| Absolute Minimum Charge | The minimum price a carrier will charge for any given shipment. |
| Accessibility | The ability of a carrier to provide service for a freight order. |
| Accessorial Charges | Fees added to a freight bill for additional services that the carrier might provide. These are a la carte, or per service, and outside of standard shipping and receiving. Things like liftgate requirements, redeliveries, and reclassifications are typical accessorial charges. |
| Account-Specific Pricing | Customer-specific pricing, or account-specific pricing, refers to an agreement between a vendor moving product and a carrier or 3PL that establishes custom prices. Shippers who move volume above a certain threshold are eligible for a discounted rate because they give the carrier guaranteed business. |
| Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) | Critical supply chain planning that also accounts for production schedules. Typically, it accounts for the planning of demand, production, distribution, and transportation. |
| Agile | The concept of having a flexible supply chain that allows for quick order fulfillment with short lead times and varying volume. |
| Air Freight | Transportation of products via air transportation methods. |
| Application Programming Interface (API) | A digital program that allows for data exchange between two or more applications via the cloud. |
| ATA | Actual time of arrival |
| ATD | Actual time of departure |
| Audit | In logistics, an audit refers to the process of examining, adjusting, and verifying freight bills for accuracy. |
| Backhaul | Refers to a truck’s return trip to the original destination with either a partial or full load. |
| Benchmark | In logistics, benchmarks refer to KPI thresholds set by an organization to measure supply chain performance. |
| Bill of Lading (BOL) | A legally binding document between a shipper and carrier that details all the information needed to process a freight shipment. |
| Billing | A process typically performed by the carrier that determines the total charges for a completed order. |
| BOL Number | The number established by the carrier that refers to a specific BOL. |
| Cab Extender | A piece of equipment used to seal the gap between cab and trailer. |
| Capacity | In trucking, the term refers to available trucks in any given market. Conceptually speaking, tight capacity translates into a more difficult market that is more challenging to find a carrier willing to complete an order. Conversely, loose capacity translates into an easier environment that is easier to find a carrier. |
| Cargo | Product carried during transportation. |
| Carmack Amendment | The piece of legislation that establishes carrier liability and BOL provisions. |
| Carriage | In maritime shipping, carriage refers to the movement of cargo on a vessel after loading and before unloading. |
| Chargeable Weight | A shipment’s weight that is used to determining freight pricing. It may be the dimensional weight of the shipment. |
| Claim | In freight, shippers can retroactively charge carriers for damages or loss to transported products. |
| Class (Freight Class) | A group of commodities that are bunched together under a specific based on similar dimensions or other attributes. |
| Class Rates | The rate charged for hauling products at a given class. |
| Collect Shipping | A type of billing that charges the consignee with freight costs rather than the consignor. |
| Co-Manufacturer (Co-Man) | A third-party partner that produces goods from raw materials or semi-finished materials on behalf of its client. |
| Commodity | Any item that is commercially exchanged. |
| Common Carrier (Carrier) | The person or company that is responsible for transporting goods. |
| Compliance | In retail logistics, the term that refers to the regulations set by retailers for delivery of goods into their supply chain. |
| Consignee | The receiver of transported products. |
| Consignment | A freight order transported by a carrier. |
| Consignor | The originator of shipped products. Also referred to as the shipper. Typically, the entity that sold the product. |
| Consolidation | The combination of multiple shipments on a single order. This process is most commonly used to lower transportation costs or improve supply chain performance. |
| Container | A large box used to transport freight via maritime shipping methods. |
| Container ID | The identification number assigned by the carrier to a given container. |
| Container Yard | The area that stows containers following their arrival at port. Carriers pick-up cargo from these designated spaces. |
| Contract Carrier | Carriers hired by shippers on a contract basis. |
| Contract Rates | The rate at which a shipper and carrier agree upon in advance on a given lane. These are rarely upheld as rates fluctuate with market demand and capacity. |
| Co-Packer | A contracted partner that packages and labels products on behalf of its client. |
