Air Waybill

All-Risk Insurance - The broadest form of coverage available, providing protection against all risk of physical loss or damage from any external cause. Does not cover loss or damage due to delay, inherent vice, inadequate packaging, or loss of market.

FCL - Full Container Load, Full Car Load.

Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) - The U.S. Federal agency responsible for overseeing Ocean Carriers, Conferences, NVOCC's and Ocean Freight Forwarders (now called OTI's - Ocean Transportation Intermediaries) at ocean ports and inland waterways.

Feeder Vessel - A vessel that connects with a line vessel to service a port not directly served by that line vessel.

FEU - (Forty foot equivalent) Term normally used in ocean freight rate negotiations referring to the equivalent of two twenty foot ocean containers.

FIATA - International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations.

Flag Carrier - An airline or vessel of one national registry whose government gives it partial or total monopoly over international routes.

Flat Bed Chassis - A semi-trailer with a level bed and no sides or tops. The floor is a standard height from the ground.

Flat Rack - A platform designed with the flexibility to carry oversized cargo on board container vessels. It can be loaded from the sides and top, usually having adjustable or removable bulkheads at the front and back.

FMC - (See Federal Maritime Commission)

Force Majeure - The title of a standard clause found in marine contracts exempting the parties for non-fulfillment of their obligations by reasons of occurrences beyond their control, such as earthquakes, floods, or war.

Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) - A port designated by the government for duty-free entry of any non-prohibited goods. Merchandise may be stored, displayed, and used for manufacturing within the zone and re-exported without duties being paid. Duties are imposed only when the original goods or items manufactured from those goods pass from the zone into an area of the country subject to customs authority. Also called a Free Trade Zone.

Foreign Trade Zone Entry - A form declaring goods which are brought duty free into a Foreign Trade Zone for further processing or storage and subsequent exportation from the zone into the commerce of another country.

Forwarder, Freight Forwarder, Foreign Freight Forwarder - An independent business that dispatches shipments for exporters for a fee. The firm may ship by land, air, or sea, or it may specialize. Usually it handles all the services connected with an export shipment, including preparation of documents, booking cargo space, warehousing, pier delivery, and export clearance. The firm may also handle banking and insurance services on behalf of a client.

Free of Particular Average (FPA) - A marine insurance clause relating to the recoverability of partial and total losses from perils of the sea. The American and English coverage's vary as follows:
American Conditions (FPAAC). The underwriter does not assume responsibility for partial losses unless caused by sinking, stranding, burning, or colliding with another vessel.

English Conditions (FPAEC). The underwriter assumes responsibility for partial losses if the vessel is sunk, stranded, burned, on fire, or in collision, even though such an event did not actually cause the damage suffered by the goods.

Free Out (FO) - The cost of unloading a vessel is borne by the charterer.

Free Port - A port which is a Foreign Trade Zone open to all traders on equal terms, or more specifically a port where merchandise may he stored duty-free pending re-export or sale within that country.

Free Trade Zone - (See Foreign Trade Zone)

GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)

Gross Weight (GR Wt./GW ) - The full weight of a shipment, including containers and packaging materials.

Integrated Carrier - A forwarder that uses its own aircraft, whether owned or leased, rather than scheduled airlines.

Interline - A mutual agreement between airlines to link their route network.

Intermodal - This refers to the capacity to go from ship to train to truck or the like. The term generally refers to containerized shipping or the capacity to handle containers across different modes of transport.

ISO 9000 - A series of voluntary international quality standards.

Joint Venture

Just in Time (JIT) - The principle of production and inventory control in which goods arrive when needed for production or use.

L/C

LCL

Lighter - An open or covered barge equipped with a crane and towed by a tugboat. Used mostly in harbors and inland waterways.

Liner - The word "liner" is derived from the term "line traffic," which denotes operation along definite routes on the basis of definite, fixed schedules. A liner thus is a vessel that engages in this kind of transportation, which usually involves the haulage of general cargo as distinct from bulk cargo.

Load Factor - Capacity used as against capacity available and expressed as a percentage.

Logistics Management - The efficient and cost-effective management of the physical movement of goods from supply points to final sale and the associated transfer and holding of such goods at various intermediate storage points.

Lo/Lo (Lift-On/Lift-Off) - Denotes the method by which cargo is loaded onto and discharged from an ocean vessel, which in this case is by the use of a crane.

LTL - (See Less than Truckload)

Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) - In the United States, a term for an FMC-Iicensed cargo consolidator of shipments in ocean trade, generally arranging for or performing consolidation and containerization functions. In trade lanes that do not include the U.S.A., NVOCC's operate under different rules and governmental licensing may not be a requirement.

NOS - Not Otherwise Specified.

NT - Net Tons.

NVOCC - (See Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier)

Part Charter - Where part of an airline's scheduled flight is sold as if it were a charter in its own right. Often incorrectly used as a synonym for split charter.

