3PL (Third-Party Logistics Provider)
An organization that manages and executes a particular logistics function, using its own assets and resources, on behalf of another company.

4PL (Fourth-Party Logistics Provider)
The term "4PL" was introduced into the supply chain to convey that deep informational technology skills and deeper analytical skills were required to achieve supply chain leadership. But the true evolution of the 4PL term is better defined in context of the global marketplace where outsourced logistics creates more of a partnership critical to success than a supplier/customer relationship. Companies in the global marketplace are finding that supply chain engineered logistics is not a commodity, and understand it is a vital means to boost their cost savings, enhancing their cash flow and improving servicing levels for getting their products to market.

A

Absorption
Acceptance by the carrier of a portion of a joint rate or charge which is less than the amount which it would receive for the service in the absence of such joint rate or charge.

Acceptance of Goods
The process of receiving a consignment from a consignor, usually against the issue of a receipt. As from this moment and on this place the carrier's responsibility for the consignment begins.

Acknowledgement of receipt
A notification relating to the receipt of e.g. goods, messages and documents.

Active Inventory
Covers raw material, work in progress, finished products that will be used or sold within a given period without extra cost or loss. This term does not cover the so-called reserve inventory.

Actual Demand
Customers' orders and often also the allocation of items, ingredients and/or raw materials to production or distribution.

Actual Voyage Number
A code for identification purposes of the voyage and vessel which actually transports the container/cargo.

Added Value
The value attributed to products, and services as the result of a particular process (e.g. production process, storage, transport).

Advance Arrangement
An agreement between the shipper and the carrier, concerning contacts between those parties prior to tendering the consignmentlhcolumn.html

Advanced Amount
Cash or cash equivalents expressed in a monetary amount given to a driver to cover expenses during a trip.

Advanced Charge
A charge paid by a carrier to an agent or to another carrier, which the delivering carrier then collects from the consignee. Such charges are usually for agents' forwarding fees and incidental expenses paid out of pocket for account of the shipment by an agent or other carrier (aircargo).

Advanced Interline
An interline carrier that picks up cargo from the shipper and delivers it to another carrier for shipment to the consignee.

Advice Note
A written piece of information e.g. about the status of the goods.

Advisory Committee for Innovation and Technology Transfer
See Strategic Programme for Innovation and Technology Transfer

Aft
At, near or towards the stern or rear of a vessel or an aircraft.

Agency Fee
Fee payable by a shipowner or ship operator to a port agent.

Agents
Intelligent software that can be used in an exchange or auction to monitor prices and conditions on behalf of buyer and supplier, and in some cases to automatically execute trades.

Aggregate Inventory
The inventory for any group of items or products, involving multiple stock-keeping units. Synonym: Aggregate Stock.

Allocation
The process of assigning activities, costs or facilities e.g. space to a certain organizational units.

Allotment
A share of the capacity of a means of transport assigned to a certain party, e.g. a carrier or an agent, for the purpose of the booking of cargo for a specific voyage.

Amidships
At or in the middle of a vessel.

Apparel
A vessel's outfit, such as rigging, anchor and life boats. The term used in distribution/transport of clothing for a single piece of clothing, a garment.

Application service provider
An online outsourcer or hosting service for applications, letting Net market makers rent instead of buying applications and services such as auctions, exchanges and catalog aggregation. Many application vendors are moving to a hosting model, but ASPs are often application-agnostic, plugging a feature of one application into a marketplace when appropriate and using another feature from another vendor elsewhere.

Apron
See Platform.

Area Code
A code for the area where a container is situated.

Area of Repair
Geographical area where a container is under repair.

Area Off Hire Lease
Geographical area where a leased container becomes off hire.

Area Off Hire Sublease
Geographical area where a subleased container becomes off hire.

Area On Hire Lease
Geographical area where a leased container becomes on hire.

Area On Hire Sublease
Geographical area where a subleased container becomes on hire.

Arrival Notice
A notice sent by a carrier to a nominated notify party advising of the arrival of a certain shipment.

Assembly
The stage of production in which components are put together into an end product appropriate to the process concerned.

Assignment
The transfer of certain rights from one party to another.

Audit
A methodical examination and review of a situation or condition (as within a business enterprise) concluding with a detailed report of findings.

Authentication
Proof by means of a signature or otherwise that a certain document or certain data is of undisputed origin and genuine.

Authorization
The commission to a certain person or body to act on behalf of another person or body. The person or body can be authorized e.g. to issue Bills of Lading or to collect freight.

Auto Container
Container equipped for the transportation of vehicles.

Automatic Identification
A means of identifying an item e.g. a product, parcel or transport unit by a machine (device) entering the data automatically into a computer.
The most widely used technology at present is bar code; others include radio frequency, magnetic stripes and optical character recognition.

B

Back Haul
The return movement of a means of transport which has provided a transport service in one direction.

Back Order
A customer's order or commitment that is unfilled due to insufficient stock.

