The name ‘freight terms’ can become confusing, since it refers to common abbreviations and acronyms used in the industry, but also the actual agreements or ‘terms and conditions’ between shipper and customers, freight forwarding companies, and other actors throughout the supply chain.

For context, in this freight glossary you will find terms which will be used in those agreements, but the main focus is on the sector’s commonly used phrases and idioms.

Freight terms’ definitions are not that complicated once you’re familiar with them, but there are nevertheless a fair few to be aware of. That’s why we’ve selected a glossary of freight terms to get started with:

Below is a thorough list of freight terms shippers are likely to use or encounter while working in the industry.

● 3PL: short for ‘third-party logistics’, a 3PL provider (such as Amazon Freight) carries out logistics processes for businesses, including warehousing, pickup, and delivery.

● Air freight: The transportation of goods via aircraft.

● BIFA: The British International Freight Association is a trade association for freight forwarders, providing training for industry professionals.

● BOL: An acronym for ‘Bill of Lading’, this is a crucial document for freight shipping. The BOL is a legal contract between a shipper and a carrier, detailing the names and addresses of both and includes information on the shipment, packaging, expected pickup, freight class, and any designations (e.g. hazardous content). This falls under the category of ‘export freight terms’, as it originates from overseas shipping.

● Carrier: A driver or transportation business transporting freight on behalf of another party. Carriers are responsible for potential loss or damage during transit.

● Cargo: Any goods carried aboard a truck, train, ship, plane, or vehicle.

● CBM: Cubic metre, the unit typically used to calculate cargo volume (one CBM = 100cm x 100cm x 100cm).

● Certificate of Origin: Official documentation, which certifies where a goods package has come from. Typically this is signed by a relevant government authority of the exporting country. A certification of origin or C / O is one of the freight forwarding terms used in logistics management as it is not information either the shipper or the end-customer need to know.

● CIF: AKA Cost, Insurance and Freight, this is an international shipping agreement where the seller delivers the goods and pays all charges to cover the cost, insurance, and freight of an order during transit.

● CNOR/CNEE: Often written in its contracted form as a shorthand for consignor and consignee, the former is the person sending a freight (or other) shipment, and a consignee is the person receiving.

● Customs: The government authority enforcing rules to protect any country’s imports and exports.

● D2D: Short for ‘door to door’, D2D is another way of saying cargo has been shipped from pickup spot to its drop off location.

● Dimensional weight: A pricing technique that aims to reflect the cost of shipping on the physical size of a package, i.e. depending on how much space it takes up.

● Dock: The place within a freight transport warehouse or terminal where cargo shipments are unloaded or loaded.

● Drop and hook: an option for delivery allowing drivers who are dropping off a full load to hook up to a container that is either empty or has been preloaded at that same facility.

● EDI: In an increasingly digitised industry, EDI or ‘electronic data interchange’ is any communication (or exchange of information) via technology—from tracking documents to BOLs.

● ETA: Likely to be more familiar to shippers and customers alike, ETA stands for ‘estimated time of arrival’.

● ETD: Estimated time of delivery.

● EXW: Short for Ex Works, this is an international commercial term describing when a buyer pays for their goods once they are delivered to a specific location.

● FAK: ‘Freight of all kinds’ is a term used to refer to cargo loads with mixed goods and products. For example, a less-than-truckload shipment will be combined with other consignments in this way.

● First-mile delivery: The first stage in the transportation of goods, from a vendor’s premises or pickup location to a warehouse or distribution centre, although this can vary depending on the business.

● FOB: Free on board defines at which point in the supply chain that the buyer or seller is liable for the cargo being transported.

● Freight broker: The company that arranges freight transport on behalf of another party, serving as the middleman between the sender/owner and the carrier. They coordinate freight, but do not directly handle it.

● Freight forwarder: A freight forwarder takes possession of the freight and its storage, packing and shipping. They accept responsibility for the cargo during transit.

● FTL: Full truckload shipping, i.e. a shipment that takes up an entire truck container either by volume or weight.

● Fulfilment centres: Third-party providers, like Amazon Freight, use a hub or ‘hubs’ to process shipments for a business’s customers.

● Intermodal: freight transported in a container but using different methods (modes), such as road vehicles, trains, ships, or planes. Crucially, when changing between modes the freight itself remains untouched.

● Last-mile delivery: The final step in the transportation process, the last mile is where a carrier takes the cargo from a transportation or logistics hub to its final destination.

● Manifest: An advance notice of the package that is going to be picked up, often as a single form accounting for every consignment that is being collected for shipping.

● Middle-mile delivery: The stage of transportation where freight is moved from a warehouse or distribution centre to another logistics centre, but before it can be delivered to the end-customer (last mile).

● Net weight: Net weight is the weight of an item/product without the addition of the packaging or container weight. Net weight is also the weight of the total number of goods loaded into a container excluding the weight of the container.

● Order fulfilment: This refers to executing a sales order according to the customer’s expectations—delivering the goods that were promised at the point of sale, and on time. There are three main steps in order fulfilment: receiving, processing and shipping.

● Pallet: A flat, often wooden, structure used to support goods during transit.

● Proof of delivery: Typically, this is another one of the terms used in freight forwarding. It simply means the confirmation that items have reached their correct destination securely. Proof of delivery needs to be sent immediately to the consignor after final drop-off.

● Shipping zone: A portion or ‘segment’ of delivery territory. Each zone will be a specific distance from a shipment’s origin, and so the zone number usually corresponds to the shipment’s distance.

● Spot rates: The price of transporting cargo, usually as a one-off fee paid by a shipper to move cargo at current freight market rates.

● Tare: The weight (or mass) of an empty shipping container.

● Transit time: The duration needed for a shipment to be transported from A to B.

● UKWA: The United Kingdom Warehousing Association, offering support for the logistics industry through training and networking.

● Warehousing: The storage of goods and materials in commercial buildings. Warehousing involves the secure and efficient receipt, storage and distribution of cargo.

● Wharfage: The name given to charges applied by a shipping port or terminal, covering the cost of handling incoming and outgoing cargo.

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