ACCESSORIAL: Special services provided by the carrier that are available for an additional fee
AIR CARGO: Forms of freight shipping that uses planes instead of trucks, boats or trains
BACKHAUL (INBOUND): When a shipment is delivered, drivers may have to return to their origin with an empty trailer; a backhaul is a shipment that is picked up at or near the point of the original delivery and destined for a facility near the point of origin; this way, carriers make money by not driving empty
BILL OF LADING (BOL): When the driver picks up a load, the shipper will provide them with a BOL; this document serves as proof of receipt for the shipment details and the driver will sign it; once they do, the driver is responsible for delivering the goods in the same condition as when they were loaded into the trailer
BOBTAIL: A bobtail is a truck (tractor) that is traveling without a trailer; a fee will be involved for this when the truck needs to pick up a trailer that does not belong to the trucker
CAPACITY: The availability of equipment in a specific region
CARRIER ARRIVAL NOTICE: A document sent by the ocean freight forwarder, freight carrier, or agent to the consignee or Notify Party, indicating the shipment's arrival date at a specific location, usually the destination.
CHASSIS: The most important piece of equipment in drayage, other than the truck, is the chassis which is hooked up to the truck and used to transport the container over the road transport
CHASSIS SPLIT: This occurs when the container is not in the same place as the chassis; in this case, the trucking company may assess a chassis split fee to cover the costs of bringing the chassis to the container location
CLAIM: Request for compensation for damage or loss of product
CONSIGNEE / BUYER: A consignee is the party to whom ownership of the goods will transfer when the cargo is released at destination
CONSIGNOR / SELLER: The consignor, in a contract of carriage, is the person sending a shipment to be delivered whether by land, sea or air
COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE (CDL): Drivers must have a CDL to operate a commercial motor vehicle; the driver must pass a written test of rules and regulations and demonstrate that he or she can safely operate a commercial vehicle
CONTAINERS: Containers are constructed of corrugated steel; containers are shipped via the rail or on ocean shipping vessels
CROSS DOCK: Products are unloaded from a truck or railroad car, sorted, and directly reloaded onto outbound trucks or rail cars to continue their journey; products going to the same destination can easily be consolidated into fewer transport vehicles
CUSTOMS BROKER: A firm that represents importers/exporters in dealings with customs; the broker is typically responsible for obtaining and submitting all documents for clearing merchandise through customs, arranging inland transport, and paying all charges related to these functions
DEADHEAD: Miles covered without hauling a load
DEMURRAGE: Fee assessed by the terminal if your cargo remains at the port after the last free day; also called storage
DETENTION: An accessorial fee can be charged if the driver waits to be loaded or unloaded for more than two hours past his or her appointment or check-in time
DISCHARGE: When a container is unloaded from the vessel into the port; once a container discharges, we are constantly checking to see if it is available
DISTRIBUTION CENTER (DC): A facility used to store and distribute goods
DOC CUT OFF: This is the info the Warehouse/Customer needs to send to the Steamship Line for the container; this is when the empty container needs to be at the Warehouse
DOMESTIC TRANSPORTATION: Freight moving within the United States
DRAYAGE TRANSPORTATION: The short-distance movement of goods as part of the larger intermodal transportation process
DRIVER ASSIST: Loads where the driver must assist with loading or unloading, which may include tasks such as moving pallets or securing the load to prevent movement during transit
DROP TRAILER (DROP/PICK OR DROP/HOOK): An arrangement between a carrier and customer where the carrier leaves an empty trailer for loading and replaces it with a new one for transport to the destination
DRY RUN: A dry run is when a trucker is not able to successfully complete the pickup or delivery of a shipment; the trucker will charge full price for the extra trip
DRY VAN: Dry vans can haul a variety of freight, which is why they are the most frequently used trailers in the U.S.; these vans often have a wooden floor, and wooden or fiberglass walls, ranging from 3" to 4" thick
ELD: Electronic logging device that monitors and records a driver’s duty status, location, and hours of service; ELDs are connected to a truck’s diagnostic port, some are separate physical devices, while others are app-based and accessible via smartphone or tablet; in December 2017, ELDs became federally mandated, replacing traditional paper-and-pen logbooks
ERD: earliest return date; the earliest a loaded container can be gated into the port
ETA: Estimated time of arrival
ETD: Estimated time of departure
EXPORT: a shipment going outside of the U.S.
