Glossary

Glossary

All 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
  • Accessorial Charges

    Accessorial charges or fees are generally defined as additional charges or surcharges assessed by...

  • Address Validation

    Address validation is the process of verifying that a shipping address exists, includes all...

  • Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN)

    A message used for supply chain execution and logistics, the advance ship notice or advance ...

  • Air Waybill (AWB)

    A bill of lading for air transport, which serves as a receipt for the shipper, indicates that...

  • Barcode

    A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form...

  • Batch Processing

    Batch shipping or “ship from a file” is a common phrase used in order management and fulfillment...

  • Bill of Lading (BOL)

    A bill of lading (BOL) is a document that is issued by a carrier or their agent that serves as ...

  • Black Box Shipping Automation

    Blackbox Shipping Automation is a systems integration workflow that automates many shipment...

  • Blanket Rate

    A rate that does not increase according to the distance the commodity is shipped...

  • Carrier

    A firm that transports goods or people via land, sea or air...

  • Certificate of Origin

    An international business document that certifies the country of origin of the items in the shipment...

  • Cloud Computing

    An emerging computing paradigm where data and services reside in massively scalable data centers...

  • Collect Freight

    Freight payable to the carrier at the port of discharge or ultimate destination. The consignee does...

  • Commercial Invoice

    A commercial invoice is a legal business document between a supplier and its customer that clearly ...

  • Commodity Code

    A code describing a commodity or a group of commodities pertaining to a goods classification. This code...

  • Consignee

    N the world of transport and delivery, the consignor is the company shipping the product, and the consignee is the party

  • Consignor

    The party who originates a shipment of goods (shipper); the sender of a freight shipment, who is usually the seller...

  • Consolidation

    Combining two or more shipments in order to realize lower transportation rates. Inbound consolidation from vendors...

  • Country of Origin

    The country of manufacture, production or growth from where a product comes...

  • Cube

    The volume of the shipment or package. Calculation: length x width x height...

  • Dangerous Goods

    Articles or substances classified as posing significant health, safety, or environmental risk, which ordinarily ...

  • Dashboard

    A performance measurement tool used to capture a summary of the Key Performance Indicators...

  • Declaration of Dangerous Goods

    A special notice to inland and ocean transport companies when goods are hazardous, required by U.S. law...

  • Declared Value

    The value of the goods, declared by the shipper on a bill of lading, for the purpose of determining a freight...

  • Deficit Rating

    Think of deficit rating as a glitch or area of hidden cost-saving opportunity in less-than-truckload or...

  • Dimensional Weight

    The calculation of a package’s weight, based on the dimensions of the package, as opposed to its physical weight...

  • Drop Ship

    A customer fulfillment strategy where products are shipped directly from the manufacturer or distributor to a...

  • Dunnage

    The materials used in packaging, holds and containers to protect goods from damage...

  • Electronic Banding

    The grouping (via computer sorting and consolidation) of individual packages and shipments going to a...

  • Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

    Inter-company, computer-to-computer transmission of business information in a standard format. An EDI...

  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System

    A class of software for planning and managing “enterprise-wide” the resources needed to take customer orders, ...

  • Expediting

    1) Moving shipments through regular channels at an accelerated rate...

  • Export Declaration

    A document required by the Department of Commerce that provides information as to the nature, value, etc., ...

  • Extensible Markup Language (XML)

    A computer term for a language that facilitates direct communication among computers on the Internet...

  • Flat File

    A computer term that refers to any file having fixed-record length, or in EDI, the file produced by EDI ...

  • Freight

    Goods being transported by truck, train, ship or aircraft...

  • Freight Bill

    The carrier’s invoice for transportation charges applicable to a freight shipment...

  • Freight Carriers

    Companies that directly handle your shipments. If you are shipping Less Than Truckload (LTL) or...

  • Freight Charge

    The rate established for transporting freight...

  • Freight Collect

    The freight and charges to be paid by the consignee...

  • Freight Consolidation

    The act of combining individual shipments into a single lot, in order to reduce costs or improve ...

  • Freight Forwarder

    An organization that provides logistics services as an intermediary between the shipper and the carrier, ...

  • Goods

    A term associated with more than one definition: 1) Common term indicating movable property, merchandise,...

  • Gross Weight

    The total weight of the vehicle and the payload of freight or passengers...

  • Harmonized Code

    An international classification system that assigns identification numbers to specific products, which all...

  • Hazardous Materials

    A substance or material, which the Department of Transportation has determined to be capable...

  • Hundredweight (cwt)

    A pricing unit used in transportation (equal to 100 pounds)...

  • Import/Export License

    Official authorization issued by a government agency, which allows for the transport of goods across their...

  • Inbound Logistics

    The movement of materials from suppliers and vendors into production processes or storage facilities...

  • 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.

  • INCOTERMS

    International terms of sale developed by the International Chamber of Commerce, to define sellers’ and...

  • Information Systems (IS)

    Managing the flow of data in an organization in a systematic, structured way to assist in planning,...

  • Interline Shipping

    The utilization of multiple freight carriers for a single shipment, which may require intermediaries to...

