Freight Glossary: Drayage, Transload and Truckload Terms
Plain-language definitions of 120 terms shippers meet when freight goes through LA/Long Beach, a transload warehouse or a truckload lane.
Terms by Letter and by Service
Each term starts with a short answer, then adds what it means for a shipment. Acronyms are spelled out. Notes marked At LA/Long Beach cover local port and terminal rules. Definitions are checked against federal and California regulations, port tariffs and terminal schedules.
- Container Drayage 49 terms
- Transload and Warehousing 14 terms
- Truckload, Flatbed and Expedited 36 terms
- Brokerage and Compliance 22 terms
Showing 120 terms
0-9
- 20', 40' and 40' High Cube Containers
Ocean containers come in standard lengths of 20 and 40 feet, and the 40-foot length is also built as a high cube. A high cube stands 9 ft 6 in tall against the standard 8 ft 6 in, roughly one foot more, and exact inside dimensions vary by carrier.
- 53-Foot Trailer
A 53-foot trailer is a domestic semitrailer 53 feet long; Caltrans lists 53 feet as the maximum semitrailer length for STAA trucks in California, which run on designated routes. It is 13 feet longer than a 40-foot ocean container, which is one reason import freight is transloaded into 53-foot trailers.
A
- Accessorial Charge
An accessorial charge is billed for a service beyond the basic pickup-to-delivery haul, such as loading or unloading, storage, a liftgate, truck detention or a chassis split.
- Auto Liability Insurance
Auto liability insurance covers injury and property damage a truck causes to others. Federal rules set the minimum for for-hire carriers of nonhazardous property in vehicles of 10,001 lb or more at $750,000.
B
- Backhaul
A backhaul is a truck's return trip from its delivery point toward where the trip began, and the load it carries on that leg.
- Bill of Lading (BOL)
For a domestic truck shipment, the bill of lading (BOL) is the carrier's receipt for the freight and the record of the shipment's terms. Federal rules require it to show the consignor, consignee, origin, destination, number of packages and a description of the freight.
- Billing Party and Billed Party
Under Federal Maritime Commission rules, the billing party is the ocean carrier, marine terminal operator or NVOCC that issues a demurrage or detention invoice. The billed party is the person who receives that invoice and is responsible for paying it. Since December 29, 2025, 46 CFR 541.4 no longer sets who that person must be. See who pays whom.
- Bobtail
Bobtail is a tractor running without a trailer, chassis or container attached, a trip that earns no revenue on its own. Drayage carriers list bobtail trips as a separate line in their tariffs.
- Bona Fide Agent
A bona fide agent is a person who is part of a motor carrier's normal organization and performs duties under the carrier's directions pursuant to a preexisting agreement providing for a continuing relationship, without discretion to allocate traffic between that carrier and others. Federal rules exclude bona fide agents from the definition of a broker.
- Bonded Warehouse
Imported goods can be stored under CBP control, before duties are paid, in a bonded warehouse: a facility CBP has approved for that purpose. CBP rules define several classes, including importers' private bonded warehouses and public bonded warehouses.
- Booking Number
When an exporter or its forwarder reserves vessel space, the ocean carrier assigns a booking number to identify that shipment. It then serves as the shared reference for the carrier, the shipper, the terminal and the truckers handling the container.
- Box Truck (Straight Truck)
A box truck, or straight truck, is a single-unit truck that carries cargo in an enclosed body mounted on its own chassis rather than in a towed trailer. It may be fitted with a liftgate.
- Broker Bond (BMC-84) and Trust Fund (BMC-85)
A broker must keep $75,000 in financial security with FMCSA, filed as a surety bond on Form BMC-84 or a trust fund on Form BMC-85. It provides for payments to shippers or motor carriers if the broker fails to carry out its contracts.
- Broker Transaction Records
Federal rules require a broker to keep a record of each transaction, including the shipper, the carrier, the bill of lading number and the compensation received, for three years. Each party to the transaction has the right to review that record.
