Reference
Freight and logistics glossary
Every term below appears on a real shipment file. Definitions are written for the person receiving the freight, not for the industry.
A
- Accessorial
- A service beyond basic pickup and delivery, such as liftgate, inside delivery, appointment scheduling, residential delivery or waiting time, priced separately.
- AOG (Aircraft on Ground)
- An aircraft is out of service until a specific part, tool or component arrives. In logistics it signals a shipment where the deadline governs every other decision.
- AWB (Air Waybill)
- The transport document issued by an air carrier or its agent covering carriage of the shipment. It is not issued by a freight broker.
B
- BOL (Bill of Lading)
- The contract of carriage between shipper and carrier, also serving as a receipt for goods and evidence of title in some contexts.
- Bonded warehouse
- A facility where imported goods may be stored before duties are paid, used to stage cross-border freight while clearance is completed.
C
- Chain of custody
- The documented sequence of parties who held the shipment, with timestamps at each transfer. Central to high-value and traceable-component moves.
- Chargeable weight
- The greater of actual weight and dimensional weight, used to price air cargo. Light but bulky freight is often priced on dimensional weight.
- CUSMA / USMCA
- The Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement. Preferential tariff treatment requires a valid certification of origin on the file.
- Cut-off
- The latest time freight can be tendered to a terminal or carrier for a given departure. On urgent files the cut-off, not transit time, sets the plan.
D
- Dangerous goods (DG)
- Cargo regulated for transport due to its hazard class. Classification, packaging, marking and documentation are the shipper's responsibility.
- Dedicated truckload
- Sole use of a vehicle for one shipment, with no transfers or co-loaded freight. The default for high-value and handling-sensitive cargo.
- Dimensional weight
- A pricing weight calculated from a shipment's volume rather than its mass, used when cargo occupies more space than its weight implies.
- Direct drive
- A single vehicle moving the freight from origin to destination without transfers, terminals or intermediate handling.
- Double-brokering
- When a carrier accepts a load and re-brokers it to another party without disclosure. A leading cause of cargo loss and normally prohibited by contract.
E
- Expedite
- Any service arranged to beat a standard transit time, typically using dedicated equipment, team drivers or air uplift.
F
- Final mile
- The last leg of delivery to the receiving site, frequently involving appointment control, liftgate, inside delivery or placement.
G
- Geofencing
- A virtual boundary around a route or location that triggers an alert when a tracked vehicle enters or leaves it. A detection control, not a prevention control.
H
- Hot shot
- An urgent single load moved on smaller dedicated equipment such as a cargo van, sprinter or straight truck.
- HS code
- The Harmonized System classification for a commodity, used to determine duty treatment. Supplied or confirmed by your customs broker.
K
- Known shipper
- A security status affecting whether cargo can be carried on certain aircraft. Status must be confirmed before an air tender is planned.
L
- LTL (Less Than Truckload)
- Shipments occupying part of a trailer, consolidated with other freight and handled at terminals. Priority LTL is faster but still involves handling.
M
- MRO
- Maintenance, repair and overhaul: the facilities and organizations that service aircraft and components.
N
- NFO (Next Flight Out)
- Tendering a shipment to the earliest viable commercial flight, with terminal recovery and final mile coordinated around it.
P
- PAPS
- Pre-Arrival Processing System: the equivalent mechanism for shipments entering the United States.
- PARS
- Pre-Arrival Review System: allows a customs broker to submit entry data for a shipment before it arrives at the Canadian border.
- POD (Proof of Delivery)
- Documentation confirming delivery, typically including receiver name, timestamp, piece count and condition notes.
- Project cargo
- Oversized, heavy or multi-piece movements requiring engineered planning, permits, route surveys and often cranes or escorts.
R
- Rotable
- A repairable aviation component that cycles between service and overhaul, usually requiring serial-level traceability and a core return.
S
- Seal
- A numbered tamper-evident device applied to a trailer or container. Its value comes from recording the number at application and verifying it at delivery.
T
- Team service
- Two drivers alternating so the vehicle keeps moving within hours-of-service limits, roughly doubling daily distance.
- Tender
- The act of offering and physically delivering freight to a carrier or cargo terminal for movement.
W
- White glove
- Delivery including appointment control, inside delivery, placement and, where contracted, uncrating and debris removal. Excludes installation.
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