1. Agent: (1) short form for Freight Agent. (2) a person, association or corporation authorized to publish and file rates and provisions for a carrier's account in tariffs published in the agent's name.

2. Arrival Notice: Documentation that notifies the consignee of arrival information of the goods and freight charges due.

3. Bill of Lading: Official legal document signed by the captain, agents, or owners of a vessel, furnishing written evidence of the quality and quantity of cargo for the conveyance and delivery of merchandise sent by sea to a specific destination. It represents ownership of cargo, negotiable document to receive cargo and as contract for cargo between shipper and carrier.

4. Booking: Act of recording arrangements for the movement of goods by vessel.

5. Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF): Surcharge assessed by carrier applied to freight rates to supplement unexpected rise in fuel costs.

6. Consignee: Person or firm to whom articles are shipped (i.e. customer).

7. Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF): Terms of sale. Seller quotes a price including cost of goods, insurance and transportation charges to the named point of destination.

8. CAF: Cost, Assurance, and Freight or Currency Adjustment Factor, which is used to adjust ocean freight because of currency fluctuations.

9. Demurrage: Compensation for delay in removing cargo from terminal facilities.

10. ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival

11. ETD: Estimated Time of Departure

12. FCL: Full Container Load - Containers are charged a specific rate for ocean transit regardless of their (lack of) contents. A full container will thus offer a better price per unit shipped than will a LCL.

13. Feeder: The transportation vehicle utilized to relay cargo from the mother vessel to ultimate destination or from first receipt port to mother vessel.

14. FOB: Free On Board

15. Genset: Generator sets which supply power to refrigerated containers when no external source is available.
It is used to regulate temperature in a reefer container; can be on its own power or plugs provided on pier/vessel.

16. Harmless Chemicals: A cargo description, which is a contradiction of terms. A chemical is a substance and whether it is harmless or not, depends on the context in which the substance appears or is used.

17. Inland Haulage: Transportation company hauling imports or exports between ports and inland points.

18. Less Than Container Load: Otherwise also known as LCL. Common term for an amount of goods to be shipped which do not fill an entire container. Ocean rates for LCL are commonly higher on a per-unit basis than for a full container load. Thus, consolidation of several LCL loads from different places or shippers into a full container can save on costs.

19. Manifest: An invoice of all cargo loaded on board a vessel. Entire listing of all cargo on board a vessel as required by the relevant local authorities, e.g. customs.
Same as Cargo Manifest.

20. Mother Vessel: Main ocean vessel in a liner service designated to move containers from set origin points to set destination points on a regular basis.

21. Notify Party: Company/Person who appears on the Bill of Lading as to be notified when the cargo arrives at destination. Could be different from the consignee - usually the actual receiver of the goods.

22. Out of Gauge: Cargo, which exceeds the internal dimensions of the container in width, length, or height.

23. Shipper: Group, company, person designated on the Original Bill of Lading who sold the cargo to ultimate receiver of goods.

24. Surcharges: Additional charges above ocean freight.

25. TEU: Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit. An older measure of container capacity, still used by some publications such as the Journal of Commerce. 1 FEU = 2 TEU.

26. THC: Terminal Handling Charge. It is the charge assessed by the terminal for the positioning of cargo within terminal/yard.