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Transport glossary

Posted on 04/04/202329/11/2023 by Mira Rantanen

Transport and logistics is an area where a lot of jargon is used, it can be sometimes difficult to understand when a professional asks you if it is FL or LTL load, or if you need a side loader ect.

In this article, we will help you understand what it means, using short definitions but also with extra details if you need them.
We recommend you to add this page to your favorites to have it accessible when you’ll need it.

Index

A

ADR: European Agreement on the transport of dangerous goods by road. More information.

Advice: Message to confirm action is taken. eg. Advice of Arrival: Action to deliver is taken and arrival is scheduled.

AWB: Air Waybill

B

B/L: Bill of Lading, a legal document issued by a carrier to a shipper detailing types, quantity, and destination of the goods being carried.

BAF: Bunker Adjustment Factor, to calculate fluctuation in bunker/fuel prices regarding maritime transport.

Bonded warehouse: warehouse where uncleared goods can be stored. Such as alcohol import, and goods under specific customs status.

Breakbulk cargo: can also be called General cargo = Goods packed in unit load different than usual pallets (i.e bags, boxes, crates, drums, or barrels) to be combined with other goods.

Bulk cargo: terms to designate unpackaged goods (i.e petrol, oil, grain, coal, gravel or sand). Bulk cargo can be dry or wet. It is usually transported in a tank unit.

Bulk carrier: a ship that transports bulk cargo

C

C.A.F: Currency Adjustment Factor, to calculate fluctuations in currencies

C.O.D: Cash On Delivery, goods are realized upon receipt of payment

Cabotage: domestic transport in a foreign country

CAD: Cash Against Document, used to ensure an importer pays for goods before they are in receipt of those goods

Carrier: Party responsible to perform transport

Cartage: Distributions/pickup of cargo on land

CBM (cubic meter): ISO measure to determine the volume of a shipment

Certificate of Origin: document to verify the original country of production (customs purposes)

Chassis: trailer for carriage of containers on the road

Claim: written message to hold carrier responsible for damage, delay, etc.

CMR: International Waybill, consignment note, CMR-Convention regarding Contract for the International Carriage of Good by Road

Commercial invoice: Invoice document with the final price, it is required for customs and insurance purposes in international transport. It is also an important document for the freight forwarder or other parties that will transport the goods. NOTE! Different from pro-forma invoice, as commercial invoice is only issued after the sales has been done and shows the final price and conditions of the sale.

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It needs to respect specific mentions such as:

  • The seller’s complete name, postal address, telephone and fax number and bank information ;
  • Invoice date and number
  • Seller’s reference, business ID, Foreign-European trade number (EORI)
  • Buyer’s reference, order number and date
  • Buyer’s (and addressee’s, if not the same) full name and address
  • The name and postal address of the recipient of the goods
  • Country of destination
  • Country of destination
  • Transport information, e.g. method, route
  • Terms of delivery (e.g. CIF Helsinki, Incoterms 2020)
  • Time of delivery for goods, date of services rendered or the date of advance payment
  • The names and addresses of forwarding agents used by the buyer and seller 
  • Delivery method
  • Terms and method of payment
  • Marks, codes, numbers and types of parcels
  • Exact definition of goods
  • Customs tariff designation in accordance with the designations of the destination country, in most cases a 6-digit HS designation. The CN designation (EU Combined Nomenclature) is not given.
  • Quantity and nature of goods and the extent and nature of the services. The quantity can be given in units according to the trade practice, gross and net weight, and other units required by the customs tariff of the purchasing country.
  • Price information of goods in agreed currency, unit and total prices by types of goods.
  • Designation of tax-free sales. Export sales are designated with the marking ‘VAT 0%, Tax-exempt sale outside the EU’.
  • Discounts and/or any additional charges with their criteria
  • Exporter’s signature if the purchasing country’s authorities so require
  • If necessary The seller’s and buyer’s VAT numbers. The seller’s Business ID. No UVN reference is required.
  • VAT 0% (Intra-Community supply)” designation on tax-exempt sale.
  • T2L or T2LF designation must be added in certain cases either to the invoice or transport document to designate the intra-community status of the goods. A separate T2L or T2F document can also be compiled.

.
CN:
Combined Nomenclature: used in statistical declarations (Intrastat) for intra-EU trade as well as for exports. 8 digits.