- Broker-Carrier Agreement
A broker-carrier agreement is the master contract between a broker and a motor carrier that sets standing terms, such as payment, insurance and liability, for loads the carrier hauls for that broker. The Transportation Intermediaries Association publishes a model version.
C
- Cargo Cutoff
Cargo cutoff is the last date and time at which a loaded export container can be delivered to the terminal and still be loaded on its booked vessel. Shippers should confirm it with the carrier for each booking.
- Cargo Insurance
Motor truck cargo insurance covers loss of or damage to freight while it is in a carrier's care. There is no current federal cargo-insurance filing floor for general freight. The cargo-security dollar amounts that appear in 49 CFR 387.303 apply to household goods carriers, and that section has been suspended indefinitely since September 30, 2019 (84 FR 51433). The live federal financial-responsibility minimum in 49 CFR 387.9 is $750,000 in public liability for for-hire carriers of nonhazardous property with a GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more. Cargo coverage depends on the carrier's policy; shippers should ask for a certificate of insurance and confirm it with the insurer.
- Cargo Securement
Cargo securement is using tiedowns, blocking and bracing to keep freight from shifting or falling off a truck. Federal rules in 49 CFR part 393, subpart I set the performance standards and device requirements.
- Carmack Amendment
The Carmack Amendment is the federal law that makes interstate motor carriers liable for actual loss or injury to the property they transport. Carriers may not allow less than 9 months to file a claim or less than 2 years to sue.
- Carrier Identity Theft
Carrier identity theft is when someone uses another motor carrier's USDOT number or identity without authorization to get loads or payment. FMCSA lists it, along with acting as a broker without FMCSA registration, as common freight fraud.
- Carrier Vetting
Carrier vetting is checking a motor carrier's authority, insurance, safety record and identity before booking it on a load. It helps catch fraud such as a company using another carrier's USDOT number.
- Centralized Examination Station (CES)
A centralized examination station (CES) is a privately operated facility, not run by a Customs officer, where imported merchandise is made available to CBP officers for physical examination. CBP regulations allow a CES to be set up in any port, part of a port or other area under a port director's jurisdiction.
- Chassis
A chassis is the wheeled steel frame an ocean container sits on so a truck can pull it on the road. The UIIA describes it as a frame with wheels, landing gear and a kingpin assembly with locking devices that secure the container.
- Chassis Pool
A chassis pool is a supply of chassis stored on or near terminal property and drawn on by many motor carriers, with a pool manager billing the trucker for use. Pools take several forms, such as competitive pools and gray pools that combine equipment from different owners.
- Chassis Split
A chassis split fee is an accessorial charge billed by the trucking or drayage company when the ocean container and the chassis used to haul it are in two different locations, so the driver has to make an additional trip to pick up the chassis from a separate location before picking up the container.
- Chassis Use Charge
A chassis use charge is the daily fee for using a chassis, as set between the equipment provider and the trucker. The UIIA lists chassis use or rental charges as a defined equipment charge.
- Clean Truck Fund Rate (CTF)
The LA/Long Beach ports jointly levy the Clean Truck Fund Rate on loaded import and export containers hauled by drayage truck; the cargo owner or its agent pays it, not the driver. Zero-emission trucks are exempt, and the money supports the ports' plan for a zero-emission drayage fleet.
- Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV)
Under federal safety rules, a commercial motor vehicle includes a vehicle used in interstate commerce to transport property with a weight or weight rating of 10,001 lb or more. Other tests cover passenger vehicles and placarded hazardous materials.
- Conestoga Trailer
A Conestoga is a flatbed-style trailer fitted with a rolling tarp on a frame, which slides back for side, rear or top loading and closes over the freight in transit.
- Consignee and Consignor
Every bill of lading names two parties: the consignor, or shipper, who sends the freight, and the consignee, who receives it.
- Container Availability
For a shipper, container availability is the point at which an import box can actually be collected: it is off the vessel and clear of ocean carrier, customs and terminal holds. Federal Maritime Commission guidance ties the fairness of demurrage and free time to whether cargo is actually available for pickup.