Back Scheduling
A method of obtaining a production schedule by working backwards from the required due date, in order to predict the latest start date in consistent with meeting that due date.

Balespace
The balespace of a vessel is the capacity of cargo spaces under deck (including hatchways but excluding void spaces behind cargo battens and beams) expressed in cubic metres or cubic feet.

Ballast
Materials, solely carried to improve the trim and the stability of the vessel. In vessels usually water is carried as ballast in tanks, specially designed for that purpose.

Banking System
For marine purposes the practice of always keeping more than one piece of cargo on the quay or in the vessel ready for loading or discharging in order to avoid delays and to obtain optimal use of the loading gear.

Bar Coding
A method of encoding data for fast and accurate electronic readability. Bar codes are a series of alternating bars and spaces printed or stamped on products, labels, or other media, representing encoded information which can be read by electronic readers, used to facilitate timely and accurate input of data to a computer system. Bar codes represent letters and/or numbers and special characters like +, /, -, ., etc.

Bare Boat Charter
A charter whereby the charterer leases the bare ship and appoints the master and crew himself.

Barge
Flat bottomed inland cargo vessel for canals and rivers with or without own propulsion for the purpose of transporting goods.
Synonym: Lighter.

Bars
Special devices mounted on container doors to provide a watertight locking. Synonym: Door lock bars.

Base
Home depot of container or trailer.

Basic Stock
Items of an inventory intended for issue against demand during the resupply lead-time.

Batch
A collection of products or data which is treated as one entity with respect to certain operations e.g. processing and production.

Batch Lot
A definite quantity of some product manufactured or produced under conditions that are presumed uniform and for production control purposes passing as a unit through the same series of operations.

Batch Production
The production process whereby products/components are produced in batches and where each separate batch consists of a number of the same products/components.

Battens
Members protruding from the inside walls of a vessel's hold or a (thermal) container to keep away the cargo from the walls to provide an air passage. They may be integral with the walls, fastened to the walls or added during cargo handling.

Bay
A vertical division of a vessel from stem to stern, used as a part of the indication of a stowage place for containers. The numbers run from stem to stern; odd numbers indicate a 20 foot position, even numbers indicate a 40 foot position.

Bay Plan
A stowage plan that shows the locations of all the containers on the vessel.

BC Code
Safe working practice code for solid bulk cargo.

Bilateral Transport Agreement
Agreement between two nations concerning their transport relation.

Bill of Health
The Bill of Health is the certificate issued by local medical authorities indicating the general health conditions in the port of departure or in the ports of call. The Bill of Health must have visa before departure by the Consul of the country of destination.
When a vessel has free pratique, this means that the vessel has a clean Bill of Health certifying that there are no questions of contagious disease and that all quarantine regulations have been complied with, so that people may embark and disembark.

Bill of Lading
Abbreviation: B/L, plural Bs/L.
A document which evidences a contract of carriage by sea. The document has the following functions:

• A receipt for goods, signed duly by a authorized person on behalf of the carriers.
• A document of title to the goods described therein.
• Evidence of the terms and conditions of carriage agreed upon between the two parties.

At the moment 3 different models are used:
B/L R 302: A modern document for either Combined Transport or Port to Port shipments depending whether the relevant spaces for place of receipt and/or place of delivery are indicated on the face of the document.
Synonyms: Combined Transport Bill of Lading or Multimodal Transport document.
B/L R 300: A classic marine Bill of Lading in which the carrier is also responsible for the part of the transport actually performed by himself.
Sea Waybill: A non-negotiable document, which can only be made out to a named consignee. No surrender of the document by the consignee is required.
See: also Service Bill

Bill of Lading Clause
A particular article, stipulation or single proviso in a Bill of Lading. A clause can be standard and can be preprinted on the B/L.

Bill of Material
A list of all parts, sub-assemblies and raw materials that constitute a particular assembly, showing the quantity of each required item.

Bill of materials function
Ability to present predefined lists of items routinely required by buyers for a specific purpose. Can greatly reduce the planning process. In vertical markets, the challenge is developing a complete list of items that need to be purchased for specific products or projects. PartMiner (electronic components) uses this function to create a complete view of buyer activity, both purchases that go to contract suppliers and purchases made on its anonymous spot market. Enables a market to combine a channel enabler approach with an exchange.

Bimodal Trailer
A road semi-trailer with retractable running gear to allow mounting on a pair of rail boogies. Synonym: Road-Rail trailer A trailer which is able to carry different types of standardized unit loads, (e.g. a chassis which is appropriate for the carriage of one FEU or two TEU's).

B/L
See Bill of Lading.

Boatman
Person who attends to the mooring and unmooring of vessels.

Bollard
Post, fixed to a quay or a vessel, for securing mooring ropes.

Bolster
See Container Bolster.

Bona Fide
In good faith; without dishonesty, fraud or deceit.