Consignee: party to whom the shipment is sent

Consignor: party who is sending shipment

Consolidate: combine small shipments into one/container/trailer

Country of Origin: often determines duty on goods

CSC: Container Service Charge, terminal and handling charge for container

Customs: Governmental agency that controls/oversees the flow of goods

Custom value: Value used to determine custom duty and Vat amount

D

Damage: a sum of money claimed or awarded in compensation for a loss or harm to goods

Dangerous Goods: Dangerous goods can be described as goods that represent a risk to people and/or the environment. They are classified under the UN classification, using different classes that are represented using small pictograms, fe. Class 1: Explosive substances; Class 2: Gases; (find them all here). Dangerous goods transport is regulated to minimize these risks, this regulation is called ADR. Dangerous goods can be transported by road, train, sea, or air transport, following certain transport and handling regulations.  More info

Delay: Late delivery

Delivery: Action of delivering parcels or goods

Demurrage: charge for the use of the container within the terminal beyond the free time period

Detention: charge for the use of the container outside the terminal or depot, beyond the free time period

Disbursement: all expenses of an agent paid in advance of transport; the agent put a service fee for that

Discharge: unloading of container from ship

Dispatch: process before goods are sent somewhere (packing, labeling, arranging documents, allocating resources -truck, driver ship… ; to send the parcels)

Domestic transport: part of the transport of goods within the same country. No borders passing.

Door to Door: from the consignor’s warehouse to the consignee’s warehouse

E

EDI: Electronic Data Interchange, software of different companies communicates f.e tracking data

EORI: Economic Operators Registration and Identification number – Businesses and people wishing to do trade must use this number in all customs procedures and information exchanges. This number permits faster identification and process within the European customs system.

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Example of a situation where the EORI is needed: Act as a carrier for air, sea, or land transport. Handout an Entry Declaration of goods or Summary Exit Declaration…

The format of the EORI number is made in two parts: Country identification + individual identification within the country. In Finland, the number is usually made of FI + Y-tunnus (ex. FI1234567-8).
You can check the validity of an EORI number here:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/eos/eori_validation.jsp?Screen=0&EoriNumb=&Expand=false&Lang=en&parentfolder=.%2f

People established in EU customs territory must apply for an EORI number by contacting the customs office of their country. People from outside the EU who needs an EORI number need to contact the customs office of the country where the goods will make their first entry and where they will make their entry declaration.

Source : https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/eos/eori_home.jsp?Lang=en

ETA: Expected Time of Arrival

ETD: Expected Time of Departure

F

FAK: Freight All Kind; groupage of similar goods.

FCR: Forwarders Certificate of Receipt, to verify that forwarder possesses cargo

FCT: Forwarders Certificate of Transport, to verify that the forwarder transports cargo

Force majeure: Reason for hindrances beyond one’s control

Freight forwarder: a company that serves as an intermediary between transportation companies that import and export goods and the businesses that need them

Frontier: Border between countries, often where goods are cleared or reported.

FTL / LTL – FCL / LCL:  FTL: Full Trailer Load FCL: Full container Load – LCL: Less than Truckload LCL: Less than Container Load. These are terms used to describe how much the shipment will take in a truck or container.  LTL and LCL are also called groupage transport.

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More info: We use these terms as the traffic coordinator job is different between a truck/container fully loaded with only one loading address and one delivery address than when a shipment takes only a small part of the total truck/container. In the case of LTL/LCL: the coordinator will have to complete the space with other shipments, which will add constraints on deadlines, delivery addresses, transport rules etc.  These other loads should ideally be on the way or close to each other as we don’t want the truck to make a lot of extra kilometers. It is also a way to reduce unnecessary kilometers or gas emissions than having several half-loaded trucks taking the same way. LTL/LCL has the advantage of permitting small companies to maintain their Just-On-Time deliveries, as they usually need smaller volumes transported.

G

Groupage: Combine small shipments into one container/trailer

Gross weight : Full weight of a shipment, including the weight of the goods and packaging

Gross vehicle mass (GVM) : is the maximum weight of a vehicle in operation. This weight is announced by the constructor, and include chassis, vehicle body, fuels, engine, engine’s fluid, accessories, passengers, driver and the cargo load.

H

Haulage: transport of trailer by road

Hazardous cargo = Dangerous goods (see in D section): goods that need special attention when transported as they present risk for people and environment

Hucke-pack: transport of a trailer on combined roadway and railways

HS code: Harmonized System Code : they are identifications codes given to goods during international trade. It is administered by The World Customs Organization (WCO) and are internationally accepted for the use of customs authorities and companies to identify goods. NOTE! They are not used by European customs to issue customs clearance. See CN or Taric code.

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More info: Sixt digit code to classify the goods. The correct HS code for your goods will be required for use in legal and commercial documents when undertaking trade. Some examples of use are in sales contracts, bills of lading, letters of credit, and certificates of origin. HS codes are also used by customs authorities to apply tariffs and taxes to goods and keep track of imports and exports.

I

IMDG: International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (more information: https://www.imo.org/en)

Imports : Foreign goods bought by citizens, companies or authorities of another country for their use in their territory

Import license : Document issued by authorities of some country, authorizing certain individuals or companies to import goods in their country

Importer of Record : Generally the buyer or owner of the goods, or, when designated by owner, consignee or buyer, it can be a custom broker that will proceed to the import custom clarification of the goods.