- Container Drayage
For an import shipper, container drayage means the truck leg that brings the ocean container out of the port to its first inland destination, such as a warehouse, rail ramp or container yard; for an exporter it is the haul back to the terminal. The FHWA freight glossary describes drayage as trucking rail or ocean freight to an intermediate or final destination.
At LA/Long Beach: Trucks that serve LA/Long Beach terminals must be listed in the Port Drayage Truck Registry (PDTR).
- Container Number
A container number is the unique code marked on each shipping container: a three-letter owner code, an equipment category letter (U for freight containers, J for detachable container equipment, Z for trailers and chassis), a six-digit serial number and a check digit. The format follows ISO 6346 and is managed by BIC.
- Container Seal
A container seal is a numbered lock applied to the container doors after loading, and its number is recorded on the shipping documents so the receiver can check for tampering. CBP's C-TPAT program requires its members to use high security seals that meet the ISO 17712 standard.
- Cross-Docking
Cross-docking is unloading freight and reloading it onto outbound trucks with little or no storage time in between.
- Customs Broker
A customs broker is a person or company licensed by CBP under 19 CFR part 111 to transact customs business on behalf of others, such as preparing and filing entries for importers. It is a different role from a freight broker, which arranges truck transportation.
- Customs Hold
A customs hold stops a container from leaving the terminal until U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) releases it. CBP may examine any imported shipment, and the importer bears the cost of the exam.
D
- Deadhead
Deadhead is a trip with no paying freight on board, such as an empty truck or container heading back to a transportation facility after a delivery.
- Deconsolidation
Deconsolidation is separating one container's contents into individual shipments for different consignees or destinations, the reverse of consolidation. It applies when one import container carries freight for several buyers or locations.
- Delivery Order
A delivery order authorizes the pier terminal to hand an import over to a named inland carrier, and it is commonly prepared by the importer's customs broker. Maersk's glossary notes it is also called a pier release.
- Demurrage
Demurrage is what a terminal or ocean carrier bills, day by day, while a loaded container sits at the marine terminal after free time ends. The Federal Maritime Commission describes demurrage and detention as financial incentives meant to keep cargo and equipment moving.
- Devanning
Devanning, also called stripping, is unloading cargo from a shipping container. Floor-loaded freight comes off by hand, and palletized freight by forklift or pallet jack.
- Distribution Center Bypass (DC Bypass)
DC bypass is shipping import freight from a port-area warehouse directly to stores or customers, skipping the shipper's own distribution center. The FHWA glossary calls the practice direct to store.
- Dock-High Loading
Dock-high describes a site with a raised loading dock that trailers back up to for loading and unloading. Carrier tariffs treat a site without a dock as needing a liftgate or other added service, which carries its own charge.
- Double Brokering
Double brokering is an industry term, most often for a carrier or other party passing a load to another carrier without authority or the original broker's consent. FMCSA has said the term is not defined by statute or regulation, and that most concerns involve entities acting as brokers without proper authority.
- Drop and Hook
In drop and hook, the driver leaves a trailer at a facility to be loaded or unloaded later and departs with a different trailer, instead of waiting while freight is handled.
- Drop and Pick
In a drop and pick, the driver leaves a loaded container on its chassis to be unloaded on the receiver's schedule, and on that visit or a later one collects an empty dropped earlier. It gives the receiver flexibility, but the container and chassis stay out longer.
- Dry Run
A dry run is a wasted trip: the driver reaches the terminal or customer but leaves without completing the pickup or delivery, for reasons outside the carrier's control such as a hold or a site that cannot receive. Carrier tariffs usually charge for it.
- Dry Van
A dry van is an enclosed trailer without temperature control, built to carry general cargo. It suits palletized or floor-loaded freight that needs protection from weather.
- Dual Transaction
Terminals use dual transaction for a gate visit that combines two tasks, for example returning an empty and leaving with an import in the same trip. Federal Maritime Commission guidance refers to them as double moves.