Bonded
The storage of certain goods under charge of customs viz. customs seal until the import duties are paid or until the goods are taken out of the country. Bonded warehouse (place where goods can be placed under bond). Bonded store (place on a vessel where goods are placed behind seal until the time that the vessel leaves the port/country again). Bonded goods (dutiable goods upon which duties have not been paid, i.e. goods in transit or warehoused pending customs clearance).

Booking
The offering by a shipper of cargo for transport and the acceptance of the offering by the carrier or his agent.

Booking Reference Number
The number assigned to a certain booking by the carrier or his agent.

Bottleneck
A stage in a process that limits performance.
Note: Generally this is interpreted as a facility, function, department etc. that impedes performance, for example a warehouse or distribution centre where goods arrive at a faster rate than they can be transported or stored, thus causing stock-piling at improper moments or in unwanted areas.

Bottom Fittings
Special conical shaped devices inserted between a container and the permanent floor on the deck of a vessel in order to avoid shifting of the container during the voyage of this vessel.

Bottom Lift
Handling of containers with equipment attached to the four bottom corner fittings (castings).

Box Pallet
Pallet with at least three fixed, removable or collapsible vertical sides.

Break Bulk
To commence discharge.

Break Bulk Cargo
General cargo conventionally stowed as opposed to unitized, containerized and Roll On-Roll Off cargo.
Synonym: Conventional Cargo.

Broken Stowage
The cargo space which is unavoidably lost when stowing cargo. The percentage of wasted space depends upon e.g. the kind of cargo, the packing and the used spaces.

Broker
Person who acts as an agent or intermediary in negotiating contracts.

BTN
See Brussels Tariff Nomenclature.

B2b (business-to-business)
Describes online transactions between one business, institution, or government agency and another. Differentiated from b2c (business-to-consumer) plays such as Amazon.com, eBay, and Yahoo.

Buffer Stock
A quantity of goods or articles kept in store to safeguard against unforeseen shortages or demands.

Bulk Bags
A large polythene liner that can be fitted to a 20'GP as an alternative to bulk containers.

Bulk Cargo
Unpacked homogeneous cargo poured loose in a certain space of a vessel or container e.g. oil and grain.

Bulk Carrier
Single deck vessel designed to carry homogeneous unpacked dry cargoes such as grain, iron ore and coal.

Bulk Container
Shipping container designed for the carriage of free-flowing dry cargoes, which are loaded through hatchways in the roof of the container and discharged through hatchways at one end of the container.

Bull rings
Rings for lashing the cargo in containers.

Bunker
(Tank) spaces on board a vessel to store fuel.

Bulkhead
Upright partition dividing compartments on board a vessel. The functions of bulkheads are:

• To increase the safety of a vessel by dividing it into watertight compartments
• To separate the engine room from the cargo holds
• To increase the transverse strength of a vessel
• To reduce the risk of spreading fire to other compartments
• A vertically mounted board to provide front wall protection against shifting cargo and commonly seen on platform trailers (road cargo)

Synonym: Header Board.

Bunker Adjustment Factor
Abbreviation: BAF
Adjustment applied by shipping lines or liner conferences to offset the effect of fluctuations in the cost of bunkers.

Bunkers
Quantity of fuel on board a vessel.

Business Logistics
Logistics within a business system.
The coordinating function of material management and physical distribution, which executes the integral control of the goods flow.

Business Process Re-engineering
The fundamental analysis and radical redesign of everything: business processes and management systems, job definitions, organizational structures and beliefs and behaviors to achieve dramatic performance improvements to meet contemporary requirements. Information technology (IT) is a key enabler in this process.
Acronym: BPR

Buyer's Market
A 'buyer's market' is considered to exist when goods can easily be secured and when the economic forces of business tend to cause goods to be priced at the purchaser's estimate of value. In other words, a state of trade favourable to the buyer, with relatively large supply and low prices.

C

CAD
See Cash Against Documents.

CAF
See Currency Adjustment Factor.

Call
The visit of a vessel to a port.

Call Sign
A code published by the International Telecommunication Union in its annual List of Ships' Stations to be used for the information interchange between vessels, port authorities and other relevant participants in international trade.

Capacity
The ability, in a given time, of a resource measured in quality and quantity. The quantity of goods which can be stored in or loaded into a warehouse, store and/or loaded into a means of transport at a particular time.

Capacity Control
Process of registering and steering of capacity.

Cargo
Goods transported or to be transported, all goods carried on a ship covered by a B/L.
Any goods, wares, merchandise, and articles of every kind whatsoever carried on a ship, other than mail, ship's stores, ship's spare parts, ship's equipment, stowage material, crew's effects and passengers' accompanied baggage (IMO).
Any property carried on an aircraft, other than mail, stores and accompanied or mishandled baggage Also referred to as 'goods' (ICAO).

Cargo Handling
All procedures necessary to enable the physical handling of goods.

Cargo Restriction Code
A code indicating that the use of a certain container is restricted to particular cargo.

Cargo Tracer
A document sent by the agent to all relevant parties, stating that certain cargo is either missing or overlanded.

