Glossary
Glossary
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Accessorial Charges
Accessorial charges or fees are generally defined as additional charges or surcharges assessed by...
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Address Validation
Address validation is the process of verifying that a shipping address exists, includes all...
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Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN)
A message used for supply chain execution and logistics, the advance ship notice or advance ...
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Air Waybill (AWB)
A bill of lading for air transport, which serves as a receipt for the shipper, indicates that...
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Barcode
A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form...
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Batch Processing
Batch shipping or “ship from a file” is a common phrase used in order management and fulfillment...
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Bill of Lading (BOL)
A bill of lading (BOL) is a document that is issued by a carrier or their agent that serves as ...
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Black Box Shipping Automation
Blackbox Shipping Automation is a systems integration workflow that automates many shipment...
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Blanket Rate
A rate that does not increase according to the distance the commodity is shipped...
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Certificate of Origin
An international business document that certifies the country of origin of the items in the shipment...
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Cloud Computing
An emerging computing paradigm where data and services reside in massively scalable data centers...
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Collect Freight
Freight payable to the carrier at the port of discharge or ultimate destination. The consignee does...
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Commercial Invoice
A commercial invoice is a legal business document between a supplier and its customer that clearly ...
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Commodity Code
A code describing a commodity or a group of commodities pertaining to a goods classification. This code...
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Consignee
N the world of transport and delivery, the consignor is the company shipping the product, and the consignee is the party
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Consignor
The party who originates a shipment of goods (shipper); the sender of a freight shipment, who is usually the seller...
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Consolidation
Combining two or more shipments in order to realize lower transportation rates. Inbound consolidation from vendors...
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Country of Origin
The country of manufacture, production or growth from where a product comes...
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Dangerous Goods
Articles or substances classified as posing significant health, safety, or environmental risk, which ordinarily ...
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Dashboard
A performance measurement tool used to capture a summary of the Key Performance Indicators...
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Declaration of Dangerous Goods
A special notice to inland and ocean transport companies when goods are hazardous, required by U.S. law...
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Declared Value
The value of the goods, declared by the shipper on a bill of lading, for the purpose of determining a freight...
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Deficit Rating
Think of deficit rating as a glitch or area of hidden cost-saving opportunity in less-than-truckload or...
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Dimensional Weight
The calculation of a package’s weight, based on the dimensions of the package, as opposed to its physical weight...
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Drop Ship
A customer fulfillment strategy where products are shipped directly from the manufacturer or distributor to a...
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Dunnage
The materials used in packaging, holds and containers to protect goods from damage...
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Electronic Banding
The grouping (via computer sorting and consolidation) of individual packages and shipments going to a...
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Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Inter-company, computer-to-computer transmission of business information in a standard format. An EDI...
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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
A class of software for planning and managing “enterprise-wide” the resources needed to take customer orders, ...
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Export Declaration
A document required by the Department of Commerce that provides information as to the nature, value, etc., ...
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Extensible Markup Language (XML)
A computer term for a language that facilitates direct communication among computers on the Internet...
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Flat File
A computer term that refers to any file having fixed-record length, or in EDI, the file produced by EDI ...
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Freight Bill
The carrier’s invoice for transportation charges applicable to a freight shipment...
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Freight Carriers
Companies that directly handle your shipments. If you are shipping Less Than Truckload (LTL) or...
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Freight Consolidation
The act of combining individual shipments into a single lot, in order to reduce costs or improve ...
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Freight Forwarder
An organization that provides logistics services as an intermediary between the shipper and the carrier, ...
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Goods
A term associated with more than one definition: 1) Common term indicating movable property, merchandise,...
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Gross Weight
The total weight of the vehicle and the payload of freight or passengers...
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Harmonized Code
An international classification system that assigns identification numbers to specific products, which all...
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Hazardous Materials
A substance or material, which the Department of Transportation has determined to be capable...
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Import/Export License
Official authorization issued by a government agency, which allows for the transport of goods across their...
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Inbound Logistics
The movement of materials from suppliers and vendors into production processes or storage facilities...
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Incentive-Based Rating
The definition of incentive-based rating, as it applies to freight and shipment rating, provided by CLS Glossary of logistics and multi-carrier parcel shipping software terms.
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INCOTERMS
International terms of sale developed by the International Chamber of Commerce, to define sellers’ and...
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Information Systems (IS)
Managing the flow of data in an organization in a systematic, structured way to assist in planning,...
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Interline Shipping
The utilization of multiple freight carriers for a single shipment, which may require intermediaries to...
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Just-in-Time (JIT)
An inventory control system which controls material flow into assembly and manufacturing plants...
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Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) Carriers
Trucking companies that consolidate and transport smaller (less than truckload) shipments...
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License Plate
Refers to a uniquely numbered barcode sticker placed on a box or pallet of product. Typically contains...
