Читать книгу Freight Brokerage Business - The Staff of Entrepreneur Media Inc. - Страница 21

Glossary

The following is an alphabetical listing of common terminology used by freight brokers and agents. The best way to develop a true understanding of these terms is to obtain some type of specialized training as a freight broker or agent, and/or land a job that will provide you with real-world experience working within the industry.

Accessorial charges: charges assessed by a carrier for services provided in addition to basic transportation, such as extra pickups, loading, and unloading.

Air-ride: trailers built to reduce road shock and designed to carry fragile items; the suspension system supports the load on air-filled rubber bags rather than steel springs.

Backhaul: the return trip of a vehicle from the destination back to the origin.

Bill of lading: a document that serves as the contract of carriage between the shipper and the carrier.

Bobtail: a tractor operating without a trailer.

Bracing: securing items inside a vehicle to prevent damage.

Break-bulk: the separation of a load into smaller shipments for delivery to ultimate consignees.

Claim: a charge made against a carrier for loss, damage, or overcharge.

Class rate: a rate constructed from a classification and a uniform distance system.

Commercial zone: the area surrounding a city or town to which rates quoted for that city or town also apply.

Common carrier: any person or agency publicly engaged in the business of transporting passengers or freight; common carriers are subject to two stringent obligations: compulsory service and liability for loss or damage to goods.

Consignee: the receiver of a freight shipment, usually the buyer.

Consignor: the sender of a freight shipment, usually the seller.

Consolidation: the collection of smaller shipments to form a larger quantity to get lower transportation rates.

Container (shipping container): standard-sized rectangular box used to transport freight by ship, rail, or motor carrier.

Contract carrier: a company that transports freight under contract with one shipper or a limited number of shippers.

Cost per hundredweight (cwt): an amount charged per hundred pounds of freight.

Density: a physical characteristic of a commodity, which is important in rate-making since density affects vehicle utilization; determining density requires measuring its mass per unit per volume, or pounds per foot.

Detention: the charge assessed by the carrier when the shipper or receiver holds a truck or trailer beyond the time allowed for loading and unloading.

Doubles (twins, twin trailers): a tractor and two semitrailers that are connected.

Drayage: a motor carrier that operates locally, providing pickup and delivery service.

Driver assist: when a driver is asked to assist in the loading or unloading process; sometimes treated as an extra charge on a per-hour or flat rate.

Driver’s log sheets: a log of miles traveled, hours of driving, off-times, and rest periods that drivers are required to keep.

Dry van: a nonrefrigerated, noninsulated semitrailer handling general commodity freight that can withstand outside temperatures without suffering damage.

Empty backhaul: when a truck returns empty from the destination to the point of origin and therefore does not generate return-trip revenue.

Exclusive use: a request made by shippers that means their freight is the only freight on the truck.

Exempt carrier: a for-hire carrier that is exempt from economic regulations.

Expediting: determining where a shipment is during transit and attempting to speed up its delivery; many big companies have expeditors on staff who do this full time.

Flats (or flatbeds): a flat, solidly built trailer designed to handle heavier and bulkier loads than a dry van, such as metal, equipment, and machinery.

FOB: a term of sale that defines who is to pay transportation charges for a shipment, who is to control the movement of the shipment, or where title to the goods passes from the seller to the buyer; originally an acronym for “free on board.”

For-hire carrier: a company that provides truck transportation of cargo belonging to others and is paid for doing so.

Freight bill: the carrier’s invoice for transportation charges for a particular shipment.

Freight broker: the middle person who connects shippers and carriers.

Freight payable: technically, a freight bill that needs to be paid; in common use, it also refers to the special payables department large shippers may have that is dedicated to paying freight bills.

Freight pool: a collection of trailer loads waiting for assignment to a driver and tractor.

Front haul: the initial movement of the vehicle from the origin to the destination.

Full truckload (FTL): a shipment occupying the entire trailer, typically with a weight of 30,000 pounds or more.

Gross weight: the total weight of the goods being shipped, including packing and packaging materials.

Hazmat: Hazardous materials, as classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); transportation of hazardous materials is strictly regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Incentive rate: a rate designed to encourage shippers to ship heavier volumes per shipment.

Interline: two or more motor carriers working together to haul a shipment.

Intermodal: combining two or more modes of transportation, such as truck and rail, truck and air, or rail and ocean.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC): a federal regulatory agency that was abolished in 1995.

Joint rate: a rate over a route that involves two or more carriers transporting the shipment.

Just-in-time (JIT) inventory management: an inventory management technique designed to reduce inventory levels by delivering parts just as they are needed on the production line.