At LA/Long Beach: At LA/Long Beach, terminal rules can exempt the empty leg of a dual from needing its own appointment.
E
- Earliest Return Date (ERD)
The earliest return date (ERD) is when the receiving window opens at the marine terminal: from that day, an exporter's loaded container can be delivered for its booked sailing. DCSA's shipping glossary notes ERD as the common U.S. term for gate opening.
- Electronic Logging Device (ELD)
An electronic logging device records a driver's duty status for hours-of-service compliance. Federal rules require motor carriers to have their drivers use one, with limited exceptions that allow paper records.
- Empty Return
Empty return closes out an import: once unloaded, the container goes back to the terminal or depot the ocean carrier designates. Per diem keeps running until the empty is returned and the interchange is recorded.
- Equipment Interchange Receipt (EIR)
An equipment interchange receipt (EIR) documents the handoff whenever a trucker takes or returns a container or chassis, for example at a terminal gate. The UIIA defines it as a document confirming the interchange of equipment.
- Expedited Freight
Expedited freight is a time-sensitive shipment that needs faster-than-standard transit. Carriers usually quote it separately from standard service.
F
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
The FMCSA is the U.S. Department of Transportation agency that registers and regulates interstate motor carriers and freight brokers.
- Flatbed
A flatbed is an open trailer with no sides or roof, so freight can be loaded from the sides or top by forklift or crane. It carries machinery and other bulky items that cannot go through trailer doors.
- Floor-Loaded Freight
Floor-loaded freight is cargo stacked straight onto the floor of a container or trailer rather than on pallets. Without pallets, the cartons are loaded and unloaded by hand rather than by forklift.
- Free Flow
Under a free flow program, a terminal sets aside a shipper's discharged import containers as a group, and the trucker collects whichever one comes next rather than a particular container number. WCMTOA says it reduces truck turn times.
- Free Time
Free time is the allowance before charges begin: for a loaded import, the days the cargo may occupy terminal space without demurrage or storage, and for the ocean carrier's container, the days a shipper may keep it out before per diem applies. Federal rules define terminal free time as the period in the terminal schedule when cargo may occupy terminal space free of those charges.
- Freight Broker
A freight broker is a company that, for compensation, arranges or offers to arrange truck transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier. The motor carrier, not the broker, transports the freight.
At Whisk: Whisk Freight Brokerage is a licensed property broker that arranges freight with vetted motor carriers.
- Freight Claim
A freight claim is a written demand to a carrier for payment for lost, damaged or delayed freight. Federal rules require the carrier to pay, decline or make a firm settlement offer in writing within 120 days of receiving it.
- Freight Release
A freight release is the ocean carrier's evidence that freight charges on an import have been paid, which the terminal relies on to let the cargo go. Shippers usually also need customs clearance before the container is released.
- Fuel Surcharge
Carriers add a fuel surcharge to a freight rate to account for changes in diesel costs. Tariffs commonly index it to the Department of Energy's national average diesel fuel price, which the EIA publishes.
- Full Container Load (FCL) and Less Than Container Load (LCL)
Full container load (FCL) means one shipper's cargo uses a whole container. Less than container load (LCL) means cargo from several shippers shares one container, which lets smaller shippers move ocean freight without filling a box.
- Full Truckload (FTL)
Full truckload (FTL) is freight from one shipper that fills a truck, or is enough to qualify for a truckload rate, so the trailer carries no other shipper's freight. The FHWA glossary defines truckload as the quantity of freight required to fill a truck.
G
- Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)
Gross vehicle weight rating is the maximum loaded weight the manufacturer specifies for a single vehicle. Gross vehicle weight is the actual weight of the vehicle and its load at a given moment.
H
- Hours of Service (HOS)
Hours of service are the federal rules that limit how long truck drivers may drive and work. For property-carrying drivers, they include a maximum of 11 hours driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty and a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving.