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Link
The transportation method used to connect the nodes (plants, warehouses) in a logistics system...
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Logistics
The process of planning, implementing, and controlling procedures for the efficient and effective ...
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Mail Consolidator
The benefits of using a mail consolidator, provided in the Creative Logistics Solutions' Glossary for multi-carrier shipping software & parcel shipping software solutions.
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Mapping
A computer term referring to diagramming data that is to be exchanged electronically, including how...
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Minimum Weight
The shipment weight specified by the carrier’s tariff as the minimum weight required to use the ...
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Multi-Carrier Shipping Software
The definition of multi-carrier shipping software and how it can help your business reduce shipping costs and streamline warehouse labor requirements.
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Multi-Carrier Shipping System
A multi-carrier shipping system is a software and hardware solution that allows shippers to load and manage multiple carriers and modes on one platform to centralize and automate outbound shipping processes. Carriers may include..
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Node
Fixed point in a firm’s logistics system where goods come to rest; includes plants, warehouses, supply...
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Non-Resident Importer
A U.S.-based company, often without a physical location in Canada, who is the exporter and importer on record,...
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North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
A free trade agreement, implemented January 1, 1994, between Canada, the United States and Mexico. ...
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Omni-Channel
At a high-level, omni-channel refers to the ability of a retailer to offer a consistent shopping...
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Outbound Consolidation
Outbound shipment consolidation is the process of combining a selection of small shipments into a ...
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Outbound Logistics
The process related to the movement and storage of products from the end of the production line ...
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Parcel Shipment
Parcels include small packages like those typically handled by providers such as UPS and FedEx...
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Pick List
A list of items to be picked from stock in order to fill an order; the pick list generation and ...
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Pick-to-Carton
Pick-to-carton logic uses item dimensions/weights to select the shipping carton prior...
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Pick-to-Light
Pick-to light systems consist of lights and LED displays for each pick location. The system...
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Pre-Manifesting
Pre-manifesting is an automation process that initiates the printing of shipping documents and labels...
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Pro Number
In the world of LTL (less-than-truckload) and TL (truckload) shipments, the shipping PRO number...
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Proof of Delivery (POD)
“What do you mean you didn’t get the package/shipment? We sent it to you on Tuesday!”...
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Quality Control
The management function that attempts to ensure that the services manufactured or purchased meet...
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
The use of radio frequency technology including RFID tags and tag readers to identify objects. Objects may...
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Rated Weight
For a small package, the weight (higher of actual vs. dimensional), typically rounding up fractional...
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Return Service
The inclusion or transmitting of a shipping label that allows a consumer to return a purchased item to ...
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Reverse Logistics
Reverse logistics, in its simplest form, defines the set of operational tasks related to returning goods, raw ,...
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Routing | Routing Guide
The definition of a customer routing guide, provided in the CLS Glossary of Logistics and Multi-Carrier Shipping Software terms.
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Schedule B Code
A 10-digit number, determined by the U.S. Commerce Department, which is used to classify a physical...
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Shipping Manifest
Manifests for passengers and cargo have been around for hundreds of years, for the loading and unloading ...
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Staging
The practice of picking material for a production or sales order and moving them to a separate area for ...
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Surcharge
An add-on charge to the applicable charges; motor carriers have a fuel surcharge, and railroads can ...
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Tariff
What is a tariff? In short, a tariff is a tax levied by the government on goods and services entering the ...
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Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Provider
What is a third-party logistics (3PL) provider? A 3PL is a firm that specializes in multiple...
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Tracking & Tracing
In the world of distribution and logistics, the concept of shipment tracking and tracing refers....
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Traffic Department
A department responsible for the process of determining timely and economic delivery ...
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Transit Time
Transit time is the total time it takes for goods to get from Point A to Point B, measured in...
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Transportation Management System (TMS)
A computer system designed to provide optimized transportation management in various ...
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Truck Load (TL)
A term which defines a shipment that occupies at least one complete truck trailer, or allows...
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Uniform Product Code (UPC)
A standard product numbering and bar coding system used by the retail industry. UPC...
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Unitize
To consolidate a number of packages into one unit; the several packages are strapped, ...
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Upcharges
Charges added to a bill, particularly a freight bill, to cover additional costs that...
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Value-Added Service (VAS)
Delivery option add-ons offered by a carrier for an additional fee (i.e. Residential Delivery...
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VICS Bill of Lading
A Bill of Lading format developed by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards, which...
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Warehouse Management System (WMS)
The systems used in effectively managing warehouse business processes and direct...
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Waybill
Document containing a description of goods that are part of common carrier freight ...
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Weight Break
The weight at which a shipment will be rated at a lower per pound rate associated...
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Zone Skipping
Zone skipping is the practice of delivering a large quantity of packages via truckload (TL)...
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