Estes Express Lines Transportation Glossary

Transportation Glossary (PDF)

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CAF (Currency Adjustment Factor): A surcharge that can be found in a carrier’s tariff. It is normally adjusted upward or downward on a quarterly basis using the currency fluctuation of the country against the U.S. dollar as an index.
Canadian Customs Broker: A licensed person or firm engaged in entering and clearing goods through customs for a client (importer). All shipments to and from Canada require a broker. The Canadian consignee typically selects the broker.
Canadian Customs Invoice: Commercial invoice that accompanies the shipment from point of pickup to customs clearance.
Carousel: Type of automated material handling equipment generally used for high-volume, small-parts order-picking operations.
Carrier: An individual, partnership or corporation engaged in the business of transporting goods.
Cash on Delivery: See COD
Certificate of Origin: Required by the customs broker to determine the correct rate of duty under the North American Free trade Agreement (NAFTA).
CFR (Cost & Freight or C&F): An international trade term of sale in which the seller/exporter/manufacturer clears the goods for export and is responsible for delivering the goods past the ships rail at the port of shipment (not destination).
Chargeable Weight: The weight of the shipment used in determining airfreight charges. The chargeable weight may be the actual weight, dimensional weight or on container shipments, the gross weight of the shipment less the tare weight of the container.
Charter Service: The temporary hiring of an aircraft, usually on a trip-by-trip basis, for the movement of passengers or cargo.
City Dispatch: The part of the terminal operations charged with coordinating the pickup and delivery of shipments.
City Driver (P&D Driver): A driver that is responsible for making pickups and deliveries from a specific terminal location. These drivers usually have a geographical area that they operate within. A city driver usually makes deliveries in the morning and picks up freight in the afternoon.
City Loading Diagram: A form used by destination dock personnel to record each shipment on a city trailer as it is loaded. It must include the initials of each person loading the freight on the trailer. This form also includes such information as the date, trailer number, delivery area the P&D driver will be running, PRO number and number of pieces in each shipment.
City Run (Pedal Run): A route in which the driver stays within the boundaries serviced by the terminal.
Claim: A written request to a carrier from a shipper to be compensated for loss, damage, delay or overcharge of a package transported by that carrier.
Class: A rating assigned to products based on their value and shipping characteristics, e.g., density and how the freight is packaged. It is a system of seventeen classes, from class 50 to 500, which determines the rate.
CLLC: See Connecting Line Load and Count .
COD (Cash on Delivery): Refers to the payment for the goods being shipped. If this section of the Bill of Lading is filled in, the carrier cannot deliver the goods unless payment is collected at time of delivery for the goods. This money is collected on behalf of the shipper.
COFC: See TOFC.
Collect (COL): Freight charges to be paid by the consignee upon delivery or charged to their established account.
Combination Aircraft: An aircraft capable of transporting both passengers and cargo on the same flight.
Commercial Invoice/Pro Forma: The bill of sale that contains all relevant shipping information such as payment terms, quantities, prices, discounts and a complete description of the shipment.
Commodity: Goods shipped.
Common Carrier: Any person or company available to the general public for transportation of property by motor vehicle over regular or irregular routes in interstate and/or intrastate commerce.
Concealed Damage/Shortage: Customer calls the carrier to declare an exception to their shipment after delivery has occurred and after the carrier has received a clear delivery receipt. Industry standard for reporting concealed damage is 15 days after delivery.
Condition of Contract: The terms and conditions established by the carriers for the carriage of goods. The conditions are printed on the airbill.
Confirmed on Board: Verification from an airline that the freight on the bill in question has been physically loaded on an aircraft.
Connecting Line Load and Count (CLLC): Freight being given to or received by an interline carrier without joint inspection.
Consignee: The designated recipient (customer) of a shipment as indicated on the Bill of Lading.
Consignor: Synonym for shipper.
Consolidation: The act of combining multiple shipments into one larger shipment going to a specific destination.
Container: Trailer used by ocean carriers and rail. Identified by four alpha characters, followed by a numerical code(s).
Containerization: The practice or technique of using a box-like or other device in which a number of packages are stored, protected and handled as a unit in transit.
Container on Flatcar (COFC): See TOFC.
Contract: Pricing program for a customer that must be approved and signed by an authorized representative of Estes Express Lines and signed by the customer. This pricing contract takes precedence over tariff rates.
Converter Dolly: See Dolly.
Cost & Freight: See CFR.
Country of Origin: The country in which a product or commodity is manufactured or produced.
Cross-Dock: Typically, the action of unloading materials from an inbound trailer or rail car and immediately loading these materials in outbound trailers or rail cars, thus eliminating the need for warehousing/storage.
Crossmember, rear: The transverse member at the extreme rear of a trailer to which the bumper is normally mounted and on which the stop, tail and turn lights are often installed.
Cube: A term used to describe the space used in a trailer based on floor space and height.
Cubic Inches (Cu. In.): The length times the width times the height of a given box or package; used in determining density factors, dimensional weights and container capacity.
Currency Adjustment Factor: See CAF.
Customs: The agency or procedure for collecting duties imposed by a country on imports or exports.
Customs Broker: A company who clears freight through customs for an importer. The broker submits all pertinent customs documentation and pays any duties/taxes incurred on the importer’s behalf. A freight forwarder and customs broker are not mutually exclusive, though oftentimes, forwarders offer brokerage as well.
Customs Clearance: The act of obtaining permission to import merchandise from another country into the importing nation.
CWT: Per hundred weight. Hundred weight is equal to exactly 100 pounds.
Cycle Count: Refers to the process of regularly scheduled inventory counts (usually daily) that "cycle" through your inventory.

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