Layover: a delay preventing a driver from unloading as scheduled at destination; some carriers charge an additional fee for this.

Less-than-truckload (LTL): a shipment occupying less than the entire trailer, typically with a weight of less than 30,000 pounds; it can be combined with other shipments to make up a full truckload.

Less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier: a trucking company that consolidates less-than-truckload cargo for multiple destinations on one vehicle.

Motor carrier (MC): a company that provides truck transportation.

Multiple drops: a delivery requiring more than one stop.

Net weight: the weight of the goods being shipped, excluding the packaging and packing materials.

OS&D: an acronym for “over, short, and damaged.”

Over (overage): when the piece count of a shipment is more than what is indicated on the bill of lading.

Over-the-road: a motor carrier operation that reflects long-distance, intercity moves; the opposite of local operations.

Owner-operator: a trucker who owns and operates his own truck(s).

P&D: pickup and delivery.

Pallet: a movable platform, usually made of wood, for the storage or transportation of goods.

Pallet exchange: the process of replacing a shipper’s pallets, leaving an equitable number of empty pallets when picking up goods loaded on pallets, then picking up a comparable number of empty pallets from the consignee when the freight is delivered.

Payload: the weight of the cargo being hauled.

Peddle run: a truck route with frequent delivery stops.

Private carrier: a carrier that provides transportation service of its own cargo to the firm that owns or leases the vehicles and does not charge a fee.

Process agent: a representative upon whom court papers may be served in any proceeding brought against a motor carrier, broker, or freight forwarder; freight brokers are required to list with the FMCSA the names of process agents in each state where they have an office and write contracts.

Product (pro), load and invoice numbers: numbers assigned to shipments for identification purposes.

Pup trailer: short semitrailer, usually between 26 and 32 feet long, with a single axle; often used as doubles or triples.

Purchase order number: a number that buyers assign to their purchase orders that shippers will usually include on their freight documents so consignees can easily identify the load when it is delivered.

Ragtop: a box-like trailer open at the top, on which a large canvas is spread to protect cargo from the elements; primarily used for large, bulky bales or boxes, loose materials, and sometimes for nursery stock shipments.

Reasonable rate: a rate high enough to cover the carrier’s costs but not so high that it enables the carrier to realize monopolistic profits.

Reefer: a refrigerated, insulated semitrailer.

Round trip: when a driver moves a load to a specific point, reloads at the point, and returns to the original point of pickup.

Semitrailer: a truck trailer supported at the rear by its own wheels and at the front by a fifth wheel mounted to a tractor or dolly.

Shipper order number: a number assigned to a load or shipment by the shipper for tracking purposes; this number should be referred to on invoices and any other documents concerning the shipment.

Shipping container: see container.

Shipping weight: the gross weight of a shipment, including product, packaging, and packing materials.

Short (shortage): when the piece count of a shipment is less than indicated on the bill of lading.

Short-haul discrimination: charging more for a shorter haul than a longer haul over the same route, in the same direction, and for the same commodity; this is an accepted industry practice since certain fixed costs apply no matter how long the trip is.

Skid: a pallet.

Split pickup: a pickup requiring more than one stop.

Tanker: a trailer shaped like a huge tank designed to handle liquid and loose, fine bulk materials.

Tariff: a publication that contains a carrier’s rates, accessorial charges, and rules.

Tend to load: when the drivers attend to the loading and unloading of their trailers.

Truckload (TL) carrier: a trucking company which dedicates trailers to a single shipper’s cargo, as opposed to an LTL (less than truckload) carrier which transports the consolidated cargo of several shippers and makes multiple deliveries.

Trailer on flatcar (TOFC): a method of moving cargo that involves transporting semitrailers on railroad flatcars.

Ton-mile taxes: taxes based on the weight (tonnage) of the shipment and the number of miles it travels (tax per ton, per mile).

Tracing: determining where a shipment is during the course of the move.

Tractor: a truck designed primarily to pull a semitrailer by means of a fifth wheel mounted over the rear axle(s); sometimes called a truck tractor or highway tractor to differentiate it from a farm tractor.

Tractor trailer: a tractor and semitrailer combination.

Traffic management: the management of the various activities associated with buying and controlling transportation services for a shipper or consignee or both.

Transit time: the total time that elapses from pickup to delivery of a shipment.

Trip leasing: leasing a company’s vehicle to another transportation provider for a single trip.

Truckload (TL): the quantity of freight required to fill a trailer, usually over 30,000 pounds.

Weight per case: the total, or gross, weight per case, carton, or box.