I
- Importer Security Filing (ISF)
The Importer Security Filing (ISF), which CBP also calls 10+2, is shipment data the importer is required to send to CBP. Eight of the ten importer elements must be filed with CBP at least 24 hours before the cargo is loaded onto the ship at the foreign port. The other two, where the container was packed and who packed or consolidated it, must be sent at the earliest practical time. They are due at least 24 hours before the ship arrives at a U.S. port, or when the cargo is loaded if that foreign port is less than a day's sail from the nearest U.S. port. 19 CFR 149.2 (opens in a new tab)
- In-Bond Shipment
An in-bond shipment is imported merchandise carried, secured by a bond, from its port of arrival to another port before it is appraised and before duties are paid. CBP regulations list several kinds of in-bond entry.
- Intermodal Freight
Intermodal freight travels by more than one mode, for example ship, rail and truck, while staying in the same container or trailer. The FHWA glossary defines intermodal as using more than one mode of transportation, and drayage is the truck link between the port or rail ramp and the shipper.
L
- Last Free Day (LFD)
On an import, the LFD marks the end of the terminal's free time for that container; after it, demurrage or terminal storage charges can apply. The date comes from terminal and ocean carrier free time rules, and holds or closures that block pickup can affect it.
- Layover
A layover is a charge when a driver and equipment must wait overnight or into a later day before a pickup or delivery can be made.
- Legal Load
A legal load is freight whose size and weight fit within standard road limits, so it can travel without a special permit. Federal Interstate System limits include 80,000 lb gross vehicle weight.
- Less Than Truckload (LTL)
Less than truckload (LTL) is a shipment too small to fill a truck on its own, so it travels in a trailer loaded with freight from more than one shipper.
- Liftgate
A liftgate is a powered platform at the rear of a truck that raises and lowers freight between the truck bed and the ground. Carrier tariffs charge for it as an added service when a pickup or delivery site has no dock to load from.
- Line Haul
Line haul is the over-the-road portion of a shipment from origin to destination, usually the long-distance segment, as distinct from local pickup and delivery. A line haul rate is the base rate for that portion, before fuel surcharge and accessorials.
- Live Load
A live load means the driver stays with the trailer or container at the pickup while the shipper loads it, then departs once loading is done.
- Live Unload
With a live unload, the driver and chassis stay on site while the receiver's crew takes the cargo out of the box, and the driver leaves with the empty. Waiting beyond the free time in the carrier's tariff is usually billed as truck detention.
- Lumper
A lumper is a person who helps unload a truck at the receiver. If a shipper or receiver requires that help for a carrier's driver, federal law makes it responsible for providing or paying for it, and coercing a carrier to load or unload is unlawful.
M
- Marine Terminal
A marine terminal is the port facility where ocean containers are unloaded from or loaded onto vessels and handed off to trucks or rail. The company that runs it is called a marine terminal operator (MTO).
At LA/Long Beach: The container terminals at LA/Long Beach publish shared gate and equipment rules in the WCMTOA Marine Terminal Operator Schedule.
- MC Number
An MC number is the docket number FMCSA assigns with interstate operating authority. FMCSA notes that operating authority is also referred to as an MC, FF or MX number, depending on the type of entity.
At Whisk: Whisk Freight Brokerage operates under MC-986375.
- Motor Carrier
A motor carrier is a company that transports property by truck, either for hire or as a private carrier hauling its own goods. Its trucks and drivers physically haul the freight.
O
- Off-Peak Gates
Off-peak gates are terminal shifts outside the main daytime shift at LA/Long Beach, funded by the Traffic Mitigation Fee, that spread truck traffic over more hours.
- Operating Authority
Operating authority is the FMCSA registration that allows a company to operate as a for-hire motor carrier, freight forwarder or broker in interstate commerce. Brokers apply under 49 CFR part 365 and must also file financial security.
- Over, Short and Damaged (OS&D)
OS&D, short for over, short and damaged, is the record of freight that arrives with extra pieces, missing pieces or damage. Noting it on the delivery receipt supports any later claim.
