Reference
The freight terms worth knowing.
Freight has a language of its own, and the words on your quote and bill of lading decide what you pay. This glossary defines 46 of the terms shippers meet most — accessorials, freight class, density, drayage and the rest — in plain English, organized A–Z so you can find one fast.
Commonly used industry terms
Freight glossary A–Z
46 terms, defined plainly. Jump to a letter, or scroll the full list.
A
- Accessorial
- An extra service beyond standard pickup and delivery that adds a charge — liftgate, residential delivery, inside delivery, appointment scheduling or limited-access location. Accessorials are the most common source of an invoice higher than the base quote.
B
- Bill of Lading BOL
- The legal contract between the shipper and the carrier that accompanies a shipment. It lists the freight, its class and weight, the origin and destination, and any special instructions, and serves as the receipt for the goods.
- Blind Shipment
- A shipment in which the shipper and the receiver are hidden from one another, typically so a distributor can ship directly from a supplier to a customer without revealing the source. It requires two sets of paperwork to keep the parties separate.
- Broker Freight Broker
- A licensed intermediary that arranges freight transportation between shippers and carriers without owning the trucks. A broker uses volume and carrier relationships to secure competitive rates and manages classification, booking and tracking on the shipper’s behalf.
C
- Consignee
- The party that receives the shipment — the destination of the freight. The consignee is named on the bill of lading and usually signs the proof of delivery.
- Cross-Docking
- Moving inbound freight straight from a receiving dock to an outbound truck with little or no storage in between. It shortens transit, cuts handling and reduces the need for warehouse space.
- Cubic Feet Cube
- The volume a shipment occupies, calculated as length × width × height in inches divided by 1,728. Cube is the denominator in the density formula and a key input to freight class and rating.
D
- Deconsolidation
- Breaking a large combined shipment into smaller ones for final delivery to separate destinations. It is common after an import container is transloaded and sorted for regional distribution.
- Dedicated
- A transportation arrangement in which specific equipment and drivers are reserved for one shipper’s freight on recurring lanes. Dedicated capacity trades flexibility for guaranteed availability and consistent service.
- Density
- A shipment’s weight relative to the space it occupies, measured in pounds per cubic foot (PCF): total weight divided by total cubic feet. Density is the single biggest driver of NMFC freight class.
- Detention
- A charge that accrues when a driver is held at a pickup or delivery location beyond the free time allowed for loading or unloading. It compensates the carrier for time the truck and driver cannot be earning elsewhere.
- Drayage
- The short-distance movement of an ocean or rail container — typically from a port or rail yard to a nearby warehouse. Drayage is the first inland leg of an import move, often followed by transloading.
- Dunnage
- Material used to secure and protect freight inside a trailer or container — airbags, blocking, bracing, foam or wood. Proper dunnage prevents load shift and damage in transit.
E
- Expedited
- Time-critical shipping that prioritizes speed, often with a dedicated truck or team drivers running with minimal stops. Expedited service is used when a normal transit time would miss a hard deadline.
F
- FAK Freight All Kinds
- A negotiated arrangement that assigns a single blended freight class to a mix of commodities that would otherwise class differently. FAK pricing simplifies rating and can lower cost for shippers moving varied freight.
- FOB Free on Board
- A term that defines the point at which ownership and freight-cost responsibility transfer between shipper and buyer. “FOB Origin” places the goods in the buyer’s control at pickup; “FOB Destination” keeps them the seller’s until delivery.
- Freight Class
- A standardized code from the National Motor Freight Classification, ranging from 50 to 500, that categorizes LTL freight by density, stowability, handling and liability. A lower class is denser and cheaper to ship; a higher class is lighter or bulkier and costs more.
- FTL Full Truckload
- A shipment that fills — or is priced to fill — an entire trailer, moving directly from origin to destination with no intermediate handling. FTL suits large loads, high-value freight and time-sensitive moves.
I
- Interline
- A shipment that moves across more than one carrier to reach its destination, with the freight handed off between them. Interlining extends coverage but adds hand-offs, which can lengthen transit and raise damage risk.
- Intermodal
- Freight that travels by more than one mode — typically rail and truck — in the same container without being unloaded between them. Intermodal can lower cost on long hauls in exchange for somewhat longer transit.
L
- Lift Gate
- A hydraulic platform on the back of a truck that raises and lowers freight between the trailer and ground level. A liftgate is an accessorial required when a location has no loading dock or forklift.
- Linehaul
- The main long-distance leg of a freight move between terminals or cities, excluding local pickup and delivery. The linehaul rate is the core of an LTL or truckload price.
- LTL Less-Than-Truckload
- Shipping in which multiple shippers’ freight shares one trailer, each paying only for the space and weight it uses. LTL is the economical choice for palletized shipments too large for parcel but too small to fill a truck.
