Shipping, Freight and Materials Handling Terms - APEX

Tariff

1) A schedule of duties imposed by a government on imported and exported goods. 2) Published list of fares or rates and conditions of service from a supplier.

Cartage

1) Fee charged for transporting freight between destinations. 2) Short distance hauling of exhibit properties.

Released Value

1) Limit of a carrier's liability. 2) Stated value of a shipment when released to the carrier. If shipper declares a higher value than the per-pound limit, shipping costs will increase.

OT

1) Overtime. 2) On Truck or Railway.

Skid

1) Pallet. 2) Wooden platform used to support machinery or a collection of objects for easier handling. 3) Thick wood blocks attached to crates which allow forklift access for easier handling. 4) Wood runners protecting the exterior of a shipping case.

Rigger

1) Person responsible for machinery uncrating, unskidding, positioning, leveling, and reskidding. 2) Skilled labor responsible for attaching signs, banners, truss, and other equipment to ceilings.

Padding

1) Usually blanket protection for uncrated material. 2) Additional material for comfort installed under carpeting in an exhibit booth

Inland Bill of Lading

A Bill of Lading used in transporting goods overland to the exporter's international carrier. Although a bill of lading can sometimes be used, it is usually necessary to prepare both an inland bill of lading and an ocean bill of lading for export shipments. See Also Bill of Lading Through Bill of Lading Waybill

Wharfage

A charge assessed by a pier or dock owner for handling incoming or outgoing cargo.

Container Detention

A charge that is assessed when the container is removed from the carrier's control but is not returned within the allowable free time.

Carnet (car-NAY)

A customs document permitting the holder to carry or send merchandise temporarily into certain foreign countries (for display, demonstration or similar purposes) without paying duties or posting bonds.

Validated Export License

A document issued by the U.S. Government authorizing the export of commodities for which written export authorization is required by law.

Bill of Lading

A document that establishes the terms of a contract between a shipper and a transportation company under which the freight is to be moved between specified points for a specific charge. It serves as a document of title, a contract of carriage, and a receipt of goods.

Certificate of Origin

A document, required by certain countries for tariff purposes, certifying as to the country of origin of specified goods.

Consular Invoice

A document, required by some countries, describing a shipment of goods and showing information such as the consignor, consignee, and value of the shipment. Certified by a consular official of the foreign country, it is used by that country's customs officials to verify the value, quantity, and nature of the shipment.

Shipper's Export Declaration

A form required for all shipments by the U.S. Treasury Department and prepared by a shipper, indicating the value, weight, destination, and other basic information about an export shipment.

Consular Declaration

A formal statement, made to the consul of a country, describing goods to be shipped.

Export License

A government document which permits the "licensee" to engage in the export of designated goods to certain destinations.

Marshalling Yard

A holding area where trucks or buses check in and wait for instructions before delivering or picking up freight or passengers.

Packing List

A list showing the number and kinds of items being shipped, as well as other information needed for transportation purposes.

Century Weight CWT

A measurement for exhibit freight equal to 100 pounds. Also known as "hundred-weight".

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

A multilateral treaty aimed at reducing trade barriers between the signatory countries and promoting trade through tariff concessions

Broker

A non-asset based transportation provider that sells transportation services for commercial shippers. Brokers commonly use freight forwarders.

Waybill

A non-negotiable instrument of transport that serves as a receipt for the shipper, indicating that the carrier has accepted the goods listed therein and obligates itself to carry the consignment to the destination according to specified conditions. See Also Air Consignment Note Bill of Lading Inland Bill of Lading Through Bill of Lading

Consignor

A person who sends freight. Compare with CONSIGNEE.

Country of Origin

A person's country of natural birth or citizenship; an item's country of manufacture, production, or agricultural growth.

Foul Bill of Lading

A receipt for goods issued by a carrier with an indication that the goods were damaged when received. See CLEAN BILL OF LADING.

Clean Bill of Lading

A receipt for goods issued by a carrier with an indication that the goods were received in apparent good order and condition, without damages or other irregularities

Dock Receipt

A receipt issued by an ocean carrier to acknowledge receipt of a shipment at the carrier's dock or warehouse facilities.

Through Bill of Lading

A single bill of lading (B/L) covering both the domestic and international carriage of an export shipment, a air waybill, for instance, is essentially a through bill of lading used for air shipments. Ocean shipments, on the other hand, usually require two separate documents - an inland bill of lading for domestic carriage and an ocean bill of lading for international carriage. Therefore, this type of bill cannot be used. See Also Bill of Lading Inland Bill of Lading Waybill

Freight Forwarder

A third-party logistics provider which handles export shipments for customers using common carriers.

