CABOTAGE

Refers to the required use of domestic carriers for shipments in U.S. costal waters.

CARETAKER

A person accompanying a shipment that requires special attention while en route.  An attendant.

CARGO

Merchandise taken onboard for conveyance.

CARLOAD

1) Quantity of freight required to fill a railcar. 2) Specified quantity necessary to qualify a shipment for carload rate.

CARNET

International customs document allowing movement of commodities through a country, in bond, with no inspection required.

CARRIER

An individual or organization engaged in the business of transporting goods or passengers.  

CARRIER'S LIEN

The carrier's right to hold the shipper's property as security until such time as a shipping debt is paid.

CARTAGE

1) Charge for pickup and/or delivery of goods. 2) Act of moving goods, usually a short distance.

CASE MARK

Information shown on the outside of a shipping carton, including destination and contents.

CASH BEFORE DELIVERY

Seller assumes no risk and extends no credit because payment is received before shipment.

CASH ON DELIVERY

A term of sale whereby a buyer pays the carrier the price of goods (and possibly the delivery/freight charges) before they are released.  The seller assumes risk of purchaser refusing to accept goods.

CAT MOVE

Conference Affairs and Tariffs:  Pricing term that relates to thru moves to inland points.

CELLULAR VESSEL

Ship specially constructed for the stowage of containers in vertical stacks or cells.  These stacks or cells are normally six to seven levels high when below decks, or three to four levels high when above decks.

CERTIFICATE OF INSPECTION

A document certifying that merchandise (such as perishable goods) was in good condition immediately prior to its shipment.

CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE

A document stating that insurance is in effect.

CERTIFICATE OF MANUFACTURE

Certificate stating that goods have been manufactured by a certain manufacturer and/or in a certain country.  

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN

A document required by certain foreign countries that certifies the country of origin of specified goods for tariff purposes.

CERTIFICATE OF WEIGHT

An authoritative statement of the weight of a shipment.

CHARGEABLE WEIGHT

The weight used to determine airfreight charges.  The chargeable weight may be the dimensional weight, or for container shipments, the gross weight of the shipment less the tare weight of the container.

CHASSIS

The undercarriage of a trailer on which van containers are placed for road movement.

CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

Weapons that contain biological or chemical properties. 

CLAIM

1) Demand on transportation company for payment due to loss/damage of freight during transit.  2) Demand on transportation company for refund on overcharge. 3) Demand by individual/company to recover certain amounts that may be covered under an insurance policy.

CLAIM AGENT

An overseas representative of the insurance company.

CLAIMANT

Person or company filing a claim.

CLASS RATE

Rate for commodities grouped according to similar shipping characteristics.  Applies to groups of articles contained in the territorial rating column in classification schedules.

CLASSIFICATION

The process of assigning the correct definition and category of imported merchandise within the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. Classification and valuation are the primary components to determining the amount of duty an importer owes on the merchandise.

CLEAN BILL OF LADING

A Bill of Lading signed by the carrier for merchandise received in apparent good condition (no damage or missing pieces of freight).

CLEARANCE

Customhouse certificate that states that all legal requirements having been met and a ship is free to leave port.

CO-LOAD

Two shipments from different terminals combined to ship as one load.

CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS

The codification of rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the U.S. Federal Government.

COLLECT SHIPMENT

A shipment whereby the delivering carrier collects freight charges from the consignee.

COMBI-AIRCRAFT

Aircraft specially designed to carry unitized cargo loads on the upper deck of the craft, toward or near the passenger area.

COMBINATION RATE

A rate determined by combining two or more rates published in different tariffs.

COMBINATION THROUGH RATE

A through rate determined by combining two or more rates published in different tariffs.

COMBINATION VESSEL

A vessel designed and built to accommodate alternative modes of cargo handling.

COMMERCE CONTROL LIST

A list of items under the export control jurisdiction of the Bureau of Export Administration.  

COMMERCIAL INVOICE

Itemized list issued by seller/exporter in foreign trade showing quantity, quality, description of goods, price, terms of sale, marks/numbers, weight, full name/address of purchaser, date, and sometimes other pertinent information.

COMMODITY

An article of commerce or goods shipped.

COMMODITY CODE

Any one of several coding systems used to identify and/or group commodities.

COMMODITY RATE

A shipping rate, for a particular named commodity, usually to and from specific points.

COMMODITY TARIFF

A tariff containing only commodity rates.

COMMON CARRIER

A carrier engaged in the business of transporting persons or goods at published rates.  

COMMON TARIFF

A tariff published by and for the account of two or more transportation lines as issuing carriers.

COMMODITY JURISDICTION

Request used to determine whether an item or service is subject to the export licensing authority of the Department of Commerce, Department of State, Office of Defense Trade Control, or other federal agency. (USA)

COMPOSITE LEG

A macro leg of transportation connecting three or more discrete stations.

COMPOUND DUTY RATE

A compound duty rate is an ad valorum rate plus a specific rate that is based on some unit of measure.

COMPUTED VALUE

A valuation method whereby a profit value (based on margin) is added to the costs of production to determine the price of a good.

CONCEALED DAMAGE

When goods in an apparently undamaged container are damaged.  Claims are hard to settle because neither shipper nor carrier wants to accept  responsibility.

CONCURRENCE

Document signed by a carrier and filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission that verifies that the carrier participates in rates published in a tariff by a given agent. (USA)

CONFERENCE

1) Independent/autonomous organization within the American Trucking Associations that represents a certain class/type of motor carrier. 2) Association of ship owners that service the same trade route(s) and operate under collective conditions of carriage and tariff rates.

CONFIRMED LETTER OF CREDIT

A letter of credit, issued by a foreign bank, with validity confirmed by a U.S. bank.  When confirmed, the U.S. bank undertakes responsibility for payment even if the foreign buyer or bank defaults.