| Cross-Docking | The process of unloading product at a receiving facility and reloading it on another truck to complete shipment with very little to no storage in between. |
| Cumulative Lead Time | The total time needed to source material, produce goods, and ship a product to its destination. |
| Customs Broker | A third-party entity that assists vendors to deal with import or export customs. |
| Dashboard | In the tech aspect of logistics, a singular spot on a website or application where an abundance of information is displayed. |
| Dead on Arrival | In logistics, the term used to describe product that is damaged upon delivery to its destination. |
| Deadhead | Refers to the empty miles traveled without a load in a trailer. |
| Declared Value for Carriage | The value of goods according to the shipper. This amount is declared on a BOL. |
| Delivery Appointment | The agreed-upon time of arrival for a transported order. |
| Demurrage | Additional charges incurred when freight is unloading past its specified time. Used in rail and maritime transport. |
| Density | A product’s pounds per cubic foot. The metric is used to establish pricing for a transported order. |
| Detention | The amount of time a carrier is held at a receiving location beyond a specified loading or unloading appointment. Typically, detention results in a charge to the consignor. |
| Dispatch | The office in charge of allocating assets to haul shipments. |
| Distributor | A third-party that purchases products to resell to a retailer. |
| Drayage | The pick-up of the contents of a container from a yard by a carrier. |
| Drop Trailer | The process of leaving a trailer at a receiving location to be reloaded at another time. |
| Dunnage | Packing material used to product goods from damage during transport. |
| EDI Exchange | Communication between two businesses via a structured set of messages. EDI is used to exchange documents like purchase orders and invoices. |
| Exception Rate | A situation in which a rate does not follow the set class rate. |
| Expedited Shipment | The rapid delivery of a product from its origin to its destination. |
| First-In, First-Out (FIFO) | An inventory management strategy that requires product to be used in chronological order from its arrival to a facility. |
| Flatbed | A type of trailer that has no enclosed area. |
| Flexibility | The ability of a supply chain to react quickly and efficiently to changing customer demands. |
| For-Hire Carrier | A carrier that provides transportation services on a transactional basis. |
| Free on Board (FOB) | Used to decide who is liable for goods that are damaged during shipment. |
| Freight | An order that is transported from origin to destination. |
| Freight Bill | The invoice for a carrier shipment. |
| Freight-All-Kinds (FAK) | Pricing strategy that bundles multiple freight classes into a single class. |
| Full Truckload (FTL) | A shipment on which an entire trailer is filled with product. |
| Gross Weight | The total weight of a truck, trailer, its cargo, the driver, and any potential passengers. |
| Handling Costs | The cost of moving or transferring inventory. |
| Inbound Logistics | Refers to the transportation and storage of incoming goods into your supply chain. |
| Intermodal Transportation | The transportation of freight by two or more modes i.e., using rail shipping and over-the-road shipping for a singular shipment. |
| Joint Rate | A rate of a route that requires two or more different carriers to transport shipment. |
| Just in Time (JIT) | An inventory control system that requires materials to arrive just in time for use. |
| Key Performance Indicator (KPI) | In logistics, KPIs are critical metrics that highlight the performance of your supply chain. |
| Landed Costs | The cost of product combined with additional logistics costs. |
| Lead Time | The time between an order being placed and the time it needs to be shipped. |
| Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) | A shipment mode that consolidations several smaller shipments on a single truck. |
| Line-Haul Shipment | An order that ships over 150 miles between two cities. |
| Load Tender | Also called a pick-up request. Simply put, it is a shipment offer to a carrier. |
| Lumper Fee | The cost associated with a driver assisting in the loading or unloading their trailer. |
| Market Demand | In trucking, this refers to the need for freight services. |
| Mileage Rate | A rate that is determined by the number of miles an order is shipped. |
| Must-Arrive By Date (MABD) | The date set by retailers that specifies when a vendor must have a product to their receiving facilities. |
| National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) | A tariff that puts all products that can be hauled as freight into 18 different classes, numbered 50 to 500. |
| Network Analysis | The careful analysis of a logistics network. They are designed to analyze warehousing, transportation, and other means of distribution. |
