Resources / Freight Terms Glossary
Fifty-plus terms you'll meet on quotes, BOLs, and invoices — defined in plain English by people who use them all day. Bookmark it; nobody remembers what OS&D stands for the first time.
Accessorial. Any carrier charge for service beyond dock-to-dock transport — liftgate, residential, detention. Full breakdown in our accessorials guide.
Backhaul. A carrier's return trip toward home base. Backhaul lanes are often priced cheap — the truck is going that way anyway.
Bill of lading (BOL). The document that governs a shipment: receipt, contract, and billing basis in one. See our BOL guide.
Blind shipment. A shipment where the shipper and receiver aren't shown each other's identities — common when a distributor doesn't want its customer to see the manufacturer's name.
Bobtail. A tractor driving without a trailer.
Broker (freight broker). A licensed intermediary that arranges transportation with carriers on behalf of shippers. That's us — with technology and a service team attached.
Cargo claim. A formal demand for payment after freight damage, shortage, or loss. Playbook in our claims guide.
Cartage. Short-distance local hauling, usually within one metro area.
Concealed damage. Damage discovered after delivery, with a clean delivery receipt. Report it fast — typically within 5 business days.
Consignee. The party receiving the freight.
Consignor. The party shipping the freight; interchangeable with "shipper."
CSP (customer-specific pricing). A negotiated LTL pricing program built for one shipper's actual freight profile — the good kind of pricing. FoxIQ builds the profile; we negotiate the program.
Cubic capacity rule. Carrier tariff rule that re-rates very light, bulky shipments that consume trailer space out of proportion to their weight.
Deadhead. Miles a truck runs empty. Carriers price to avoid it; brokers who know lane flows use it to your advantage.
Density. Pounds per cubic foot — the number that drives freight class. Calculator in our freight class guide.
Detention. A charge for keeping the driver waiting beyond free loading/unloading time.
Dimensioner. The laser measuring system at carrier terminals that checks your declared dimensions. It doesn't negotiate.
Dock high. A loading dock at trailer-bed height (~48–52"). No dock usually means a liftgate fee.
Drayage. The short truck moves at each end of an intermodal shipment — dock to rail ramp and ramp to door.
Dry van. The standard enclosed 53' trailer; the workhorse of truckload freight.
Embargo. A carrier's temporary refusal to accept freight to an area — weather, congestion, or capacity crunches.
FAK (freight all kinds). A pricing arrangement rating mixed commodities at one agreed class instead of item-by-item classification.
Flatbed. An open trailer for freight that loads from the side or top — steel, lumber, machinery. Tarps optional; straps not.
FTL / TL (full truckload). One shipper's freight filling a whole trailer, dock to dock, no terminals. See our truckload service.
Fuel surcharge. A variable percentage added to linehaul charges, indexed to national diesel prices and adjusted weekly.
Guaranteed service. Carrier-backed delivery by a specific date or time window, with a remedy if missed. See expedited & guaranteed.
Handling unit. One forkliftable piece of a shipment — a pallet, crate, or drum. Carriers count, weigh, and measure by handling unit.
Hazmat. Freight regulated as hazardous materials, requiring certified paperwork, placards, and trained handling.
Interline. When two or more carriers hand off a shipment to cover territory neither serves alone.
Intermodal. Freight moving in a container by rail for the long haul with truck drayage at each end. See rail & intermodal.
Liftgate. The hydraulic platform that lowers freight to ground level where there's no dock.
Limited access. Delivery sites that slow drivers down — schools, bases, farms, storage units — and carry a fee.
Linear foot rule. Carrier rule that re-rates LTL shipments occupying more than a set length of trailer (often 10–12 feet).
Linehaul. The terminal-to-terminal (or dock-to-dock) transportation charge — the base freight cost before fuel and accessorials.
LTL (less than truckload). Shipments sharing trailer space with other shippers' freight, moving through carrier terminal networks. Our specialty — see how we run it.
Lumper. Third-party labor that unloads trailers at some warehouses, billed to the carrier or shipper.
NMFC. The National Motor Freight Classification — the system assigning commodities their freight class. Maintained by the NMFTA.
OS&D (over, short & damaged). The carrier department (and paperwork) covering freight that arrives over, missing, or damaged.
P&D (pickup and delivery). The local legs of an LTL move, run from the origin and destination terminals.
Partial truckload. Larger shipments sharing a dedicated truck with one or two others — no terminals, fewer touches. See volume & partial.
POD (proof of delivery). The signed delivery receipt. FoxIQ retrieves and files it on every shipment automatically.
PRO number. The carrier's tracking number for an LTL shipment — the key to tracing, documents, and invoices.
Reclassification (reclass). The carrier's correction of your declared freight class after inspection — with an adjusted invoice to match.
Reefer. A refrigerated trailer for temperature-controlled freight.
Released value. A reduced declared value that limits carrier liability in exchange for a lower rate. Know it before you ship high-value freight.
Reweigh. The carrier's certified re-check of your declared weight, billed at the corrected figure.
Shipper. The party tendering freight for transport; also the "consignor."
Shipper load and count (SLC). BOL notation meaning the shipper loaded and sealed the trailer without the driver verifying the count — which shifts shortage risk to the shipper.
Spot quote. A one-time price for a specific shipment, as opposed to contract/tariff pricing.
Tariff. The carrier's published rules and rates — the fine print your freight actually moves under.
Terminal. A carrier's local freight-handling facility, where LTL shipments are crossdocked between trucks.
3PL (third-party logistics provider). A company managing transportation on a shipper's behalf — carriers, pricing, technology, and service under one roof.
TMS (transportation management system). Software for quoting, booking, tracking, and settling shipments. Ours is FoxTMS, and it's free with your account.
Transit time. The business days between pickup and delivery — estimates, not promises, unless you book guaranteed service.
Volume LTL. Big LTL shipments (typically 6+ pallets) priced on space and weight via spot quotes instead of class tariffs.
W&I (weight and inspection) certificate. The carrier's official record of a reweigh or inspection — the document your dispute answers to.