Glossary
Making sense of freight talk.
Transport and logistics have their own language — acronyms, documents and terms that can slow down a shipment if misunderstood. We've put together a plain-language glossary of the freight forwarding and shipping terminology our customers ask about most.
General freight & logistics terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 3PL – Third-Party Logistics | A company that manages logistics activities such as transportation, warehousing and distribution on behalf of another business. Delman Shipping offers Third Party Logistics. |
| AOG – Aircraft on Ground | An urgent aviation situation where an aircraft cannot operate until a required component, tool or document arrives. |
| Air Freight | The transportation of goods by aircraft. It is normally used for urgent, valuable, perishable or time-sensitive shipments. |
| Air Waybill – AWB | A transport document issued for air cargo. It records shipment details and acts as evidence of the agreement with the air carrier. |
| Arrival Notice | A notification advising the consignee that a shipment has arrived or is expected to arrive at the destination. |
| Bill of Entry / Customs Declaration | A declaration submitted to customs containing details such as the commodity, value, origin and HS code of imported or exported goods. |
| Bill of Lading – B/L | A sea-freight document issued by the carrier. It acts as a cargo receipt, evidence of the transport contract and, in certain forms, a document of title. |
| Bonded Warehouse | A customs-controlled facility where imported goods may be stored before duties and taxes are paid or before the goods are re-exported. |
| Breakbulk Cargo | Cargo that is loaded individually rather than inside a standard shipping container, usually because of its size, weight or shape. |
| Cargo Insurance | Insurance that can protect the financial value of goods against covered loss or damage during transportation. |
| CBM – Cubic Metre | A measurement of cargo volume. It is calculated by multiplying the cargo’s length, width and height in metres. |
| Certificate of Origin – COO | A document confirming the country in which goods were produced or manufactured. Customs may require it to determine duties or trade eligibility. |
| CFS – Container Freight Station | A facility where LCL cargo is received, consolidated into containers or separated after arrival. |
| Cold Chain | A temperature-controlled logistics process used to keep products within a required temperature range during storage and transportation. |
| Commercial Invoice | A document issued by the seller showing the buyer, goods, quantity, price, currency and terms of sale. Customs uses it to assess the shipment. |
| Consignee | The person or company identified as the receiver of a shipment. |
| Consolidation | Combining several smaller shipments into one larger shipment to use transport capacity more efficiently. |
| Customs Clearance | The process of submitting documents, declarations and payments required by customs before goods can enter or leave a country. |
| Cut-off Time | The latest time by which cargo or documentation must be received for a scheduled vessel, flight or truck departure. |
| Dangerous Goods – DG | Goods that may present safety, health, property or environmental risks during transportation and must follow special classification, packaging, labelling and documentation rules. |
| Delivery Order – DO | A document or electronic authorization issued or approved by the carrier, such as a shipping line for sea freight or an airline or ground-handling agent for air freight, allowing cargo to be released to the consignee or its authorized representative, such as a freight forwarder, customs-clearing agent, trucking company or haulier. |
| Distribution | The process of moving stored goods from a warehouse or distribution centre to shops, businesses or final customers. |
| Door-to-Door Service | A logistics service covering collection from the sender and delivery to the receiver’s address. Customs duties and taxes depend on the agreed quotation and Incoterm. |
| ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival | The expected date and time when a vessel, aircraft, truck or shipment will reach its destination. |
| ETD – Estimated Time of Departure | The expected date and time when a vessel, aircraft or truck will leave its origin. |
| Export | The process of sending goods from one country to another for sale, use or distribution. |
| FCL – Full Container Load | A sea-freight shipment where one shipper books an entire container, even if every part of the container is not used. |
| Freight Forwarder | A logistics specialist that arranges cargo transportation and may coordinate carriers, documents, customs clearance, warehousing and delivery. |
| FTL – Full Truckload | Road freight where a customer books the full capacity or exclusive use of a truck. |
| Gross Weight | The total weight of the goods together with their packaging, cartons, crates or pallets. |
| HAWB – House Air Waybill | An air-freight document issued by a freight forwarder to the individual shipper. |
| HBL – House Bill of Lading | A sea-freight bill of lading issued by a freight forwarder or NVOCC to its customer. |
| HS Code – Harmonized System Code | An internationally standardized product-classification code used by customs to identify goods and determine applicable requirements or duties. |
| Import | The process of bringing goods into a country from another country. |
| Lashing | Securing cargo with straps, chains, cables or other equipment to prevent it from moving during transportation. |
| LCL – Less than Container Load | Sea freight where smaller shipments from different customers share one container. Charges are generally based on cargo volume or weight. |
| LTL – Less than Truckload | Road freight where a shipment shares truck space with goods belonging to other customers. |
| MAWB – Master Air Waybill | An air waybill issued by the airline to the freight forwarder covering the consolidated cargo booked with the airline. |
| MBL – Master Bill of Lading | A sea-freight bill of lading issued by the shipping line to the freight forwarder or NVOCC. |
| Multimodal Transport | Transportation using two or more modes, such as road, sea, air or rail, during the same overall shipment journey. |
| Net Weight | The weight of the goods alone, excluding cartons, pallets, crates and other packaging. |
| Oversized Cargo | Cargo whose dimensions exceed the limits of standard transport equipment and therefore requires special planning or equipment. |
| Packing List | A document describing how goods are packed, including the number of packages, contents, dimensions, net weight and gross weight. |
| Pallet | A flat platform used to group and handle cartons or goods with equipment such as forklifts and pallet jacks. |
| POD – Proof of Delivery | A document or electronic record confirming that cargo was delivered to the receiver. |
| Port of Discharge – POD | The port where cargo is unloaded from the vessel. This abbreviation should not be confused with Proof of Delivery. |
| Port of Loading – POL | The port where cargo is loaded onto the vessel for the main sea journey. |
| Project Cargo | Large, heavy, valuable or complex cargo requiring customized transport planning, lifting, permits, route surveys or special equipment. |
| Re-export | Exporting previously imported goods without using or substantially changing them in the intermediate country. |
| Reefer Container | A refrigerated container designed to maintain a controlled temperature for products such as food, pharmaceuticals or chemicals. |
| RoRo – Roll-on/Roll-off | A sea-transport method where wheeled cargo is driven or rolled onto and off a specially designed vessel. |
| Stuffing and Destuffing | Stuffing means loading cargo into a container; destuffing means unloading it after arrival. |
| TEU – Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit | A standard measurement of container capacity. One 20-foot container equals one TEU, while one 40-foot container usually equals two TEUs. |
| Track and Trace | A system or process used to check a shipment’s status and recorded locations during transportation. |
| Transit Time | The expected amount of time required for cargo to travel between the stated origin and destination. |
| Transshipment | Moving cargo from one vessel or aircraft to another at an intermediate location before it reaches the final destination. |
| ULD – Unit Load Device | A specialized aircraft container or pallet used to group cargo for safe and efficient loading onto an aircraft. |
| VGM – Verified Gross Mass | The confirmed total weight of a packed sea container, including the cargo, packaging and the container’s own tare weight. |
| Volumetric Weight | A calculated weight based on how much space cargo occupies. Carriers compare it with actual weight when calculating certain freight charges. |
| Warehousing | The secure storage and handling of goods before distribution, export, re-export or final delivery. |
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