N
- NMFC National Motor Freight Classification
- The standardized system, published by the NMFTA, that groups commodities into 18 freight classes and assigns each an item number. It is the common language LTL carriers use to rate freight.
P
- Pallet Skid
- A portable platform, usually wood, on which freight is stacked and secured for handling by forklift or pallet jack. A skid is a pallet without a bottom deck; both are the standard unit of LTL freight.
- Partial Truckload PTL
- A shipment too large for economical LTL but not big enough to need a full truck, typically several pallets. PTL freight rides with fewer stops and less handling than LTL, often at a lower cost for the right size load.
- PCF Pounds per Cubic Foot
- The unit of freight density — total shipment weight divided by total cubic feet. PCF is what maps a shipment to its density-based freight class.
- POD Proof of Delivery
- The signed document confirming that a shipment reached its destination and was received, including the date, time and any noted exceptions. The POD closes out the shipment and supports any claim.
R
- Reclassification Reclass
- A carrier’s correction of the freight class declared on the bill of lading after inspection, usually resulting in a higher charge. Accurate density and classification up front are the way to avoid it.
- Reconsignment
- A change to a shipment’s delivery destination or consignee while it is already in transit. Reconsignment typically incurs a fee and can affect transit time.
- Reefer Refrigerated
- A temperature-controlled trailer, and by extension the freight that moves in it. Reefers hold a set temperature for perishable food, pharmaceuticals and other climate-sensitive goods.
- Residential Delivery
- Delivery to a location classified as residential rather than commercial, which lacks a dock and often requires a liftgate and appointment. It is a common accessorial charge.
- Reweigh
- A carrier’s re-measurement of a shipment’s weight on certified scales, which can adjust the billed weight and the charge. Like reclassification, it is avoided by declaring accurate figures on the BOL.
S
- Shipper
- The party that originates a shipment and tenders the freight to the carrier — named on the bill of lading as the point of origin. Also called the consignor.
- Stackable
- Freight that can safely have other freight loaded on top of it without damage, letting the carrier use trailer space more efficiently. Non-stackable freight (“do not stack”) effectively occupies the full height of its footprint.
- Stowability
- How easily a shipment loads and travels alongside other freight, given its size, shape, hazard and handling needs. Along with density, handling and liability, stowability is one of the four factors in freight classification.
T
- Tare Weight
- The weight of an empty container, trailer or pallet, excluding the freight itself. Subtracting tare from gross weight gives the net weight of the goods.
- Tariff
- A carrier’s published schedule of rates, rules and charges for its services. Brokered freight typically moves on negotiated rates rather than a carrier’s standard tariff.
- Terminal
- A carrier facility where LTL freight is sorted, consolidated and transferred between local pickup/delivery trucks and linehaul trailers. The spacing of terminals shapes a carrier’s transit times and coverage.
- Third-Party Logistics 3PL
- A provider that manages logistics functions — transportation, warehousing, fulfillment — on behalf of a shipper. A freight brokerage is one type of 3PL service.
- Transit Time
- The number of business days a shipment takes to move from pickup to delivery, excluding weekends and holidays. Transit time depends on the lane, the carrier’s terminal network and the service level chosen.
- Transload
- Transferring freight from one type of equipment to another — most often from an ocean container into domestic trucks or rail. Transloading frees imported goods from a costly container for the inland leg.
V
- Volume LTL
- A pricing option for large LTL shipments — roughly six or more pallets, or long/heavy loads — that fall between standard LTL and truckload. Volume LTL rates are quoted case by case for the size of the load.
W
- Warehousing
- The storage and handling of freight in a dedicated facility, often paired with cross-docking, transloading and distribution. Warehousing turns storage space into an active part of the supply chain.
- Waybill
- A carrier-generated document that travels with a shipment and records its details and routing for the carrier’s own operations. Unlike the bill of lading, it is not the contract of carriage.
Z
- Zone
- A geographic area — often defined by ZIP-code ranges — that carriers use to structure rates and transit times. Rating a lane means pricing the move between an origin zone and a destination zone.
From vocabulary to a better rate
Knowing the language is the first step to controlling the cost. Most freight overcharges trace back to a handful of these terms — a wrong freight class, an unaccounted accessorial, a reweigh on an inaccurate BOL. Understand density, class and accessorials and you understand where your money actually goes.
You do not have to master it alone. Our team classifies your freight, prepares the paperwork and shops your lane across our carrier network — so the terms above work for you instead of against you. Use the free tools to run your own numbers, then let us turn them into a competitive quote.
Speak freight? Let’s move some.
Now that the terms are clear, put them to use — send us your shipment and we’ll classify it, shop it across our carrier network and come back with a competitive rate.