Cargo Unit
A vehicle, container, pallet, flat, portable tank or any other entity or any part thereof which belongs to the ship but is not permanently attached to that ship.

Carriage
The process of transporting (conveying) cargo, from one point to another.
Synonym: Transport.

Carriage and Insurance Paid To (...named place of destination)
"Carriage and insurance paid to..." means that the seller has the same obligations as under CPT but with the addition that the seller has to procure cargo insurance against the buyer's risk of loss of or damage to the goods during the carriage. The seller contracts for insurance and pays the insurance premium.
The buyer should note that under the CIP term the seller is only required to obtain insurance on minimum coverage. The CIP term requires the seller to clear the goods for export. This term may be used for any mode of transport including multimodal transport.

Carriage Paid To (...named place of destination)
"Carriage paid to... " means that the seller pays the freight for the carriage of the goods to the named destination. The risk of loss of or damage to the goods, as well as any additional costs due to events occurring after the time the goods have been delivered to the carrier, is transferred from the seller to the buyer when the goods have been delivered into the custody of the carrier.

"Carrier" means any person who, in a contract of carriage, undertakes to perform or to procure the performance of' carriage, by rail, road, sea, air, inland waterway or by a combination of such modes.
If subsequent carriers are used for the carriage to the agreed destination, the risk passes when the goods have been delivered to the first carrier.
The CPT term requires the seller to clear the goods for export.
This term may be used for any mode of transport including multimodal transport.

Carrier
The party undertaking transport of goods from one point to another.

Carrier Haulage
The inland transport service which is performed by the sea-carrier under the terms and conditions of the tariff and of the relevant transport document.

Carriers Bill of Lading Ports
Terminal, Pre-terminal port or Post-terminal Port as per tariff, indicated on the Bill of Lading and which is not the port physically called at by Carriers' ocean vessels.
Note: Under normal circumstances in the B/L only ports should be mentioned which are actually called at.

Carriers' Lien
When the shipper ships goods 'collect', the carrier has a possessory claim on these goods, which means that the carrier can retain possession of the goods as security for the charges due.

Carrying Temperature
Required cargo temperature during transport and storage.
See also Setting/Air Delivery Temperature.

Cartage
See Haulage.

Cash Against Documents
Abbreviation: CAD
Terms of payment: if the buyer of goods pays for the goods against transfer of the documents, entitling him to obtain delivery of the goods from the carrier.

Cash On Delivery
Abbreviation: COD
Terms of payment: if the carrier collects a payment from the consignee and remits the amount to the shipper.

Catalog aggregation
Normalizing product data from multiple vendors so it can be easily compared. Virtual distributors and content aggregators often provide this service to buyers. Most valuable when products are complex and have many attributes. Prices are set, sometimes on contract.

Catalog aggregators
Make sense of buying options by aggregating catalogs from multiple vendors with relatively static prices. Act as a neutral intermediary but help buyers make sense of multiple vendors. Also normalize information coming from diverse sources to enable comparisons of similar products and services.Typically function as virtual distributors but don't take possession of goods themselves. Collect transaction fees on purchases but can generate additional revenue via credit checks, logistics, fulfillment, insurance, or other parts of the transaction process. Must satisfy suppliers' needs for differentiation while making comparisons possible for buyers. Examples: Chemdex, PlasticsNet, Sciquest (scientific equipment), Testmart (test equipment). Synonym: Virtual distributor.

Cell
Location on board of a container vessel where one container can be stowed.

Cell-guide
Steel bars and rails used to steer containers during loading and discharging whilst sliding in the ship.

Cell Position
The location of a cell on board of a container vessel identified by a code for successively the bay, the row and the tier, indicating the position of a container on that vessel.

Cellular Vessel
A vessel, specially designed and equipped for the carriage of containers.

Central Warehouse
A warehouse which performs central functions for a number of warehouses. (e.g. keeping capacity stock).

Centre of Gravity
Point at which the entire weight of a body may be considered as concentrated so that if supported at this point the body would remain in equilibrium in any position.

Certificate
A document by which a fact is formally or officially attested and in which special requirements and conditions can be stated.

Certificate of Analysis
A document, often required by an importer or governmental authorities, attesting to the quality or purity of commodities.
The origin of the certification may be a chemist or any other authorized body such as an inspection firm retained by the exporter or importer. In some cases the document may be drawn up by the manufacturer certifying that the merchandise shipped has been tested in his facility and found conform to the specifications.

Certificate of Classification
A certificate, issued by the classification society and stating the class under which a vessel is registered.

Certificate of Delivery
A certificate indicating the condition of a vessel upon delivery for a charter including ballast, available bunkers and fresh water.

Certificate of Free Sale
A certificate, required by some countries as evidence that the goods are normally sold on the open market and approved by the regulatory authorities in the country of origin.

Certificate of Origin
A certificate, showing the country of original production of goods. Frequently used by customs in ascertaining duties under preferential tariff programs or in connection with regulating imports from specific sources.

