Average Annual Daily Truck Traffic (AADTT) - The total volume of truck traffic on a highway segment for one year, divided by the number of days in the year.

Backhaul - The process of a transportation vehicle (typically a truck) returning from the original destination point to the point of origin. A backhaul can be with a full or partially loaded trailer.

Barge - The cargo-carrying vehicle that inland water carriers primarily use. Basic barges have open tops, but there are covered barges for both dry and liquid cargoes.

Belly Cargo - Air freight carried in the belly of passenger aircraft.

Bill of Lading - A transportation document that is the contract of carriage containing the terms and condition between shipper and carrier.

Breakbulk Cargo - Cargo of non-uniform sizes, often transported on pallets, sacks, drums, or bags. These cargoes require labor-intensive loading and unloading processes. Examples of breakbulk cargo include coffee beans, logs, or pulp.

Broker - A person whose business it is to prepare shipping and customs documents for international shipments. Brokers often have offices at major freight gateways, including border crossings, seaports, and airports.

Bulk Cargo - Cargo that is unbound as loaded; it is without count in a loose unpackaged form. Examples of bulk cargo include coal, grain, and petroleum products.

Cabotage - A national law that requires costal and intercostal traffic to be carried in its own nationally registered, and sometimes built and crewed ships.

Cargo Ramp - A dedicated load/unload facility for cargo aircraft.

Carload - Quantity of freight (in tons) required to fill a railcar; amount normally required to qualify for a carload rate.

Carrier - A firm which transports goods or people via land, sea or air.

Centralized Dispatching - The organization of the dispatching function into one central location. This structure often involves the use of data collection devices for communication between the centralized dispatching function, which usually reports to the production control department and the shop manufacturing departments.

Chassis - A trailer-type device with wheels constructed to accommodate containers, which are lifted on and off.

Claim - Charges made against a carrier for loss, damage, delay, or overcharge.

Class I Carrier - A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues-motor carrier of property greater than or equal to $5 million; railroads: greater than or equal to $50 million: motor carriers of passengers; greater than or equal to $3 million.

Class II Carrier - A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues-motor carrier of property $1- $5 million; railroads: $10-$50 million: motor carriers of passengers; less than or equal to $3 million.

Class III Carrier - A classification of regulated carriers based upon annual operating revenues-motor carrier of property less than or equal to $1 million; railroads: greater than or equal to $10 million.

Classification Yard - A railroad terminal area where railcars are grouped together to form train units.

Coastal Shipping - Also known as short-sea or coastwise shipping, describes marine shipping operations between ports along a single coast or involving a short sea crossing.

Contract Carrier - A carrier that does not serve the general public, but provides transportation for hire for one or a limited number of shippers under a specific contract.

Commodity - An Item that is traded in commerce. The term usually implies an undifferentiated product competing primarily on price and availability.

Common Carrier - Any carrier engaged in the interstate transportation of persons/property on a regular schedule at published rates, whose services are for hire to the general public.

Consignee - The receiver of a freight shipment, usually the buyer.

Consignor - The sender of a freight shipment, usually the seller.

Container - A "box"' typically ten to forty feet long, which is used primarily for ocean freight shipment. For travel to and from ports, containers are loaded onto truck chassis' or on railroad flatcars.

Container on Flatcar (COFC) - Containers resting on railway flatcars without a chassis underneath.

Containerization - A shipment method in which commodities are placed in containers, and after initial loading, the commodities per se are not re-handled in shipment until they are unloaded at destination.

Containerized Cargo - Cargo that is transported in containers that can be transferred easily from one transportation mode to another.

Contract Carrier - Carrier engaged in interstate transportation of persons/property by motor vehicle on a for-hire basis, but under continuing contract with one or a limited number of customers to meet specific needs.

Cubage - Cubic volume of space being used or available for shipping or storage.

Deadhead - The return of an empty transportation container back to a transportation facility. Commonly-used description of an empty backhaul

Detention Fee - The carrier charges and fees applied when rail freight cars, ships and carriers are retained beyond a specified loading or unloading time.

Demurrage - The carrier charges and fees applied when rail freight cars and ships are retained beyond a specific loading or unloading time.

Direct to Store - Process of shipping direct from a manufacturer’s plant or distribution center to the customer’s retail store, thus bypassing the customer’s distribution center.

Dispatcher - An individual tasked to assign available transportation loads to available carriers.

Distribution Center (DC) - The warehouse facility which holds inventory from manufacturing pending distribution to the appropriate stores.

Dock - A space used for receiving merchandise at a freight terminal.

Double-stack - Railcar movement of containers stacked two high.

Drayage - Transporting of rail or ocean freight by truck to an intermediate or final destination; typically a charge for pickup/delivery of goods moving short distances (e.g., from marine terminal to warehouse).

Drop - A situation in which an equipment operator deposits a trailer or boxcar at a facility at which it is to be loaded or unloaded.

Durable Goods - Generally, any goods whose continuous serviceability is likely to exceed three years.

Exempt Carrier - A for-hire carrier that is free from economic regulation. Trucks hauling certain commodities are exempt from Interstate Commerce Commission economic regulation. By far the largest portion of exempt carrier transports agricultural commodities or seafood.

Flatbed - A trailer without sides used for hauling machinery or other bulky items.

For-Hire Carrier - Carrier that provides transportation service to the public on a fee basis.

Freight All Kinds (FAK) - Goods classified FAK are usually charged higher rates than those marked with a specific classification and are frequently in a container that includes various classes of cargo.

