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107 NCFRP 23 â Glossary of Terms Auto terminal. A transload facility for finished motor vehicles moving variously between ocean-going vessels, railcars, and truck trailers. 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, and contrasts to an empty movement. 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. Bottleneck. A section of a highway or rail network that experiences operational problems such as congestion. Bottlenecks may result from factors such as reduced roadway width or steep freeway grades that can slow trucks. Boxcar. An enclosed railcar, typically 40 or more feet long, used for packaged freight and some bulk commodities. 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. 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. Bulk Terminal. See âTransload Terminalâ Capacity. The physical facilities, personnel and process available to meet the product of service needs of the customers. Capacity generally refers to the maximum output or producing ability of a machine, a person, a process, a factory, a product, or a service. In regards to the transportation system, this term references the ability of the transportation infrastructure to accommodate traffic flow. 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. City terminal. A carrier operating facility whose chief functions are the intramodal sorting and consolidation of load sets between intercity linehaul and local pickup and delivery; and the management of pickup and delivery services to customers. Chassis. A trailer-type device with wheels constructed to accommodate containers, which are lifted on and off. Class I Railroad. A major railroad with annual carrier operating revenues of $250 million or more. There are seven Class I railroads in the US and Canada: Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), Canadian National (CN), Canadian Pacific (CP), CSX, Kansas City Southern (KCS), Norfolk Southern (NS), and Union Pacific (UP)
108 Classification Yard. A railroad terminal area where railcars are grouped together to form train units. Coastal Shipping. See âShort Sea Shippingâ 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. Container. A "box", typically ten to forty feet long, which is used primarily for ocean freight shipment. Containers are designed to be moved with common handling equipment, functioning as the transfer unit between modes rather than the cargo itself. For travel to and from ports, containers are loaded onto truck chassis' or on railroad flatcars. Containerization. A shipment method in which commodities are placed in containers, and after initial loading, the commodities per se are not rehandled 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. Cross dock facility. A staging facility where inbound items are not received into stock, but are prepared for shipment to another location or for retail stores. Distribution Center (DC). The warehouse facility which holds inventory from manufacturing pending distribution to the appropriate stores. Dock. A space used or receiving merchandise at a freight terminal. Double-stack. Railcar movement of containers stacked two high. Drayage. Transporting of air, 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 Yard. 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. Flatbed. A trailer without sides used for hauling machinery or other bulky items. 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.
109 Freight Village. See âIntegrated Logistics Centerâ Foreign 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. Geographic Information Systems (GIS). An information system that integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays geographic or spatial information for analysis and decision making Hub. A common connection point for devices in a network. Referenced for a transportation network, as in "hub and spoke," which is common in the airline and trucking industries. Hub terminal. Carrier operating facility whose principal function is the intramodal resorting and reconsolidation of inbound into outbound load sets for continuation in intercity linehaul Inbound Logistics. The movement of materials from shippers and vendors into production processes or storage facilities. Industrial yard. A railroad city terminal permitting the transfer is of railcars between tracks for local and intercity road trains Inland Port. A physical site located away from traditional coastal or land borders with the purpose of facilitating and processing international trade through multi-modal transportation assets and typically offering value-added services as goods move through the supply chain Integrated Logistics Center. A clustering of activities related to transport, logistics and the distribution of goods, for domestic and/or international are carried out by various operators. Also known as a âfreight villageâ Interline Freight. Freight moving from point of origin to destination over the lines of two or more transportation companies. Intermodal Transportation. Transporting freight by using two or more transportation modes such as by truck and rail or truck and oceangoing vessel. For example, a shipment moved over 1000 miles could travel by truck for one portion of the trip, and then transfer to rail at a designated terminal. Intermodal Terminal. A location where links between different transportation modes and networks connect. Inventory. The number of units and/or value of the stock of goods (raw materials, in-process, finished goods) a company holds. Just-in-Time (JIT). An inventory control system that controls material flow into assembly and manufacturing plants by coordinating demand and supply to the point where desired materials arrive just in time for use. An inventory reduction strategy that feed production lines with products delivered "just-in- time". 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.