International Freight Forwarder

A third-party logistics provider which handles export shipments for customers using common carriers. See Also Freight Forwarder

Overnight Service

A type of airfreight service. Overnight does not necessarily mean 24-hour delivery as carriers deal in business days (usually, Monday - Friday). In addition, a shipment might not move until the following day, depending on the time of day it is picked up or loaded.

Lowboy

A type of truck that can be adapted for picking up loads at ground level.

Bonded Warehouse

A warehouse authorized by customs authorities for storage of goods on which payment of duties is deferred until the goods are removed.

Cargo Insurance

Additional coverage protecting the owner of goods for loss or damage while goods are in a carrier's possession. Recommended for all international shipments.

Actual Weight

Also known as gross shipping weight. Determined by (1) weighing in a vehicle empty, (2) loading a shipment and returning the vehicle to the scale to obtain the weight, and (3) subtracting the two weights. Can also be obtained by individually weighing each piece of freight.. See also Gross Weight or Tare Weight.

Airfreight Forwarder

An airfreight company that transports freight via scheduled airlines. Forwarders do not operate their own planes

Foreign Trade Zone

An area within a country where imported goods can be stored or processed without being subject to import duty.

Countervailing Duty

An extra duty imposed by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to offset export grants, bounties, or subsidies paid to foreign suppliers in certain countries by the governments of those countries as an incentive to exports.

Customs Broker

An individual or company which provides customs clearing services to shippers of goods to and from another country.

Customs House

An individual or firm licensed to enter and clear goods through customs.

Shipping Manifest

An instrument in writing, signed by the captain of a ship that lists the individual shipments constituting the ship's cargo.

ATA Carnet

An international customs document that permits duty-free and tax-free temporary import of goods for up to one year. It eliminates or reduces VAT charges, customs fees, and bond fees. Items covered commercial samples, professional equipment, goods for presentations for use at trade fairs, shows, etc. Items not covered are consumable or disposable goods, which will not be returned home.

Certified Weight

An official weight issued from a Certified Weight Master. This individual certifies a shipment's weight as the only acceptable weight for transportation and dray-age at a trade-show.

Advance Order

An order for goods and/or services ordered before the move-in date for an exhibition. Usually less expensive than a floor order.

Special Handling

Applies to display shipments requiring extra labor, equipment, or time in delivery to booth/stand area.

Loading Dock

Area on premises where goods are received. Usually a raised area that back loading trucks can back up to and offload freight easily.

Marine Insurance

Broadly, insurance covering loss or damage of goods at sea. Marine insurance will typically compensate the owner of merchandise for losses sustained from fire, shipwreck, piracy, and various other causes, but excludes losses which can be legally recovered from the carrier.

Preferred Carrier

Carriers that have alliances with exposition service firms and general service contractors. They receive preferential treatment, and some discounts may be obtained by using these carriers.

Classification

Commodity tariff used to classify shipments. Shipments are evaluated by their density, sensitivity, packaging and other criteria. Rates are assessed on a shipment after a commodity classification is established.

C&F

Cost and Freight. A pricing term indicating that these costs are included in the quoted price.

C&I

Cost and Insurance. A pricing term indicating that these costs are included in the quoted price.

CIF&C

Cost, Insurance, Freight, and Commission. A pricing term indicating that these costs are included in the quoted price.

CIF&E

Cost, Insurance, Freight, and Exchange. A pricing term indicating that these costs are included in the quoted price.

CIF

Cost, Insurance, and Freight. A pricing term indicating that these costs are included in the quoted price.

Signed Exception

Delivery receipt, signed by the carrier, noting a damage or shortage.

Port of Entry

Destination providing customs and immigration services.

Canadian Customs Invoice

Document required by Canadian Customs identifying shipper, seller, consignee, terms, date of shipment, material being sold/shipped, classification code, quantity, unit and total prices. Additional information required on the invoice depends on shipper and consignee arrangements.

Temporary Import

Exhibition material whose temporary import status exempts payment of duties and taxes on arrival.

Duty

Fee levied on imported and exported goods. Duties are generally based on the value of the goods (ad valorem duties), some other factors such as weight or quantity (specific duties), or a combination of value and other factors (compound duties). See AD VALOREM TAX.

Manifest

Final official listing of all passengers and/or cargo aboard a transportation vehicle or vessel.

Forced Freight

Forced freight is generally removed from the hall at a specified time and held by the general contractor or official common carrier or until payment is made for forwarding.

Billing Weight

Generally refers to an airfreight and van line shipment. The billing weight is the number upon which freight charges are based. It is the actual weight or the dimensional weight, whichever is greater.

Clear Date/Time

Generally the last point in time at which an exhibitor-appointed carrier must be in line or at the dock in order to be loaded after the close of the show.

Prohibited Cargo

Goods restricted by international convention. Also refers to drugs, weapons and ammunitions.