- Oversize or Overweight Load
An oversize or overweight load exceeds the legal size or weight limits for the road and needs a special permit to travel. In California, Caltrans or local authorities issue these permits under Vehicle Code 35780.
At Whisk: Whisk Freight Brokerage does not book oversize or permit loads.
- Overweight Container
An overweight container is one whose total weight with the truck would exceed legal road limits. Federal limits on the Interstate System are 80,000 lb gross, 20,000 lb per single axle and 34,000 lb per tandem axle, and California sets its own axle-group limits.
P
- Packing List
A packing list itemizes the packages in a shipment, with the quantity, weight and measurements of each. CBP invoice rules require import invoices to state what each package contains, and the warehouse uses the list to check freight during devanning.
- Palletized Freight
Palletized freight is cargo stacked and secured on pallets so a forklift or pallet jack can lift it. The USDA export handbook lists the 48 by 40 inch GMA pallet as the standard pallet used in the United States.
- Palletizing
Palletizing is stacking loose cartons onto pallets and securing each stack as a single unit, so the freight can be handled by forklift.
- Partial Truckload
A partial truckload is a shipment larger than a typical LTL shipment but smaller than a full trailer, and it shares trailer space with other freight. Carriers and brokers describe it as involving fewer stops and less handling than LTL.
- Per Diem (Container Detention)
Per diem is the daily equipment charge an ocean carrier or equipment provider bills when its container or chassis stays out past the allowed free time. Under the UIIA, the label does not matter. 46 CFR Part 541 includes container per diem and does not cover chassis per diem. A UIIA bill to a trucking company and a steamship line bill to a shipper are separate contracts. See Per Diem and Demurrage Charges Decoded.
- Port Drayage Truck Registry (PDTR)
The Port Drayage Truck Registry is the database of trucks that do business on port property at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Registered trucks carry a PDTR compliance label.
- Pre-Pull
A pre-pull is a two-step import delivery: the trucker first takes the container from the port or rail terminal to its own container yard, then delivers it to the consignee later. Carrier tariffs list it as a separate service, and it can add yard storage.
- Proof of Delivery (POD)
Proof of delivery (POD) is the carrier's record of who signed for a shipment and the date and time of delivery, often the signed delivery receipt or bill of lading. Shortages or damage should be noted on it when the freight arrives.
R
- Rate Confirmation
A rate confirmation is the document a broker and carrier use to confirm one load's agreed rate, pickup and delivery details and any accessorial terms before the carrier hauls it.
- RFID Truck Tag
An RFID truck tag is a radio tag on a drayage tractor that terminals read at the gate. Under WCMTOA Rule 13, a truck without a working tag may be denied entry to member terminals.
At LA/Long Beach: Applies at the WCMTOA member terminals at LA/Long Beach.
S
- SAFER
SAFER is FMCSA's public website for looking up a company's registration and snapshot by USDOT or MC number. FMCSA advises checking a company's phone number in SAFER before booking.
- Safety Rating
A safety rating is FMCSA's finding on whether a motor carrier has adequate safety management controls, issued as Satisfactory, Conditional or Unsatisfactory. A carrier that has not been assigned a rating is an unrated carrier.
- Shipper Load and Count (SLC)
Shipper load and count (SLC) is a bill of lading notation, written in federal law as shipper's weight, load, and count, showing that the shipper loaded the goods and the carrier did not verify them. When the shipper loads and the bill carries those words, federal law relieves the carrier of liability for damage caused by improper loading.
- Short-Term Storage
Short-term storage is holding freight in a warehouse after devanning until the shipper is ready to send it on.
- Spot Rate
A spot rate is a one-time price for a single shipment, quoted at current market conditions. It differs from a contract rate, which is agreed for set lanes over a fixed period.
- Step Deck (Drop Deck)
A step deck, also called a drop deck, is an open trailer with a higher front deck and a lower rear deck. The lower deck gives taller freight more vertical room than a standard flatbed.