Part Load Charter - Where a part of an aircraft's load is discharged at one destination and a part of it at another. This is distinct from a split charter where a number of consignments are carried to the same destination. Inbound, part loads are treated as single entity charters under the regulations in most countries.

Particular Average (PA) - Partial loss or damage to goods.

Perils of the Sea - Fortuitous accidents or casualties peculiar to transportation on navigable water, such as sinking, collision of vessel, striking a submerged object, or encountering heavy weather or other unusual forces of nature.

Perishables - Any cargo that loses considerable value if it is delayed in transportation. This usually refers to fresh fruit and vegetables.

Phytosanitary Inspection Certificate - A certificate issued by an exporting countries' Department of Agriculture indicating that a shipment has been inspected and is free of harmful pests and plant diseases.

Pilferage - As used in marine insurance policies, the term denotes petty thievery-the taking of small parts of a shipment-as opposed to the theft of a whole shipment or large unit. Many ordinary marine insurance policies do not cover against pilferage, and when this coverage is desired it must be added to the policy.

Port Marks - An identifying set of letters, numbers, or geometric symbols followed by the name of the port of destination that are placed on export shipments. Foreign government requirements may be exceedingly strict in the matter of port marks.

Port of Discharge - A port where a vessel is off-loaded and cargo discharged.

Port of Entry - A port at which foreign goods are admitted into the receiving country.

Port of Loading - A port where cargo is loaded aboard the vessel, lashed, and stowed.

Prepaid Freight - Generally speaking, freight charges both in ocean and air transport may be either prepaid in the currency of the country of export or they may be billed collect for payment by the consignee in his local currency. On shipments to some countries, however, freight charges must be prepaid because of foreign exchange regulations of the country of import or rules of steamship companies or airlines.

Prima Facie - A Latin term frequently encountered in foreign trade that means "on first appearance." When a steamship company issues a clean bill of lading, it acknowledges that the goods were received "in apparent good order and condition" and this is said by the courts to constitute prima facie evidence of the conditions of the containers; that is, if nothing to the contrary appears, it must be inferred that the cargo was in good condition when received by the carrier.

Proof of Delivery (POD) - The delivery receipt copy of a freight bill indicating the name of the person who signed for a package with the date and time of delivery.

Ship's Manifest

Shipment

Shipper - Term used to describe an exporter (usually the seller).

Short-Shipped - Cargo manifested but not loaded.

Sight Draft - A draft payable upon presentation to the drawee. (Compare with Date Draft and Time Draft.)

Steamship Agent - A duly appointed and authorized representative in a specified territory acting on behalf of a steamship line or lines and attending to all matters relating to the vessels owned by his principals.

Steamship Line - A company usually having the following departments: vessel operations, container operations, tariff department, booking, outbound rates, inward rates, and sales. The company can maintain its own in-country offices to handle regional sales, operations, or other matters, or appoint steamship agents to represent them doing the same. Some lines have liner offices in several regions and appointed agents in others.

Stowage - The lading of cargo in a vessel in such a manner as to provide the utmost safety and efficiency for the ship and the goods it carries.

Strikes, Riots and Civil Commotion's - An insurance clause referring to loss or damage directly caused by strikers, locked-out workmen, persons' participation in labor disturbances, and riots of various kinds. The ordinary marine insurance policy does not cover this risk. Coverage against it can be added only by endorsement.

Sue & Labor Cause - A provision in marine insurance obligating the assured to do things necessary after a loss to prevent further loss and to act in the best interests of the insurer.

Tare Weight

Tariff - A general term for any listing of rates or charges. The tariffs most frequently encountered in foreign trade are: tariffs of international transportation companies operating on sea, land, and in the air; tariffs of international cable, radio, and telephone companies; and the customs tariffs of the various countries that list goods that are duty free and those subject to import duty, giving the rate of duty in each case. There are various classes of customs duties.

Temperature Controlled Cargo - Any cargo requiring carriage under controlled temperature.

TEU - A twenty-foot equivalent unit (6.1m). A standard unit for counting containers of various lengths and for describing container ship or terminal capacity. A standard 40' container (FEU) equals 2 TEUs.

THC (Terminal Handling Charge) - A charge for handling services performed at terminals.

Time Draft - A draft that matures in a certain number of days, either from acceptance or the date of the draft.

Ton - Freight rates for liner cargo generally are quoted on the basis of a certain rate per ton, depending on the nature of the commodity. This ton, however, may be a weight ton or a measurement ton.

Ton-Deadweight - The carrying capacity of the ship in terms of the weight in tons of the cargo, fuel, provisions, and passengers which a vessel can carry.

Tracking - A system of recording movement intervals of shipments from origin to destination.

Transshipment - The transfer of a shipment from one carrier to another in international trade, most frequently from one ship to another. Because the unloading and reloading of delicate merchandise may cause damage, transshipments are avoided whenever possible.

Valuation Charges

Volume Weight - An international airfreight term used to describe the results of computing the chargeable weight from the cubic measurement of a shipment.