Certificate of Redelivery
A certificate, indicating the condition of a vessel upon redelivery from a charter including ballast, available bunkers and fresh water.

CFR
See Cost and Freight (...named port of destination).

CFS
See Container Freight Station.

Chain Conveyor
A conveyor consisting of two or more strands of chain running in parallel tracks with the loads carried directly on the chains.

Charge
An amount to be paid for carriage of goods based on the applicable rate of such carriage, or an amount to be paid for a special or incidental service in connection with the carriage of goods.

Charge Type
A separate, identifiable element of charges to be used in the pricing/rating of common services rendered to customers.

Charter Contract
See Charter Party.

Charter Party
A contract in which the ship owner agrees to place his vessel or a part of it at the disposal of a third party, the charterer, for the carriage of goods for which he receives a freight per ton cargo, or to let his vessel for a definite period or trip for which a hire is paid.

Charterer

The legal person who has signed a charter party with the owner of a vessel or an aircraft and thus hires or leases a vessel or an aircraft or a part of the capacity thereof.

Chassis

1.       A wheeled carriage onto which an ocean container is mounted for inland conveyance

2.       The part of a motor vehicle that includes the engine, the frame, suspension system, wheels, steering mechanism etc., but not the body

Churn

The relentless cycle of acquiring new customers and losing others that characterizes consumer e-commerce and reduces lifetime customer value because switching is so easy. (See switching costs, lifetime value of the customer.)

CIF
"Cost, Insurance and Freight" means that the seller has the same obligations as under CFR but with the addition that he has to procure marine insurance against the buyer's risk of loss of or damage to the goods during the carriage. The seller contracts for insurance and pays the insurance premium.
The buyer should note that under the CIF term the seller is only required to obtain insurance on minimum coverage. The CIF term requires the seller to clear the goods for export. This term can only be used for sea and inland waterway transport. When the ship's rail serves no practical purposes such as in the case of roll-on/ roll-off or container traffic, the CIP term is more appropriate to use.

CIM

Computer Integrated Manufacturing, an ESPRIT project on the use of information technology in industrial environments.
Acronym: CIM

CIP
See Carriage and Insurance Paid To (...named place of destination).

Claim
A charge made against a carrier for loss, damage or delay.

Classification
Arrangement according to a systematic division of a number of objects into groups, based on some likenesses or some common traits.

Classification Society
An organization, whose main function is to carry out surveys of vessels, its purpose being to set and maintain standards of construction and upkeep for vessels, their engines and their safety equipment. A classification society also inspects and approves the construction of shipping containers.

Clean Bill of Lading
A Bill of Lading which does not contain any qualification about the apparent order and condition of the goods to be transported (it bears no stamped clauses on the front of the B/L).
It bears no superimposed clauses expressly declaring a defective condition of the goods or packaging (resolution of the ICS 1951).

Clean on Board
When goods are loaded on board and the document issued in respect to these goods is clean.
Note: Through the usage of the UCP 500 rules the term has now become superfluous.

Clearance Terminal
Terminal where Customs facilities for the clearance of goods are available.

Cleared Without Examination
Abbreviation: CWE
Cleared by customs without inspection.

Client
A party with which a company has a commercial relationship concerning the transport of e.g. cargo or concerning certain services of the company concerned, either directly or through an agent.
Synonym: Customer.

Clip on Unit
Abbreviation: COU
Detachable aggregate for a temperature controlled container (Conair).

Closed Ventilated Container
A container of a closed type, similar to a general purpose container, but specially designed for carriage of cargo where ventilation, either natural or mechanical (forced), is necessary.

CLP
See Container Load Plan.

CNC
See Compagneurs Nationales des Conteneurs.

Coalition
Coalitions are either buy-side or sell-side and are generally groups of buyers or sellers who agree to channel procurement through a single marketplace. They operate a marketplace without having a third party, neutral Net market as the hub. Many claim to be neutral--that anyone can join--but, by the nature of their partnership their first audience is either buyers or sellers. The advantage of coalitions, particularly buy-side coalitions, is they can do a lot of transactions, which creates marketplace liquidity. However, the problem with coalitions is they have several challenges to overcome--political challenges, both from regulators and relationships between powerful companies, as well as technology challenges of integrating legacy systems. Due to the complexity of these issues, none are operational yet. If they do in fact successfully overcome these obstacles and operationalize, we expect they will conduct a large number of transactions because they can force their suppliers to go through this marketplace to conduct the transactions.

COC
Carrier Owned Container

COD
See Cash On Delivery.

Cofferdam
An empty space on board of a vessel between two bulkheads or two decks separating oil tanks from each other and/or the engine room or other compartments.

Collapsible Container
Container which can be easily folded, disassembled and reassembled.

Co-loading
The loading, on the way, of cargo from another shipper, having the same final destination as the cargo loaded earlier.

Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service
A technical information service based on the integration of databases (contractor , subcontractor, and government ) contractually established and managed by the defense contractor to receive, maintain, and provide access to technical and support information on a defense system.