State-Controlled Trading Company

In a country with a state trading monopoly, a trading entity empowered by the country's government to conduct export business.

Permanent Import

In case of sales, with payment of duties and value added tax (VAT), or in case of free distribution, disposable or consumables usually exempted from payment of duties and VAT depending on each country. Quantity and value exempted at discretion of customs authorities.

Less Than Truckload

LTL. Rates applicable when the quantity of freight is less than the volume of truckload minimum weight.

Way Bill

List of enclosed goods and shipping instructions, sent with material in transit.

Trapping

Method of consolidating shipments. Usually defines function of an LTL trucker grouping freight for shipment to a particular show.

Drayage

Outdated term for MATERIAL HANDLING

Drayage Contractor

Outdated term for company responsible for handling exhibit materials. See MATERIAL HANDLING.

OTR

Over the Road. Freight that moves on the road, typically shipped directly to the convention center.

Spotting

Placement of equipment in exact location in booth by using a forklift.

Security Cage

Portable wire enclosure used to lock up materials for safe storage.

POV Line

Privately Owned Vehicle Line. Special loading dock reserved for POVs where material is unloaded at prevailing material handling rates

POV

Privately Owned Vehicle. A vehicle, such as a passenger car, van or small company vehicle, as distinguished from tracks, tractor-trailers and other over the road vehicles. Special loading dock reserved for POVs where material is unloaded at prevailing material handling rates.

Pallet Wrap

Process of wrapping loose items on pallet with a transparent plastic wrapping.

Freight

Properties, products, and other materials that are shipped.

Export Declaration

Required for shipments valued at more than $2500; used by the U.S. government to monitor the dollar volume of export shipments.

Collection and Consolidation Service

Service performed for a shipper in which a number of smaller shipments are picked up or received and forwarded as one truckload shipment.

Material Handling

Services performed by GENERAL SERVICE CONTRACTOR that includes delivery of exhibit materials from the dock to assigned space, removing empty crates, returning crates at the end of the event for re-crating, and delivering materials back to the dock for carrier loading. It is a two-way charge, incoming and outgoing. Sometimes referred to as DRAYAGE, Material Handling is the preferred term.

Pro Number

Shipment number designated by the common carrier to a single shipment, used in all cases where the shipment must be referenced.

Padded Van Shipment

Shipment, by moving van, of crated or uncrated goods such as large pieces of furniture or display material.

Declared Value

Shipper's stated value of entire shipment in terms of dollars

Storage Area

Space at a show set aside for storage of crates or materials.

Jigging

Special dividers, sectioning and protective padding inside exhibit crates.

Ad Valorem Tax

Tax applied to an item according to the value of an item. AKA Duty.

Gross Weight

The full weight of a shipment, including goods and packaging. See TARE WEIGHT, ACTUAL WEIGHT

Customs

The governmental authorities designated to collect duties levied by a country on imports and exports. The term also applies to the procedures involved in such collection.

Transit and Exhibition Insurance

The insurance that covers loss or damage caused deliberately or accidentally by third parties during loading, unloading, transshipment, transport, and exhibition.

Temporary Import Bond

The surety covering articles imported into a country on a temporary basis, generally in lieu of paying import duties and/or taxes. The fee for the bond is non-refundable in most cases.

Empty Sticker

The tag indicating a crate may be moved into storage. The sticker identifies the exhibitor and the return location for the crate.

Tare Weight

The weight of a container and/or packing materials deducted from the total weight to determine the weight of the contents or load. See ACTUAL WEIGHT, GROSS WEIGHT. See Also Gross Weight

Shipping Agent

Third-party hired to handle shipping goods to and from an event. Also Called SHIPPER.

Common Carrier

Transportation company which handles crated materials; an agency or business that is available to the public for transportation of persons, goods, or messages; usually referring to freight transportation on regularly scheduled trucks or airplanes.

Contract Carrier

Trucking company that enters into a specific contract with a shipper to transport goods for an agreed-upon price. Contained within the contract are all the terms and conditions, liability, transit times, etc.

Truckload Rates

Truckload rates apply where the tariff shows a truckload minimum weight. Charges will be at the truckload minimum weight unless weight is higher.

Truck Loaders

Union labor specifically responsible for unloading equipment.

Value Added Tax

VAT. A tax that is added to a product at each step of the manufacturing and marketing process reflecting value which has been added to the product by processing.

Net Weight

Weight of goods without the shipping container.

Freight on Board

When something is purchased and paid for with terms 'FOB origin' it means the responsibility of the seller stops when the 'goods' are delivered to the transporting company at the point of origin. It is the responsibility of the buyer to pay for transportation.

Pallet

Wooden platform used to carry goods. See SKID. See Also Skid