Freight glossary

Every term that turns up on a quote, a bill of lading or a customs entry — in plain English, without the sales pitch.

How freight is sold

FCL — Full Container Load: You buy the whole container. Priced per box, so a fuller container is cheaper per unit.
LCL — Less than Container Load: Your pallets share a container with other shippers' cargo. Priced per w/m, with a minimum charge.
w/m — weight or measure: The LCL billing unit (a 'revenue tonne'): the greater of your volume in CBM and your weight in tonnes. Minimum one.
Chargeable weight: Air freight billing weight: the greater of actual kilos and volumetric kilos (length × width × height in cm ÷ 6000).
Groupage: European road equivalent of LCL — part loads consolidated onto one trailer.
Cross-trade: A shipment between two countries that are both foreign to you — e.g. China to Germany, arranged from the UK.

EXW: Ex Works — buyer arranges everything from the seller's door
FOB: Free On Board — seller delivers loaded on vessel; buyer pays freight onward
CIF: Cost, Insurance & Freight — seller pays to destination port incl. minimum insurance
DAP: Delivered At Place — seller pays to named place, excl. import duties/taxes
DDP: Delivered Duty Paid — seller pays everything incl. duties and taxes

THC — Terminal Handling Charge: The port's fee for moving your container around the terminal. Charged at origin (OTHC) and destination (DTHC).
BAF — Bunker Adjustment Factor: The fuel surcharge on ocean freight. Moves with bunker prices, so it's quoted separately from the base rate.
CAF — Currency Adjustment Factor: A surcharge covering exchange-rate movement on the trade lane.
ISPS: Security surcharge, funding the port-security requirements of the ISPS code.
FSC — Fuel Surcharge: The air freight equivalent of BAF, charged per chargeable kilo.
Demurrage: What the carrier charges when your container sits at the terminal beyond its free time.
Detention: What the carrier charges when you keep their container out of the terminal too long — after delivery, before returning it empty.
All-in rate: A single price with the surcharges already folded in. Ask what's excluded — usually duties and taxes.

Bill of Lading (B/L): The ocean contract of carriage and receipt for the goods. A house B/L (HBL) is issued by the forwarder; a master B/L (MBL) by the carrier.
Air Waybill (AWB): The air equivalent of a B/L. Eleven digits: a three-digit airline prefix, then a seven-digit serial and a check digit.
CMR note: The consignment note for international road freight in Europe.
Commercial invoice: The seller's invoice to the buyer. Customs use it to value the goods — it must match the packing list.
Packing list: What's in each carton or pallet, with weights and dimensions.
Certificate of origin: Proves where the goods were made — often needed to claim a preferential duty rate.
POD — Proof of delivery: The signed receipt confirming the consignee got the cargo.

CDS: HMRC's Customs Declaration Service — where UK import and export declarations are now lodged.
MRN — Movement Reference Number: The 18-character reference customs give a declaration once it's accepted. Your proof the entry exists.
EORI number: The identifier a business needs to import or export in the UK or EU. No EORI, no clearance.
HS code: The Harmonized System commodity code that sets the duty rate. Six digits internationally, extended to ten for UK imports.
AEO: Authorised Economic Operator — a customs 'trusted trader' status meaning fewer checks and faster clearance.
VGM: Verified Gross Mass. Under SOLAS, the shipper must declare a container's verified weight before it can be loaded.

20GP / 40GP: Standard 20ft and 40ft general-purpose containers — roughly 33 and 67 CBM.
40HC — High Cube: A 40ft container a foot taller than standard: about 76 CBM. The workhorse for volume cargo.
Reefer: A refrigerated container with its own power supply, for temperature-controlled cargo.
OOG — Out of Gauge: Cargo that won't fit inside a standard box, moving on a flat rack or open top.
TEU / FEU: Twenty-foot and forty-foot Equivalent Units — how the industry counts container volumes.

Need the numbers rather than the words? Use the free CBM and chargeable weight calculators, then price your lane.