FIRMS CODE: Code listed on the Arrival Notice identifying where the goods will be customs cleared at and where the freight will be available
FLATBEDS: Flatbed trailers haul items that are bulky or heavy, like lumber, steel, or machinery; freight is secured on a flatbed by using tarps or chains
FMCSA: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; an agency in the United States Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking industry in the U.S.
FREIGHT BROKER: Any person who sells transportation; they find the freight that needs to be moved and find the trucks, trains, planes, or boats to move it
FULL CONTAINER LOAD (FCL): an FCL is an ocean shipment in which the cargo occupies a full container (of any size)
GATE IN: When the full container (exports) or the empty container (imports) is entered into the port/terminal
GATE OUT: When the full container (imports) or the empty container (exports) is exited from the port/terminal
GROSS WEIGHT: Combined weight of tractor, trailer, and all loaded materials
HAZMAT: Hazmat endorsement is required by truck drivers who have a Commercial Driver's License and wish to deliver HAZMAT loads containing hazardous materials
HEADHAUL (OUTBOUND): The load a carrier hauls away from its home base
HOT LOAD: A shipment that is time-sensitive, has an ASAP delivery requirement, or is the first shipment for a new customer, with no room for failure
HOURS OF SERVICE (HOS): Legal limit to the number of consecutive hours a driver can be on duty before they must rest
HRHV: A term used to describe high risk, high value shipments with a total value exceeding $100,000.00; these shipments are typically expedited and may be prone to theft
IMPORT: a shipment coming into the U.S.
INTERCOMPANY: The act of doing business between different divisions within a company (example - drayage handling a portion of a shipment for international)
INTERMODAL: When freight is shipped using two or more modes of transportation; intermodal transportation typically refers to truck-rail-truck shipments but may also include truck-to-air shipping or truck-to-ship for international shipments
INTERSTATE CARRIER: A carrier authorized to operate between states or provinces in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada
INTRASTATE CARRIER: A carrier who operates entirely within a single state
IN-GATE: Returning containers to the port
LAYOVER: A load where driver was on time for pickup or delivery and driver cannot get loaded/unloaded that day and must wait until the following day to be offloaded
LAST FREE DAY: The last day that a container is at the port before accruing storage fees; the goal is to have the container pulled by the LFD
LESS THAN CONTAINER LOAD (LCL): LCL is an ocean shipment in which the cargo does not occupy the full container (of any size); in this case, goods for different consignees would be consolidated into one full container
LIFTGATE: A lift on the back of some trucks that assist in getting freight on and off the truck; often used in place of a loading dock
LOAD: Another term for shipment, referring to a commodity being transported from one point to another
LOADING DOCK: A platform at a facility where goods are loaded and unloaded from trucks
LOCAL DRIVERS: Operate within a small city radius and often pull smaller vehicles
LOGISTICS: The planning and execution of the movement of goods and products from one location to another
LUMPER: Third party workers who charge the driver to offload the trailer; usually in food/beverage warehouses and usually needs a lumper advance
MOTOR CARRIER: The entity responsible for moving freight, using trucks, trains, planes, or boats
NET WEIGHT: Weight of the goods being shipped does not include truck weight
OVERSEAS AGENT: Foreign freight handler; also known as booking agent and agent
OUT-GATE: Pulling containers from the port
PACKING LIST: Document used for customs declaration and delivery orders that identifies the quantity, weight, dimensions, and piece count within a container
PER DIEM: The fee the ocean carrier charges for each day past the number of free days that a container is away from the port
Permits: Permits may be needed if your shipment is overweight or over dimensional; we will price the permit beforehand and will include this in your overall rate to your customer when quoting
PLACE OF DELIVERY: The location of where the goods will be delivered to
Port cut: This date and time is the latest the loaded container can be gated into the port
PORT OF DISCHARGE: Also called the port of unloading, the port of discharge is the place where a ship or aircraft unloads its shipments, which are then discharged to their respective consignees