CONFERENCE RATE

A rate arrived at by the conference of carriers applicable to transportation.

CONNECTING CARRIER

A carrier who has a direct connection with another carrier, under which people or freight are moved in joint-line service.

CONSIGN

Furnishing goods to an agent to sell on the consignor’s behalf.

CONSIGNEE

Person who receives goods shipped from a consignor. 

CONSIGNMENT

See shipment.

CONSIGNOR

The person or firm from whom the goods have been received for shipment, the seller, shipper, or exporter.

CONSOLIDATED LOAD

A number of small individual shipments, possibly by different shippers, combined into a single large load, to take advantage of economies of scale.

CONSOLIDATION

Combining less-than-carload or less-than-truckload shipments, to make carload/truckload movements.

CONSUL

Commercial representative of one country residing officially in another country, whose duties are to facilitate business and represent the merchants of his nation.

CONSULAR FEES

The fees charged by a consul for his official certifications or notorial legislations.

CONSULAR INVOICE

A document required by some foreign countries that describes a shipment of goods and shows information, such as the consignor, consignee, and value of the shipment.  Certified by a consular official of the foreign country, it is used by the country’s customs officials to verify the value, quantity, and nature of the shipment.

CONTAINER

A uniform, sealed, reusable metal “box” (generally 40 feet in length, able to hold approximately 40,000 pounds) in which goods are shipped by vessel or rail.  

CONTAINER CRANE (ONSHORE)

A specially designed land-based crane on tracks for loading or unloading containers from vessels.

CONTAINER EQUIVALENTS

The internationally recognized standard conversions that serve as the basis for converting containers of various sizes into comparable units.

CONTAINER FRIEGHT STATION

A carrier facility where less-than-container load shipments are consolidated for shipment, unloaded for shipment, or unloaded for final delivery.  The term CFS Shipment indicates less than a container load.

CONTAINER LOAD

The amount, which fills, or partially fills a container to cubic or weight capacity.
 

CONTAINER SHIP

A ship specially constructed to handle containerized cargo.

CONTAINER YARD

A carrier facility where full containers are stored.

CONTAINERIZATION

1) Using box-like device to store, protect and handle a number of packages as a unit of transit. 2) Shipping system based on large cargo-carrying containers that can be interchanged between trucks, trains, and ships without rehandling contents.

CONTINGENCY INSURANCE

When a product is sold under terms that require the buyer to provide insurance coverage, the seller may elect to purchase “backup insurance” in case the coverage provided by the buyer is not sufficient to cover the value of the shipment.

CONTINUOUS SEALS

A term denoting that seals on a vehicle remained intact during the movement from origin to destination.

CONTRABAND

Illegal or prohibited goods.

CONTRACT CARRIER

Carrier engaged in interstate transportation of persons/property by motor vehicle on a for-hire basis, but under continuing contract with one or a limited number of customers.  Must receive authorization permit from the Interstate Commerce Commission.

COST AND FREIGHT

Shipper pays the ocean freight and other costs (Accessorial, Inland Transportation, etc.) associated with the movement of the cargo to a particular point of the consignee's choosing. The consignee pays the Insurance.

COST AND INSURANCE

Shipper pays the for the insurance and shipping related costs other than ocean freight, associated with the movement of the cargo to a particular point of the consignee's choosing.  The consignee pays the Ocean freight.

COST, INSURANCE AND FREIGHT

A valuation basis whereby a shipper pays the freight and insurance charges associated with the movement of cargo to a particular destination.  

COUNTERVAILING DUTIES

Duties assessed by a country to remedy the unfair advantage that certain industries or manufacturer’s gain when they are unfairly subsidized by their governments.

COUNTRY CHART

A chart that contains certain licensing requirements based on destination and reason for control.

COUNTRY GROUPS

For export control purposes, foreign countries are separated into five country groups designated by the symbols A,B,C,D, and E. (USA)

COUNTRY OF EXPORT

The country where goods are shipped from.  

COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE

The country where the product is actually made or grown.  If more than one country is involved, the country of manufacture is normally the country where the last major transformation took place.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

The country that produced the imported merchandise (see "marking").

CREDIT RISK INSURANCE

Insurance designed to cover risks of nonpayment for delivered goods.

CUBE-OUT

When the cubic capacity of a container is reached before the weight capacity.

CUBE RATE

A dimensional shipping rate based on the amount of trailer space that is used, instead of weight.  Used for light bulky loads.

CUBIC CAPACITY

The carrying capacity of a vehicle expressed in cubic feet/meters.

CURRENCY ADJUSTMENT FACTOR

A charge used to equalize fluctuating rates of exchange.  An ancillary charge on some ocean freight shipments, expressed as a percentage of a base rate, to compensate ocean carriers for fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies.

CURRENCY OF TRANSACTION

The currency used to pay for goods.

CUSTOMS

Denoted by its capital "C", this terms refers to the U.S. Customs Service.

CUSTOMS BROKER

The importer's agent licensed by the Customs Service to enter and clear goods through Customs.

CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL

An international Customs organization in Brussels that oversees, and strives to harmonize, tariff and regulatory matters worldwide.

CUSTOMS MODERNIZATION ACT (often referred to as "The Mod Act")

Recently enacted federal legislation that imposes new and extensive compliance and record-keeping requirements on importers, shifts the responsibility for customs compliance from the Government to importers, and imposes a standard of reasonable care on importers.

CUSTOMS TARIFF

Schedule of charges assessed by the government on imports/exports.

CUSTOMS UNION

A union of countries where there are no duties on products traded among member nations and common external tariffs levied on  imported products from non-member states.