- Street Turn
A street turn sends an emptied import container straight to an exporter for loading rather than back to the port first. The equipment provider has to approve it, and the UIIA's provider addendum terms address street turns.
T
- Tarping
Tarping is covering open-deck freight with tarps to shield it from weather and road debris. Carrier tariffs list tarping as a separate charge, so the need should be stated when the load is booked.
- Terminal Appointment
A terminal appointment reserves a window in which a trucker may enter a marine terminal. Under the WCMTOA schedule, an appointment is required to pick up import cargo. Appointment windows are two hours long, including any grace period that may be provided, and appointments are made directly with the relevant WCMTOA member terminal.
At LA/Long Beach: Applies to the WCMTOA member terminals at LA/Long Beach.
- TEU and FEU
TEU, short for twenty-foot equivalent unit, measures container capacity in multiples of a 20-foot box; the FHWA glossary calls it the standard measure for containerized cargo. An FEU (forty-foot equivalent unit) equals two TEU, so a single 40-foot box counts as two.
- Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF)
The Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) is a charge on most cargo passing through the LA/Long Beach marine terminals, collected under the PierPass program to pay for off-peak terminal shifts.
- Transloading
Transloading is transferring freight from one carrier's equipment to another's; at a port it usually means unloading an ocean container and reloading the cargo into a domestic trailer or container. It lets the ocean carrier's container go back into service while the cargo travels on in domestic equipment.
At Whisk: Whisk arranges transloading at a warehouse in Carson, near the Port of Long Beach.
- Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
Workers must carry a TWIC, a biometric credential issued through TSA after a security threat assessment, to enter the secure parts of regulated vessels and maritime facilities without an escort. The requirement is set by Coast Guard rules in 33 CFR 101.514.
At LA/Long Beach: At LA/Long Beach marine terminals, a drayage driver must hold a TWIC to enter a terminal's secure parts unescorted.
- Tri-Axle Chassis
A tri-axle chassis has three axles instead of two, which spreads a heavy container's weight over more axles. California's axle-group weight table allows more weight on a three-axle group than on a two-axle group, and drayage tariffs list a separate tri-axle charge for heavier containers.
- Truck Detention
Truck detention is a charge for holding a driver and truck at a pickup or delivery beyond the allowed loading or unloading time. It is separate from container per diem, which is a charge for keeping the equipment.
- Truck Ordered, Not Used (TONU)
A TONU (truck ordered, not used) is a charge when a shipper cancels a load after the carrier has dispatched a truck for it.
U
- Unauthorized Brokerage
Unauthorized brokerage is arranging truck transportation as a broker without FMCSA broker registration and the required financial security. Federal law makes it unlawful and provides for civil penalties.
- Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement (UIIA)
The UIIA is the standard industry contract that sets the terms for motor carriers taking and returning intermodal containers and chassis. It covers interchange, damage, wear and tear, per diem and other equipment charges.
- USDOT Number
A USDOT number is the identifier FMCSA assigns when a motor carrier, broker or other regulated entity registers with it.
At Whisk: Whisk Freight Brokerage's USDOT number is 2924075.
V
- Verified Gross Mass (VGM)
Before an export container is loaded on a ship, the shipper must provide its verified gross mass (VGM): the combined weight of the cargo, its packing and the container. The requirement comes from SOLAS regulation VI/2, in force since 1 July 2016.
At LA/Long Beach: The WCMTOA schedule for LA/Long Beach terminals notes that SOLAS prohibits loading a container with no VGM.
W
- Working Load Limit (WLL)
The working load limit is the maximum load a tiedown or other securement device may carry in use. Federal securement rules base the required number and strength of tiedowns on it.
Y
- Yard Storage
Yard storage is a trucker's charge for keeping a loaded or empty container parked in its own yard at the customer's request, often after a pre-pull. It is billed by the yard operator and is separate from terminal demurrage and ocean carrier per diem.