Co-makership
The long-term relationship between e.g. a supplier or a carrier and a customer, on the basis of mutual confidence.
Synonym: Co-shippership.

Combination Charge
An amount which is obtained by combining two or more charges.

Combination Chassis
A chassis which can carry either one forty foot or thirty foot container or a combination of shorter containers e.g. 2 x 20 foot.

Combined Transport
Intermodal transport where the major part of the journey is by one mode such as rail, inland waterway or sea and any initial and/or final leg carried out by another mode such as road.
Synonym: Multimodal Transport

Combined Transport Bill of Lading
See: Bill of Lading R302.

Combined Transport Document
Abbreviation: CTD
Negotiable or non-negotiable document evidencing a contract for the performance and/or procurement of performance of combined transport of goods.
Synonym: Multi modal transport document.

Combined Transport Operator
Abbreviation: CTO
A party who undertakes to carry goods with different modes of transport.
Synonym: Multimodal Transport Operator.

Commercial Invoice
A document showing commercial values of the transaction between the buyer and seller.

Commodity
Indication of the type of goods. Commodities are coded according to the harmonized system.

Commodity Box Rate
A rate classified by commodity and quoted per container.

Commodity Code
Code used in the Harmonized System for the classification of goods which are most commonly produced and traded.

Common Access Reference
A key to relate all subsequent transfers of data to the same business case or file.
Compagneurs Nationales des Conteneurs
Abbreviation: CNC affiliate of the French National Railways for Container traffic.

Component
A uniquely identifiable product that is considered indivisible for a particular planning or control purpose, and/or which cannot be decomposed without destroying it.
Note: A component for one organizational group may be the final assembly of another group (e.g. electric motor).

Compradore
A local advisor or agent employed by a foreign party or company who acts as an intermediary in transactions with local inhabitants.

Computer Virus
A program that can infect other programs by modifying them to include a possibly evolved copy of itself.

Conair Container
Thermal container served by an external cooling system (e.g. a vessel's or Clip On Unit), which regulates the temperature of cargo.
Note: Conair is a brand name.

Conditions
Anything called for as requirements before the performance or completion of something else.
Contractual stipulations which are printed on a document or provided separately.

Cones
Devices for facilitating the loading, positioning and lashing of containers. The cones insert into the bottom castings of the container.
Synonym: Locating pin.

Congestion
Accumulation of vessels at a port to the extent that vessels arriving to load or discharge are obliged to wait for a vacant berth.

Connecting Road Haulage
See Drayage.

Consignee
The party such as mentioned in the transport document by whom the goods, cargo or containers are to be received.

Consignment
A separate identifiable number of goods (available to be) transported from one consignor to one consignee via one or more than one modes of transport and specified in one single transport document.
Synonym for the USA: Shipment.

Consignment Instructions
Instructions from either the seller/consignor or the buyer/consignee to a freight forwarder, carrier or his agent, or other provider of a service, enabling the movement of goods and associated activities. The following functions can be covered:

• Movement and handling of goods (shipping, forwarding and stowage)
• Customs formalities
• Distribution of documents
• Allocation of documents (freight and charges for the connected operations)
• Special instructions (insurance, dangerous goods, goods release, additional documents required)

Consignment Note
A document prepared by the shipper and comprising a transport contract. It contains details of the consignment to be carried to the port of loading and it is signed by the inland carrier as proof of receipt.

Consignment Stock
The stock of goods with an external party (customer) which is still the property of the supplier. Payment for these goods is made to the supplier at the moment when they are sold (used) by this party.

Consignor
See Shipper.

Consolidate
To group and stuff several shipments together in one container.

Consolidated Container
Container stuffed with several shipments (consignments) from different shippers for delivery to one or more consignees.

Consolidation
The grouping together of smaller consignments of goods into a large consignment for carriage as a larger unit in order to obtain a reduced rate.

Consolidation Point
Location where consolidation of consignments takes place.

Consolidator
A firm or company which consolidates cargo.

Consortium
Consortium is a form of cooperation between two or more carriers to operate in a particular trade.

Consular Invoice
An invoice covering shipment of goods certified by a consular official of the destination country, and used normally by customs or officials concerned with foreign exchange availability to ascertain the correctness of commercial invoice values.

Container
An item of equipment as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for transport purposes. It must be of:

• a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use
• specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods, by one or more modes of transport without intermediate reloading
• fitted with devices permitting its ready handling, particularly from one mode of transport to another
• so designed as to be easy to fill and empty
• having an internal volume of 1 m3 or more

The term container includes neither vehicles nor conventional packing
Synonym: Freight Container.

Container Bolster
A container floor without sides or end walls which does not have the ISO corner fittings and is generally used for Ro/Ro operations.
Synonym: Bolster.
Note: A bolster cannot be handled either full or empty by a container spreader without special gear.

Container Chassis
A vehicle specially built for the purpose of transporting a container so that, when container and chassis are assembled, the produced unit serves as a road trailer.