PRE-ALERT: A pre-alert is a shipment notice sent by the freight forwarder at origin to the freight forwarder or customs broker at destination, so that they can prepare for the import clearance and delivery arrangements in advance; it signifies that the shipment has already been loaded and indicates the estimated arrival along with other important shipment information
Pre-Book: A load booked well in advance relative to pick up time
Preset Appointment: A load where pickup and/or delivery appointments are known in advance of accepting load, typically set when the customer sends a load tend
PRIVATE CARRIER: Owned by the shipper and therefore does not charge a fee to its owner
PROOF OF DELIVERY (POD): Once the load has been delivered to the consignee, a facility rep will sign the form to confirm the load was delivered in the same condition as when it was loaded into the trailer
RATE TO CUSTOMER: The amount of money that we are charging the customer for the load
REDELIVERY/ADDITIONAL MILEAGE: Situation where driver shows up to deliver the shipment and then must deliver to another facility instead of original receiver; rate for redelivery is at least $50.00 and depends on how far away the actual receiver is from original location
REFRIGERATED TRAILER (REEFER): A temperature-sensitive trailer with insulated walls, a refrigerated unit, and an extra fuel tank to maintain the temperature; it is heavier than dry vans and cannot carry as much weight
REJECTED: When a consignee (receiver) refuses a product
ROLL-UP DOORS: One disadvantage to a roll-up door is the floor height opening; a trailer with roll-up doors has significantly less space because the door rolls up into the trailer
ROUTE OPTIMIZATION: The process of determining the most efficient route for transporting goods
SEAL: This is a plastic or metal device with a unique code that is secured to the closed trailer doors to help prevent claims; the only way the trailer can be opened is if the seal is broken
SHIPPER: This is the point of origin for a load, the physical place or location where the driver picks up a load; it can be a distribution center, processing plant, rail yard or shipping yard
STEAMSHIP LINE (SSL): A company that owns vessels and transports containers via sea
SWING DOORS: Trailer doors that open by swinging out, allowing for more freight to be loaded
STOP OFF: A stop off fee is assessed by the trucker if a shipment is split between two delivery locations
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: The coordination and management of activities involved in the production and delivery of a product or service
TARE: Total weight of tractor and trailer without loaded materials
TARP FEE: A set amount of money if there are tarps needed on a load; usually occurs when customer asks you for a rate on an open deck load but does not know if tarps will be needed or not
TEU: 20FT. EQUIVALENT UNIT, MEASURE OF VOLUME IN UNITS OF A 20-FOOT-LONG FULL CONTAINER; LARGE CONTAINER SHIPS CAN TRANSPORT MORE THAN 18,000
THIRD PARTY LOGISTICS PROVIDER (3PL) - A freight broker that acts as a go-between for customers and carriers; 3pls often have discounted freight rates and offer customer service
TONU: Truck ordered not used; a load where driver has been dispatched and is en route to shipper or is at the shipper and the load is cancel
TRACKING: Monitoring the progress of a load from beginning to end
TRAILERS: What the tractor pulls (what the freight is shipped on); Trailer Lengths are Van – 53’ Reefer – 53’ Flatbed 48’ or 53’
TRIAXLE: This is a chassis with three rear axles as opposed to the normal two; this is for weight distribution on a “per axle” basis; 20’ containers loaded over 38,000lbs (about 17236.5 kg) will require a triaxle to distribute weight evenly legally per axle
TRANSLOAD: The process of taking items off a container, shrink wrapping/palletizing/sorting commodities and loading them onto a dry van
TWIC Card: The Transportation Worker Identification Credential, also known as TWIC®, is required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act for workers who need access to secure areas of the nation's maritime facilities and vessels
WAREHOUSE: A facility used for storage of goods and products
YARD STORAGE: Yard storage is the storage of containers in a trucker’s gated yard; if a container cannot be delivered to its destination before the LFD (Last Free Day), the container may be stored in the trucker’s yard to avoid costly demurrage charges; truckers charge a daily fee for yard storage