Inbound (logistics/goods) : term used to represent all the flow of goods incoming from a vendor to a business or facility (eg. warehouse)

Incoterms : The Incoterms or International Commercial Terms are a series of pre-defined commercial terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) relating to international commercial law. Incoterms define the responsibilities of exporters and importers in the arrangement of shipments and the transfer of liability involved at various stages of the transaction.

IAC : Indirect Air Carrier : Any operator without a air carrier certificate that take the responsibility to engage movements of goods by air using service of an air carrier. This term is mostly used in US to protect the security of air cargo.

IOT: Internet of Things, use of the ability of objects to connect to the internet to share their data in order to get live geolocalisation for example, or live consumption of a vehicle, preventive maintenance ect..

J

We don’t have any relevant words in this letter..

K

We don’t have any relevant words in this letter..

L

Loading List: List of the goods contained in the transport, this document is used for customs purposes but also as a verification document for loading and unloading at the recipient of goods. Must include the  exact number of goods, volume and weight of the loaded goods.

Lo-lo: Lift on – Lift off, ship that is loaded and offloaded by cranes

M

Manifest: a detailed list of consolidation, used in case of groupage transport

Maximum payload: Loading capacity of a unit

MSDS/SDS: Material Safety Data Sheet: Document used for transmitting product safety information

N

Net tare weight: weight of the empty container, trailer, or wagon

NVOCC: Non-vessel Operating Common Carrier, carrier operating without own transport equipment

O

OT: open Top; container with a tarpaulin roof, enables oversize cargo such as timber and scrap metal to be loaded from the top

P

Packing list: list to describe the content of shipment, plus packing methods, dimensions and weight of each packages, marks and numbers of the boxes.

Pallet: Plastic or wooden unit of transport where the goods are loaded and help the handling of the goods. Euro pallet size is 800 mm x 1,200 mm x 144 mm approx. weight. 25kg.

Part load : single shipment that fills the transport unit only partly

Payload: Capacity of loading of a unit

Place of discharge: i.e. port where the container is loaded off ship

Place of loading: place where goods are loaded in the transport unit, or where the container is loaded in the ship i.e

POD: Proof of Delivery ; document that prove carrier has satisfied its terms of a contract of carriage by confirmation of the recipient. It can under paper or electronic format (EPOD).

Preadvice: Notice given to consignee to inform of shipment and details of the transport

Pro-forma invoice: invoice with information about good, NOTE! not a commercial invoice.  Moreinfo: the primary purpose of a pro-forma invoice is quotation for a potential buyer, tool to negotiate or obtains letter of credit , other payments or prepare to any import restrictions.

PSYM: NSAB General Conditions of the Nordic Association of Freight Forwarders. access here 

Q

We don’t have any relevant words in this letter..

R

Rail wagon: transport unit used for transport by train/railway.

Reefer: transport unit where temperature can be controlled (i.e reefer container, reefer trailer)

Refrigerated goods: these are sensitive goods whose usability or value depends on certain temperatures during storage and transport (i.e food products, pharmaceutical products, pieces of art..)

Removals: transfer of household goods, moving.

Ro-Ro: Roll on Roll off, a ship that is loaded and unloaded by goods on wheels ( i.e ferry boats)

Routing order: (R/O) Consignment instruction from the consignee to consignor; a written statement that the payor of the freight has mandated a specific carrier. Prevent any unauthorized third party to claim and collect goods as the shipper has clear information of who is mandated.

S

SDR: Special Drawing Right: Currency unit of the IMF as a method to determine value of the goods and compensation on International transports. Based on a basketful of foreign currencies and fluctuates on a continual basis.

Shipping instruction: Instructions given by client to carrier

Side loader: container chassis with own lifter on the side

Stackable pallets: It is a pallet that can be stacked/piled with other freight on top of the. This is used to save floor space in the transport unit.

Stripping: Unloading of container load in smaller unit

Stuffing: Loading of loose goods, into a container for international transport. Similar to Groupage

Swap body: container for transport on truck and/or rail. stands on it’s own legs

T

T.E.U: Twenty feet equivalent unit (i.e. container) 1 TEU = 20’ container / 2 TEU = 2×20’ container or 1×40’ container

Tare: weight of empty transport unit (i.e container)

Taric code/nomenclature: Integrated Tariff of the European Union used for imports to the EU. Taric code is usually 10 digits.

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More info: multilingual database integrating all measures relating to EU customs tariff, commercial and agricultural legislation:

  • provisions and customs duties of the combined nomenclature
  • preferential tariffs
  • antidumping duties
  • EU restrictions, provisions and prohibitions relating to import and export
  • footnotes

All goods codes and regulations available at : https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp

.

TIR: Customs Convention to facilitate the transport of sealed units across numerous frontiers

U

ULD: Unit Load Device: Transport unit for air transport

V

Vessel: Ship – Boat

W

We don’t have any relevant words in this letter..

X

We don’t have any relevant words in this letter..

Y

We don’t have any relevant words in this letter..

Z

We don’t have any relevant words in this letter..

 

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