  • Just-in-Time (JIT)

    An inventory control system which controls material flow into assembly and manufacturing plants...

  • Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) Carriers

    Trucking companies that consolidate and transport smaller (less than truckload) shipments...

  • License Plate

    Refers to a uniquely numbered barcode sticker placed on a box or pallet of product. Typically contains...

  • Link

    The transportation method used to connect the nodes (plants, warehouses) in a logistics system...

  • Logistics

    The process of planning, implementing, and controlling procedures for the efficient and effective ...

  • 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.

  • Manifest

    A document that describes individual orders contained within a shipment...

  • Mapping

    A computer term referring to diagramming data that is to be exchanged electronically, including how...

  • Minimum Weight

    The shipment weight specified by the carrier’s tariff as the minimum weight required to use the ...

  • 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.

  • 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..

  • Node

    Fixed point in a firm’s logistics system where goods come to rest; includes plants, warehouses, supply...

  • Non-Resident Importer

    A U.S.-based company, often without a physical location in Canada, who is the exporter and importer on record,...

  • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

    A free trade agreement, implemented January 1, 1994, between Canada, the United States and Mexico. ...

  • Omni-Channel

    At a high-level, omni-channel refers to the ability of a retailer to offer a consistent shopping...

  • Outbound Consolidation

    Outbound shipment consolidation is the process of combining a selection of small shipments into a ...

  • Outbound Logistics

    The process related to the movement and storage of products from the end of the production line ...

  • Parcel Shipment

    Parcels include small packages like those typically handled by providers such as UPS and FedEx...

  • Pick List

    A list of items to be picked from stock in order to fill an order; the pick list generation and ...

  • Pick-to-Carton

    Pick-to-carton logic uses item dimensions/weights to select the shipping carton prior...

  • Pick-to-Light

    Pick-to light systems consist of lights and LED displays for each pick location. The system...

  • Pre-Manifesting

    Pre-manifesting is an automation process that initiates the printing of shipping documents and labels...

  • Pro Number

    In the world of LTL (less-than-truckload) and TL (truckload) shipments, the shipping PRO number...

  • Proof of Delivery (POD)

    “What do you mean you didn’t get the package/shipment? We sent it to you on Tuesday!”...

  • Quality Control

    The management function that attempts to ensure that the services manufactured or purchased meet...

  • Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

    The use of radio frequency technology including RFID tags and tag readers to identify objects. Objects may...

  • Rated Weight

    For a small package, the weight (higher of actual vs. dimensional), typically rounding up fractional...

  • Return Service

    The inclusion or transmitting of a shipping label that allows a consumer to return a purchased item to ...

  • Reverse Logistics

    Reverse logistics, in its simplest form, defines the set of operational tasks related to returning goods, raw ,...

  • Routing | Routing Guide

    The definition of a customer routing guide, provided in the CLS Glossary of Logistics and Multi-Carrier Shipping Software terms.

  • Schedule B Code

    A 10-digit number, determined by the U.S. Commerce Department, which is used to classify a physical...

  • Shipping Manifest

    Manifests for passengers and cargo have been around for hundreds of years, for the loading and unloading ...

  • Staging

    The practice of picking material for a production or sales order and moving them to a separate area for ...

  • Surcharge

    An add-on charge to the applicable charges; motor carriers have a fuel surcharge, and railroads can ...

  • Tariff

    What is a tariff? In short, a tariff is a tax levied by the government on goods and services entering the ...

  • Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Provider

    What is a third-party logistics (3PL) provider? A 3PL is a firm that specializes in multiple...

  • Tracking & Tracing

    In the world of distribution and logistics, the concept of shipment tracking and tracing refers....

  • Traffic Department

    A department responsible for the process of determining timely and economic delivery ...

  • Transit Time

    Transit time is the total time it takes for goods to get from Point A to Point B, measured in...

  • Transportation Management System (TMS)

    A computer system designed to provide optimized transportation management in various ...

  • Truck Load (TL)

    A term which defines a shipment that occupies at least one complete truck trailer, or allows...

  • Uniform Product Code (UPC)

    A standard product numbering and bar coding system used by the retail industry. UPC...

  • Unitize

    To consolidate a number of packages into one unit; the several packages are strapped, ...

  • Upcharges

    Charges added to a bill, particularly a freight bill, to cover additional costs that...

  • Value-Added Service (VAS)

    Delivery option add-ons offered by a carrier for an additional fee (i.e. Residential Delivery...

  • VICS Bill of Lading

    A Bill of Lading format developed by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards, which...

  • Warehouse Management System (WMS)

    The systems used in effectively managing warehouse business processes and direct...

  • Waybill

    Document containing a description of goods that are part of common carrier freight ...

  • Weight Break

    The weight at which a shipment will be rated at a lower per pound rate associated...

  • Zone Skipping

    Zone skipping is the practice of delivering a large quantity of packages via truckload (TL)...

Learn more about our fast and flexible multi-carrier shipping software today.

Contact us today to schedule a complimentary consultation. Our logistics experts are available to answer your questions.