - Rail shipments are also known as piggyback or intermodal shipments. Shipping by rail is a cost effective alternative to over the road trucking, but has longer transit time, so if expense is more of a concern than time, rail service becomes a viable option.
Reefer Units – Refrigerated trailers or straight trucks designed to transport temperature sensitive products.
Residential Delivery – Delivery to an individual home in residential neighborhood away from commercial zones.
Rural Route Delivery – Delivery with no physical address other than rural route box number.
Shipper – Customer of carrier needing freight transported.
SKU – Stock Keeping Unit or line item identifying each commodity stored in a warehouse. It differs with every type of product.
SLC - Shippers Load & Count; notation on Bill of Lading.
Small Package – Single piece shipments weighing less than 150 lbs. and less than 130” in length and girth. Usually packaged in corrugated cartons and priced individually.
Step Van – A pickup and delivery vehicle widely used by UPS and has from 500 to 1000 cubic feet capacity. It is designed for versatility in making inside deliveries by allowing driver to easily step off the back of the truck with parcels in hand.
TOFC - Trailer on Flatcar; truck trailer that ships on rail flatcar.
Team Service - This can be the answer to the time-critical or intrinsically valuable large shipment. This is a service used when a shipment requires expedited delivery beyond what normal transit time can deliver. A two-person team drives in shifts and the truck is stopped only for fuel. Team drivers take turns sleeping, while the fresh driver is at the wheel. Although slightly more expensive due to additional labor costs, team service is used when critical shipments need to be moved quickly. These shipments may be so large or heavy that air freight costs are prohibitively expensive. Team service is the fastest, over-the-road shipping option available.
Truckload - Full truckloads (FTL or sometimes TL) utilizing van or flatbed trailers, depending upon shipment configuration. Shipments are between 10,000 and 45,000 lbs and typically priced per mile.
Vans - Many shipments are serviced by van trailers, especially loads comprised of loose cartons or unitized or palletized freight. (In order to determine an accurate cost estimate, it is important to know whether or not a palletized shipment can be stacked.) This type of service usually requires 48 or 53-foot trailers. While trailer lengths are standard, styles vary.
Wait Time - Period of time allotted by Carrier for Customer to tender Property upon pick up or delivery at Customer location.
Warehousing - Warehousing is sometimes needed, and can be provided, to complement inbound and outbound transportation services. There are 4 distinct types of warehousing available, depending upon load content: for finished goods; for raw materials; for consumer fulfillment; and for vendor-managed inventory (VMI).
Zone Skip – The consolidation of small packages destined to a given region of the country. The “zone skipping” connotation refers to UPS rating structure of 2-8 in which local deliveries are zone two and increasing zones by approximately 150 mile increments. The idea is to take high zone, long haul parcel shipments and pay only zone 2 or 3 rates while taking advantage of economic long haul rates for the greatest distance thus the term “zone skip”.

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