110 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. Level of Service (LOS). A qualitative assessment of a road's operating conditions. For local government comprehensive planning purposes, level of service means an indicator of the extent or degree of service provided by, or proposed to be provided by, a facility based on and related to the operational characteristics of the facility. Level of service indicates the capacity per unit of demand for each public facility. Line Haul. The intercity movement of freight over the road/rail from origin terminal or market to destination terminal or market, often over long distances. Load Center. A seaport engaged in container trade that acts as a high volume transfer point for goods moving long distances inland, as well providing service to its regional hinterland 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. Node. A fixed point in a firm's logistics system where goods come to rest; includes plants, warehouses, supply sources, and markets. Outbound Logistics. The process related to the movement and storage of products from the end of the production line to the end user. Port (sea and air). A place serving as a harbor, airport, or point of entry and exit for incoming and outgoing shipments Post-Panamax. Refers to ships that are too large to pass through the Panama Canal, such as contemporary supertankers and the largest container ships. 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. Private Warehouse. A company owned warehouse. Pull Logistics System. "Just in time" logistics system driven by customer demand and enabled by telecommunications and information systems rather than by manufacturing process and inventory stockpiling. 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.
111 Push Logistics System. Inventory-based logistics system characterized by regularly scheduled flows of products and high inventory levels. Rail Siding. A very short branch off a main railway line with only one point leading onto it. Sidings are used to allow faster trains to pass slower ones or to conduct maintenance. Regional Railroad. Railroad defined as line-haul railroad operating at least 350 miles of track and/or earns revenue between $40 million and $272 million (2002). Reverse logistics. A specialized segment of logistics focusing on the movement and management of products and resources after the sale and after delivery to the customer. Includes product returns and repair for credit. 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. Radio Frequency (RFID). A form of wireless communication that lets users relay information via electronic energy waves from a terminal to a base station, which is linked in turn to a host computer. The terminals can be placed at a fixed station, mounted on a forklift truck, or carried in the worker's hand. The base station contains a transmitter and receiver for communication with the terminals. When combined with a bar-code system for identifying inventory items, a radio-frequency system can relay data instantly, thus updating inventory records in so-called "real time". 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. Often used loosely to mean any buyer of freight transportation services, whether shipping or receiving goods. Shipping Manifest. A document that lists the pieces in a shipment. Short line Railroad. Freight railroads that are not Class I or Regional Railroads, and that operate less than 350 miles of track and earn less than $40 million. 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. Stock Keeping Unit (SKU). A category of unit with unique combination of form, fit and function. Switching and Terminal Railroad. Railroad that provides pick-up and delivery services to line-haul carriers. Supply Chain. Starting with unprocessed raw materials and ending with final customer using the finished goods.
112 Third-party Logistics (3PL) Provider. A specialist in logistics who may provide a variety of transportation, warehousing, and logistics-related services to buyers or sellers. These tasks were previously performed in- house by the customer. Throughput. A warehousing output measure that considers the volume (weight and number of units) of items stored during a given time period. Ton-mile. A measure of output for freight transportation; reflects weight of shipment and the distance it is hauled; a multiplication of tons hauled by the distance traveled. Transit time. The total time that elapses between a shipment's delivery and pickup. Transload facility. A receiving and distributing facility for lumber, grain, concrete, petroleum, aggregates and other products. 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. Unit Train. A train of a specified number of railcars handling a single commodity type which remain as a unit for a designated destination or until a change in routing is made. Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT). A unit to measure vehicle travel made by a private vehicle, such as an automobile, van, pickup truck, or motorcycle. Warehouse. Storage place for products. Principal warehouse activities include receipt of product, storage, shipment and order picking. Sources This glossary was assembled from a number of sources, including: âFreight Glossary and Acronyms,â Federal Highway Administration. http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/FPD/glossary/index.htm. 2007 Comprehensive Statewide Freight Plan. New Jersey Department of Transportation. (2007), http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/freight/plan/stateplan.shtm. Feasibility of Freight Villages in the NYMTC Region. New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. (2008), http://www.nymtc.org/project/freight_planning/frtvillage/FrtVillage_files/Task_3_Report_April_ 2009F2.pdf.