Container Check Digit
The 7th digit of the serial number of a container used to check whether prefix and serial number are correct.

Container Depot
Storage area for empty containers.

Container Freight Station
Abbreviation: CFS
A facility at which (export) LCL cargo is received from merchants for loading (stuffing) into containers or at which (import) LCL cargo is unloaded (stripped) from containers and delivered to merchants.

Container Lease
The contract by which the owner of containers (lessor) gives the use of containers to a lessee for a specified period of time and for fixed payments.

Container Load Plan
A list of items loaded in a specific container and where appropriate their sequence of loading.

Container Logistics
The controlling and positioning of containers and other equipment.

Container Manifest
The document specifying the contents of particular freight containers or other transport units, prepared by the party responsible for their loading into the container or unit.
Synonym: Unit packing list, Container Load Plan.

Container Moves
The number of actions performed by one container crane during a certain period.

Container Number
Identification number of a container consisting of prefix and serial number and check digit. (e.g. KNLU 123456-7, see also container serial number and container prefix.)

Container Owner
A party who has a container at his disposal and who is entitled to lease or sell the container.

Container Platform
A container floor without sides or end walls which can be loaded by spreader directly and is generally used for Lo-Lo operations.

Container Pool
A certain stock of containers which is jointly used by several container carriers and/or leasing companies.

Container Prefix
A four letter code that forms the first part of a container identification number indicating the owner of a container.
Synonym: Owner's Container Code.

Container Safety Convention
Abbreviation: CSC
International convention for safe containers.

Container Serial Number
A seven digit serial number (6 plus 1 Check Digit) that forms the second part of a container identification number.

Container Service Charges
Charges to be paid by cargo interests as per tariff.

Container Size Code
An indication of 2 digits of the nominal length and nominal height. See also Size/Type ISO6346.

Container Size/Type
Description of the size and type of a freight container or similar unit load device as specified in ISO6346.

Container Stack
Two or more containers, one placed above the other forming a vertical column.
See also stack.

Container Sublease
Contract by which a carrier gives the use of containers to another carrier for a specified period of time and for fixed payments.

Container Terminal
Place where loaded and/or empty containers are loaded or discharged into or from a means of transport.

Container Type Code
Two digits, the first of which indicates the category and the second of which indicates certain physical characteristics or other attributes.
See also container Size/Type ISO6346.

Container Yard
Abbreviation: CY
A facility at which FCL traffic and empty containers are received from or delivered to the Merchant by or on behalf of the Carrier.
Note: Often this yard is used to receive goods on behalf of the merchant and pack these in containers for FCL traffic.
Synonym: Marshalling Yard.

Containerized
Indication that goods have been stowed in a container.

Contraband
Goods forbidden by national law to be imported or exported.

Contract
An agreement enforceable by law between two or more parties stipulating their rights and obligations which are required by one or both parties to acts or forbearance by the other or both.

Contract Logistics
The contracting out of all the warehousing, transport and distribution activities or a part thereof by manufacturing companies.

Contract of Affreightment
An agreement whereby the ship owner agrees to carry goods by water, or furnishes a vessel for the purpose of carrying goods by water, in return for a sum of money called freight. There are two forms: the charter party and the contract contained in the Bill of Lading.

Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service
A technical information service based on the integration of databases (contractor , subcontractor, and government ) contractually established and managed by the defense contractor to receive, maintain, and provide access to technical and support information on a defense system.

Contractual Port of Loading
A port at which an ocean vessel does not call, but which is equalized with the actual port of call and upon which inland haulage services and inland tariffs are based.
Synonym: Commercial POL/POD.
Note: Generally speaking it is seen as the port to be mentioned on the B/L from which cargo is accepted (e.g delivered by the consignee for sea transport).

Control
The registration and check on data and activities as well as determining supervising procedures and changes related to procedures.

Conventional Cargo
See Break Bulk Cargo.

Convertor Dolly
An auxiliary undercarriage assembly consisting of a chassis, fifth wheel and towbar used to convert a semitrailer or a container chassis to a full trailer.

Conveyance
Transport of goods from one place to another.

Conveyor
A mechanical device in the form of a continuous belt for transporting cargo.

Core Competence
The combination of individual skills and use of technologies that underlay the various products and or services of a business.

Corner Fittings
Fittings located at the corners of containers providing means of supporting, stacking, handling and securing the container.
Synonym: corner casting.

Corner Post
Vertical structural member at either side of an 'end frame' of a container joining a top and a bottom corner fitting (and thereby forming a 'corner structure').

Correction Message
A substitution for what has been wrong in a prior data interchange between computers in accordance with interchange agreements.

Co-shippership
See Co-makership.

Cost, Insurance and Freight (...named port of destination)
Abbreviation: CIF

COT
The customer arranges his own transport of the container to and from the terminal or depot but agrees to restitute the container back to the terminal or depot.

