AWB – Air Waybill: an airfreight document that confirms the acceptance of goods by the carrier and the establishment of a transportation contract.
B/L (BOL) – Bill of Lading: a maritime document that acknowledges the receipt of cargo on board a vessel and serves as a commitment to deliver it at the destination port.
CMR – International Consignment Note: a document that confirms the conclusion of a transportation contract.
FCL – Full Container Load: a complete container load that fills an entire container.
FTL – Full Truck Load: a full truckload that occupies the entire loading space of a truck.
Incoterms: international trade rules that define the terms of sale and transportation of goods from the seller to the buyer.
Freight Forwarding: a business activity involving the organization of cargo transportation and the execution of additional tasks related to specific order requirements.
TEU – Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit: a unit of measurement equivalent to the cargo capacity of a 20-foot container, often used in reference to ports and ships.
FEU – Forty-foot Equivalent Unit: a unit of measurement equivalent to the cargo capacity of a 40-foot container, which is equivalent to 2 TEUs, commonly used as a conversion unit.
Handling: the loading and unloading of goods in warehouses and transportation vehicles.
Palletizing: the arrangement of goods on pallets to optimize warehouse space utilization and provide greater stability and security during transportation.
Labeling: the application of labels to goods to facilitate their identification and control.
LCL – Less than Container Load: a consolidated container load that does not fully occupy a container and is shipped together with other cargo.
LTL – Less than Truck Load: a partial truckload that does not fully utilize the loading space of a truck and is shipped together with other cargo.
Groupage: a service that combines small shipments from different shippers in a single vehicle to optimize transportation costs.
Door-to-door: a transportation service that includes the pickup of goods from the shipper’s location and direct delivery to the recipient’s location.
Cross-docking: the process of quickly transferring goods between vehicles or containers without the need for storage.
TIR – Transports Internationaux Routiers: an international road transport system based on the TIR Convention, facilitating the transport of goods across borders and customs clearances.
Intermodal Transport: a logistics chain in which goods are transported using different modes of transportation (e.g., ship, rail, truck) without the need for transshipment.
Container tracking: a real-time tracking system for containers that enables monitoring of shipments at every stage of transportation.
Short Sea Shipping: maritime transportation over short distances, involving the carriage of goods between ports within a single continent.
Ro-Ro (Roll-on/Roll-off): a method of transporting goods, particularly vehicles, on ships where they can be driven on and off using wheeled platforms or ramps.
HUB: a central distribution point where goods are transshipped, sorted, and redistributed to final recipients.
3PL (Third-Party Logistics): logistics services provided by external companies that include transportation, warehousing, loading/unloading, inventory management, and other distribution-related activities.
4PL (Fourth-Party Logistics): logistics services performed by a company managing the entire supply chain, including coordination and management of 3PL entities.
