Freight glossary

Accessorial

Any charge beyond line haul — liftgate, appointment, detention, tarping, inside delivery or residential service.

Bill of Lading (BOL)

The contract of carriage and receipt for the freight. It governs what was tendered, to whom, and under what terms.

Blocking and bracing

Material placed around freight inside a trailer to stop movement in transit.

Cargo insurance

Coverage for loss or damage to the freight itself, separate from a carrier's liability limits.

Claim

A formal request for compensation after loss, damage or shortage, supported by the BOL, delivery receipt and evidence of value.

Consignee

The party receiving the shipment at destination.

Cross-dock

Transferring freight directly from an inbound to an outbound trailer with little or no storage.

Deadhead

Distance a truck travels empty, typically to reach a pickup. It is a real cost that shows up in lane pricing.

Demurrage

A charge for keeping a container beyond its allotted free time at a terminal.

Detention

A charge applied when loading or unloading exceeds the free time allowed at a stop.

Dimensional weight

A billable weight derived from a shipment's volume, used when freight is bulky relative to its actual weight.

Drayage

Short-distance container movement, typically between a port or rail terminal and a nearby warehouse.

Drop trailer

A trailer left at a facility to be loaded or unloaded on the shipper's schedule instead of during a live appointment.

Expedited freight

Service planned around a firm deadline, often with direct routing or team drivers.

Flatbed

An open deck trailer used for freight that cannot be loaded through a dock door.

Freight class

A classification used in some LTL tariffs based on density, stowability, handling and liability.

FTL

Full truckload — an entire trailer dedicated to one shipment from origin to destination.

Fuel surcharge

A variable percentage added to the base rate that tracks diesel pricing.

Intermodal

A movement combining rail and truck, usually with a container transferred between modes.

Layover

A charge applied when a driver must wait overnight because a load cannot be picked up or delivered as scheduled.

Liftgate

A hydraulic platform on a truck used where no dock or forklift is available at the stop.

Limited access

A delivery location — construction site, farm, school, self-storage — that requires extra time or handling and carries a surcharge.

Live load

Loading or unloading while the driver waits, as opposed to dropping a trailer.

LTL

Less-than-truckload — palletised freight that shares a trailer with other shipments and moves through terminals.

PAPS / PARS

Pre-arrival processing systems used by customs brokers to file entry before a truck reaches the US or Canadian border respectively.

Proof of delivery (POD)

The signed delivery receipt confirming the shipment arrived and in what condition.

Reefer

A temperature-controlled trailer with an active refrigeration unit.

Reweigh

A carrier re-measuring or re-weighing freight in the terminal, which can change the invoice.

Step deck

An open trailer with a lowered rear deck, used for taller freight that would exceed height limits on a standard flatbed.

Tarping

Covering open-deck freight to protect it from weather and road debris.

Tender

The offer of a shipment to a carrier at agreed terms.

Transload

Moving freight from one equipment type to another, such as container to highway trailer.

Free to reference or cite with attribution to Cantrans Logistics.