Cost and Freight (...named port of destination)
"Cost and Freight" means that the seller must pay the costs and freight necessary to bring the goods to the named port of destination but the risk of loss of or damage to the goods, as well as any additional costs due to events occurring after the time the goods have been delivered on board the vessel, is transferred from the seller to the buyer when the goods pass the ship's rail in the port of shipment.
The CFR term requires the seller to clear the goods for export.
This term can only be used for sea and inland waterway transport. When the ship's rail serves no practical purpose, such as in the case of roll-on/roll-off or container traffic, the CPT term is more appropriate to use.

COU
See Clip On Unit.

Council of European and Japanese National Shipowner's Associations
Abbreviation: CENSA
The main objectives of this organization are to promote and protect sound shipping policies in all sectors of shipping, to coordinate and present the views of its members and to exchange views with other shipowner groups.

Country of Departure
Country from which a certain means of transport is scheduled to depart or has departed.

Country of Despatch
Country from which the goods are shipped.

Country of Origin
Country in which the goods have been produced or manufactured, according to criteria laid down for the purpose of application of the customs tariff, of quantitative restrictions, or of any other measure related to trade.

Country of Provenance
The country from which goods or cargo are sent to the importing country.

CPT
See Carriage Paid To (...named place of destination).

Crane
A machine designed for moving and lifting weight by means of a movable projecting arm or a horizontal beam which is able to travel over a certain distance.

Crew Member
Any person actually employed for duties on board during a voyage in the working or service of a ship and included in the crew list (IMO).

Critical mass
When enough buyers and sellers participate in a Net market so goods or services change hands efficiently. Also, the time when a market gains momentum, achieves liquidity, and becomes a more efficient way to buy or sell than the traditional physical market or channel. (See network effect, liquidity.)

Critical Path Method
A network planning technique used for planning and controlling the activities in a project. By showing each of these activities and their associated times, the 'critical path' can be determined. The critical path is the series of successive activities which takes up most time and is therefore decisive for the total lead time of the project.

Cross Trades
Term used in shipping for the services of a vessel between nations other than the nation in which the vessel is registered (UNCTAD).

Cruise Ship
A ship on an international voyage carrying passengers participating in a group programme and accommodated on board, for the purpose of making scheduled temporary tourist visits at one or more different ports, and which during the voyage does not normally: (a) embark or disembark any other passengers; (b) load or discharge any cargo.

CSC
See Container Safety Convention.

CTD
See Combined Transport Document.

CTO
See Combined Transport Operator.

Currency
A medium of exchange of value, defined by reference to the geographical location of the authorities responsible for it ISO4217.
In general, the monetary unit, involved in a transaction and represented by a name or a symbol.

Currency Adjustment Factor
Abbreviation: CAF
Adjustment applied by shipping lines or liner conferences on freight rates to offset losses or gains for carriers resulting from fluctuations in exchange rates of tariff currencies.

Customer
See Client.

Customer Pick Up
Cargo picked up by a customer at a warehouse.

Customer Service
The way in which during a commercial relationship the wishes and demands of the (prospective) client are catered for.
Supporting activities at the customer interface adding value to a product (CEN273).

Customer Service Level
A performance measure of customer service.
Note: generally this is seen as the degree with which customer orders can be executed, in accordance with the terms which are generally accepted in the market.

Customs
The department of the Civil Service that deals with the levying of duties and taxes on imported goods from foreign countries and the control over the export and import of goods e.g. allowed quota, prohibited goods.

Customs Broker
An authorized agent specialized in customs clearance procedures on account of importers/exporters.
Customs Clearance Agent

Customs Invoice
Document required by the customs in an importing country in which an exporter states the invoice or other price (e.g. selling price, price of identical goods), and specifies costs for freight, insurance and packing etc., terms of delivery and payment, for the purpose of determining the customs value in the importing country of goods consigned to that country.

Customs Value
The worth of an item or group of items expressed in a monetary amount, within a consignment declared to Customs for duty and statistical reasons.

CWE
See Cleared Without Examination.

CY
See Container Yard.

CYC
Container Yard Charges - Charges at destination

Cybernetics
The study of control processes in mechanical, biological, electrical and information systems.

Cycle Stock
That portion of stock available or planned to be available in a give period for normal demand, excluding excess stock and safety stock.
Form on which physical damage is recorded (e.g.containers).

D

Damaged Cargo Report
Written statement concerning established damages to cargo and/or equipment.

Dangerous Goods
Goods are to be considered dangerous if the transport of such goods might cause harm, risk, peril, or other evil to people, environment, equipment or any property whatsoever.

Dangerous Goods Declaration
Document issued by a consignor in accordance with applicable conventions or regulations, describing hazardous goods or materials for transport purposes, and stating that the latter have been packed and labelled in accordance with the provisions of the relevant conventions or regulations.

Dangerous Goods Packing Certificate
A document as part of the dangerous goods declaration in which the responsible party declares that the cargo has been stowed in accordance with the rules in a clean container in compliance with the IMDG regulations and properly secured.

Dat