Many industries have done a great job creating their own lingo around their services and/or business information, and logistics and transportation is definitely included. We at On Time Logistics try to communicate with our customers in a way that is not so obscure that it’s hard for you to understand what we’re talking about, but we thought a glossary guide to terms often used by logistics and courier services might be appropriate to keep us all on the same page. If you have any to add, feel free to share in the comments!
Accessibility refers to the ability of a carrier to provide service between an origin and a destination.
Accessorial Charges (also called Upcharges) are fees for services over and above transportation charges. They can include inside delivery, heading, sort and segregate, heating, storage, etc.
Bulk Cargo is stowed loose on transportation vehicles, in a tank or hold without specific packaging, and handled by pump, scoop, conveyor, or shovel. A shipment that is called “bulk” is usually referring to a group of boxes or pieces from one location that is not packed into a single container. They are shipped individually, but in a “bulk shipment.”
“Category B” Medical Specimens include infectious substances, biological products (vaccines), cultures, and patient specimens (such as blood, tissue, or excreta).
CDL stands for Commercial Driver’s License. It authorizes an individual to operate commercial vehicles over 26,000 pounds. Any vehicle below that weight can be driven without a CDL.
COD means Collect Upon Delivery. Payment is required from the consignee immediately upon delivery.
Common Carrier refers to those freight transportation companies that serve the general public. For example, On Time Logistics, FedEx and UPS are all Common Carriers, but Walmart and other corporate shipping companies that serve only their own freight needs are called Private Carriers.
Consignee is the party (individual or business) that a package is being shipped to, according to the label on the package.
Consignor (shipper) is the individual or business that sends a package, shipment or freight. The freight originator.
Dangerous Goods (also called hazardous materials or restricted articles) are any articles or substances that are capable of posing a significant risk to public health, safety or property when transported by air. Some examples include oil-based paint (flammable liquids), insecticides and garden chemicals (fertilizers and poisons), lithium batteries not being used in cameras, automobile batteries, infectious substances, bleach, and even perfume.
Dead-head refers to a portion of a transportation trip in which no freight is conveyed; an empty move. Transportation equipment is often dead-headed because of imbalances in supply and demand. For example, many more containers are shipped from Asia to North America than in reverse; empty containers are therefore dead-headed back to Asia.
Desktop Delivery refers to delivery of a small package or shipment directly to the desk of the consignee.
Door-to-Door refers to a service arrangement in which freight is moved from its origin (shipper) to the ultimate destination (consignee) for a given rate. This is the kind of service provided by On Time Logistics.
Freight Forwarding is a service provided by an organization acting as an intermediary between the shipper and the carrier, typically on international shipments. Freight forwarders provide the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to changing customer and consumer demands and international shipping (import/export) requirements.
Hot Shot Deliveries Hot shot service is used when you need something delivered outside of usual shipping operating hours. It is a last minute cargo delivery service available 24 hours a day seven days a week.
L&D (Loss and Damage) refers to damage done to freight shipments while in transit or in a carrier-operated warehouse. Shippers or consignees usually take out insurance against L&D to protect their assets during transit.
Last Mile Deliveries are those deliveries that bridge the gap between goods that have been transported the bulk of their journey via freight rail, airlines or container ships, but which have no way of being delivered from the freight station or airport to their final destination.
Logistics can be defined in several ways depending on the context, but in general it is the management of the flow of goods, information and resources between the point of origin and the point of consumption, in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations.
Medical Couriers deliver medical equipment to patients and health care providers as well as blood and other specimens to medical laboratories for testing. Some medical couriers carry donor organs around the country to hospitals with patients awaiting transplants. For type of specimens handled by OTL, see “Category B Medical Specimens”
On-Demand Delivery is just what it sounds like. It’s a service that is only performed when demand is present, and requires no binding contract.
Pallets (also called Skids) are small platforms, usually 40×48”, on which goods are placed for easy handling in a warehouse or transportation vehicle.
POD stands for Proof of Delivery. These can be communicated through electronic means such as emails, or with a return-addressed card, as well as other options depending on the shipping company used.
Recovery Time is the amount of time needed to process a shipment and have it available for pick up after the flight containing the shipment arrives at the final destination.
Warehousing In Fee is the charge associated with receiving freight into a warehouse for storage. This fee is typically charged on a per-pallet basis.
Warehousing Out Fee is just as you’d expect; the cost of labor and handling to remove freight from a warehouse inventory. This fee is also typically charged on a per-pallet basis.
White Glove Delivery is in-home delivery and can include light assembly of related items as well as removal of all packing materials. Often used for furniture that needs assembly or large and valuable items such as pianos and works of art.
Courier, STAT and medical delivery terms
Time-critical and healthcare work has a vocabulary of its own. These are the terms that come up most often when arranging STAT delivery and courier services or specialized medical logistics.
STAT Delivery takes its name from the Latin statim, meaning “immediately.” A STAT run is dispatched on demand and driven straight through, rather than being added to a scheduled route. It is the standard request for time-critical items such as diagnostic specimens, blood products, pharmaceuticals and replacement parts that have stopped a production line.
Chain of Custody is the documented record of everyone who handles a shipment between pickup and delivery, with times and signatures at each transfer. For laboratory and legal work, an unbroken chain of custody is often as important as the delivery itself.
Cold Chain refers to an unbroken sequence of temperature-controlled handling, storage and transport that keeps a product within a required temperature range from origin to destination. A single unmonitored gap breaks the chain, even if the shipment arrives on time.
Temperature Excursion is any period in which a temperature-sensitive shipment moves outside its accepted range. Excursions normally have to be documented and reported, and depending on the product they can render it unusable.
Refrigerant is the material used to hold temperature in transit. Gel packs are typical for refrigerated ranges; dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) is used for frozen ranges and is itself classified as a dangerous good, so it carries its own labelling and ventilation requirements.
UN 3373 is the United Nations number and diamond label used for “Biological Substance, Category B” in transport — the classification that covers most diagnostic and patient specimens. See also “Category B Medical Specimens” above.
Triple Packaging is the three-layer arrangement required for many biological specimens: a leak-proof primary receptacle, leak-proof secondary packaging with absorbent material, and a rigid outer package bearing the shipping labels.
Dedicated Route is a fixed, recurring route run for a single customer on an agreed schedule, with assigned vehicles and drivers. See dedicated routes.
Route Density describes how many stops fall within a given area or mile travelled. Higher density lowers the cost per stop, which is why carriers price a tight urban route differently from a scattered rural one.
Scheduled (or Routed) Delivery is the opposite of on-demand: pickups and drops happen at set times on a repeating pattern, which is cheaper per stop and easier to staff.
TAT stands for Turnaround Time — the elapsed time from a pickup request to a completed delivery. It is the number most service-level agreements are written against.
POP stands for Proof of Pickup, the collection-side counterpart to POD. It matters whenever the sender and the payer are different parties.
Will Call means a shipment is held at a terminal or warehouse for the consignee to collect, rather than being delivered out.