| On-Time In-Full (OTIF) | A standard by which retailers’ grade a supplier’s ability to have product delivered to their distribution centers within prescribed delivery windows and at full quantities ordered. |
| Order | A shipment of goods. |
| Outbound Logistics | Moving product from your production facilities to the end-user. |
| Outsource | The process of using a third-party to complete functions that were previously performed in-house. |
| Over-the-Road (OTR) | The transportation mode that involves long-distance moves via a truck. |
| Owner/Operator | A driver who owns their own truck and trailer. |
| Packing List | A document that specifies the location of each item in a package. |
| Pallet | The platform that product is stacked and wrapped on for transportation. |
| Parcel Shipment | The shipment of one or several small packages not on a pallet. |
| Per Diem | The rate a railroad pays another to use its cars. |
| Pick and Pack | Refers to the process of picking product and then immediately packing it into shipping containers. |
| Pool Distribution | A shipping strategy that stocks multiple vendors’ orders in an optimally located warehouse before sending out shipments via shortened LTL delivery methods. |
| Port of Discharge | The port where an order is unloaded. |
| Port of Entry | A maritime entry for goods into a country. |
| Port of Loading | The port where cargo is loaded onto a vessel. |
| Prepaid | A freight billing method in which the shipper pays transportation costs. |
| Proof of Delivery (POD) | Information supplied by the carrier that specifies who signed for the shipment, when it arrived, and any other information. |
| Purchase Order (PO) | A document that specifies the details of a transaction between buyer and supplier. |
| Real-Time | In logistics, this term refers to a shipper’s ability to track an order as it progresses from origin to destination. |
| Receiving | The physical receipt of a transported order. |
| Receiving Dock | At a receiver’s facility, the dock is the place where goods are unloaded. |
| Refrigerated Carrier | A truckload or LTL carrier that has the capability to transport temp-sensitive product in a refrigerated trailer. |
| Request for Proposal (RFP) | Refers to the process of bidding your freight lanes out to transportation providers for an upcoming period of time. |
| Request for Quote (RFQ) | Another term for a transportation RFP. |
| Retail Buyer | A person who purchases products from vendors on behalf of a retail outlet. |
| Retailer | A business that buys products from suppliers to sell to end-users. |
| Routing Guide | The process in which a shipper determines which carrier will move a product based on completed RFPs. |
| Scalability | How quickly a supplier can increase productivity to meet rising demand. |
| Scorecard | A tool used by retailers to grade their suppliers’ ability to deliver product on-time and in-full. |
| Shipper | The originator of a shipment. |
| Shipping Lane | The route on which a carrier transports a product between origin and destination. |
| Short Shipment | An order which is incomplete or missing agreed-upon parts. |
| Spot Market | The trucking market that exists for shipments with little lead time or notice. |
| Spot Market Rates | Rates at the present moment in the market. |
| Supplier | A seller of goods. |
| Supply Chain Visibility | Refers to the ability to identify and isolate key metrics within the supply chain. |
| Tariff | Taxes assessed by a government on goods leaving or entering a country. |
| Tender | A formal request for transportation services. |
| Tender Rejection | A situation that occurs when a carrier rejects a shipper’s tender forcing them to find an alternative carrier. |
| Third-Party Logistics Provider | A third-party firm that provides logistics services for customers. |
| Traceability | In shipping, this term refers to real-time or close to real-time location tracking. |
| Track and Trace | Following a shipment’s movement from origin to destination. |
| Trailer Drop | Occurs when a driver leaves a full trailer at a facility to pick up an empty one. |
| Transactional | A singularly occurring business relationship that occurs only on an at-need basis. |
| Transportation Management System (TMS) | An application that allows users to perform the activities needed to complete key logistics planning and processes. |
| Transportation Mode | The method by which goods are transported. |
| True Logistics Partner | Refers to a logistics relationship that goes beyond transactional services to a deeper, more consultative approach. |
| Value-Added Partner | A strategic partner that creates value for a firm that goes beyond benefits received from a transaction. |
| Velocity | The rate at which product move through a warehouse. |
| Vendor | A company that manufactures or distributes an item. |
| Visibility | Access to key data within the supply chain. |
| Warehouse Network | Refers to a vendor’s chain of warehousing locations throughout a given geographic area. |