Freight Forwarder - A person whose business is to act as an agent on behalf of a shipper. A freight forwarder frequently consolidates shipments from several shippers and coordinates booking reservations.

Free Trade Zone (FTZ) - An area or zone set aside at or near a port or airport, under the control of the U.S. Customs Service, for holding goods duty-free pending customs clearance.

Fuel-Taxed Waterway System - Eleven thousand miles of the U.S. waterway system designated by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. Commercial users of this system pay a per gallon fuel tax which is deposited in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund and used to fund inland navigation projects each year.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) - The combined total weight of a vehicle and its freight.

Hazardous Material - A substance or material which the Department of Transportation has determined to be capable of posing a risk to health, safety, and property when stored or transported in commerce.

In-bond Shipment - A shipment status in which goods are permitted to enter a country and temporarily stored for transport to a final destination where the duty will be paid.

Inbound Logistics - The movement of materials from shippers and vendors into production processes or storage facilities.

Interline Freight - Freight moving from point of origin to destination over the lines of two or more transportation lines.

Inventory - The number of units and/or value of the stock of goods a company holds.

Just-in-Time (JIT) - Cargo or components that must be at a destination at the exact time needed. The container or vehicle is the movable warehouse.

Lead-time - The total time that elapses between an order's placement and it receipt. It includes the time required for order transmittal, order processing, order preparation, and transit.

Less-Than-Containerload/Less-Than-Truckload (LCL/LTL) - A container or trailer loaded with cargo from more than one shipper; loads that do not by themselves meet the container load or truckload requirements.

Lift-on/Lift-off (lo/lo) Cargo - Containerized cargo that must be lifted on and off vessels and other vehicles using handling equipment.

Line Haul - The movement of freight over the road/rail from origin terminal to destination terminal, usually over long distances.

Liquid Bulk Cargo - A type of bulk cargo that consists of liquid items, such as petroleum, water, or liquid natural gas.

Logistics - All activities involved in the management of product movement; delivering the right product from the right origin to the right destination, with the right quality and quantity, at the right schedule and price.

Neo-bulk Cargo - Shipments consisting entirely of units of a single commodity, such as cars, lumber, or scrap metal.

Node - A fixed point in a firm's logistics system where goods come to rest; includes plants, warehouses, supply sources, and markets.

OS&D - Over, short and damaged. Report is issued at the warehouse when goods are damaged; a claim is usually filed with the carrier.

On-Dock Rail - Direct shipside rail service. Includes the ability to load and unload containers/breakbulk directly from railcar to vessel.

Outbound Logistics - The process related to the movement and storage of products from the end of the production line to the end user.

Owner-operator - Trucking operation in which the owner of the truck is also the driver.

Placard - A label that identifies a hazardous material shipment and the hazards present.

Piggyback - A rail/truck service. A shipper loads a highway trailer, and a carrier drives it to a rail terminal and loads it on a flatcar; the railroad moves the trailer-on-flatcar combination to the destination terminal, where the carrier offloads the trailer and delivers it to the consignee.

Pool/Drop Trailers - Trailers that are staged at facilities for preloading purposes.

Private Carrier - A carrier that provides transportation service to the firm that owns or leases the vehicles and does not charge a fee.

Prepaid - A freight term, which indicates that charges are to be paid by the shipper. Prepaid shipping charges may be added to the customer invoice, or the cost may be bundled into the pricing of the product.

Proof of Delivery - Information supplied by the carrier containing the name of the person who signed for the shipment, the time and date of delivery, and other shipment delivery related information.

Purchase Order (PO) - The purchaser's authorization used to formalize a purchase transaction with a supplier. The physical form or electronic transaction a buyer uses when placing an order for merchandise.

Reefer Trailer - A refrigerated trailer that is commonly used for perishable goods.

Regional Railroad - Railroad defined as line-haul railroad operating at least 350 miles of track and/or earns revenue between $40 million and $266.7 million.

Receiving - The function encompassing the physical receipt of material, the inspection of the shipment for conformance with the purchase order (quantity and damage), the identification and delivery to destination, and the preparation of receiving reports.

Roll-on/Roll-off (ro/ro) Cargo - Wheeled cargo, such as automobiles, or cargo carried on chassis that can be rolled on or off vehicles without using cargo handling equipment.

Seasonality - Repetitive pattern of demand from year to year (or other repeating time interval) with some periods considerably higher than others. Seasonality explains the fluctuation in demand for various recreational products, which are used during different seasons.

Shipper - Party that tenders goods for transportation.

Shipping Manifest - A document that lists the pieces in a shipment.

Short-Sea Shipping - Also known as coastal or coastwise shipping, describes marine shipping operations between ports along a single coast or involving a short sea crossing.

Stop Off Charge - Charge associated with a load that has more than one drop off point. Typically, the first stop of a multi-stop load is free, and then the charge applies to the subsequent stops.

Switching and Terminal Railroad - Railroad that provides pick-up and delivery services to line-haul carriers.

TEU - Twenty-foot equivalent unit, a standard size intermodal container.

Throughput - Total amount of freight imported or exported through a seaport measured in tons or TEUs.

Trailer on Flatcar (TOFC) - Transport of trailers with their loads on specially designed rail cars.

Transit time - The total time that elapses between a shipment's delivery and pickup.

Transloading - Transferring bulk shipments from the vehicle/container of one mode to that of another at a terminal interchange point.

Truckload (TL) - Quantity of freight required to fill a truck, or at a minimum, the amount required to qualify for a truckload rate.

Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) - The 8-foot by 8-foot by 20-foot intermodal container is used as a basic measure in many statistics and is the standard measure used for containerized cargo.