- Logistics: Management of the flow of goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption, covering procurement, transportation, storage, and distribution.
- Supply Chain: The entire system of producing and delivering a product or service, from the very beginning stage of sourcing the raw materials to the final delivery of the product or service to end consumers.
- Freight: Goods transported in bulk by truck, train, ship, or aircraft.
- 3PL (Third-Party Logistics): A service that allows businesses to outsource operational logistics from warehousing, all the way to delivery, thus enabling the business to focus on other parts of their operation.
- Intermodal Transportation: Movement of cargo in a single container using multiple modes of transportation (e.g., ship, rail, and truck) without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes.
- Warehousing: The process of storing goods in a dedicated storage place until they are dispatched.
- Distribution Center: A facility that handles shipping and receiving of goods. It can also be used for storing goods (warehousing).
- Inventory Management: Supervising and controlling of ordering, storage, and use of components that a company uses in the production of the items it sells as well as the management of the quantities of finished products for sale.
- Less Than Truckload (LTL): Shipping for relatively small freight. The shipments typically weigh between 151 and 20,000 lb (68 and 9,072 kg).
- Full Truckload (FTL): Shipping where a truck carries one dedicated shipment. Essentially, the journey is reserved for one shipment only.
- Incoterms: International commercial terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that are used in international and domestic trade contracts to define responsibility and liability for shipment of the goods.
- Bill of Lading (BOL): A legal document issued by a carrier to a shipper, detailing the type, quantity, and destination of the goods being carried.
- Supply Chain Management (SCM): The oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer.
- Reverse Logistics: The process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value, or proper disposal.
- Drayage: The transport of goods over a short distance in the shipping industry and typically involves the trucking of containerized cargo from port to port, or shipping dock to dock.
- Carrier: A firm that transports goods or people via land, sea, or air.
- Telematics: The branch of information technology that deals with the long-distance transmission of computerized information. In transportation, this typically refers to computer systems onboard vehicles that control tracking and diagnostics.
- TMS Software (Transportation Management System): Software that is used to plan, execute, and optimize the shipment of goods. Users can manage all transportation activities in one platform.
- EDI (Electronic Data Interchange): The computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners.
- API (Application Programming Interface): A set of rules that allow different software entities to communicate with each other. In logistics, APIs can connect carriers, shippers, and logistics service providers to facilitate real-time information exchange.
- Cross-Docking: The practice of unloading goods from inbound delivery vehicles and loading them directly onto outbound vehicles, with minimal or no warehousing.
- Demurrage: A charge levied when cargo is left at a terminal too long after being offloaded from a ship or aircraft.
- Detention: A charge applied when transport equipment (like containers) is held outside of a terminal beyond the allotted time.
- Deadhead: The movement of a transportation vehicle, like a truck, without any cargo load. This often occurs when returning to the point of origin or traveling to a destination to pick up another load.
- Consolidation: Combining smaller shipments into a larger one so that they can be transported together to a destination, where they will be de-consolidated and delivered to different recipients.
- Deconsolidation: The process of breaking down a consolidated large shipment into its original, separate shipments for delivery to their respective destinations.
- Expedited Shipping: A service that guarantees faster than usual delivery times.
- Fulfillment Center: A type of warehouse used to receive, process, and fulfill customer orders.
- Just-in-Time (JIT): An inventory management strategy to increase efficiency and decrease waste by receiving goods only as they are needed in the production process.
- KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Metrics used to evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of an organization. In logistics, common KPIs include on-time delivery rates, warehousing costs, and inventory turnover.
- Last Mile Delivery: The final step of the delivery process where the goods are transferred from a transportation hub to the final delivery destination.
- Manifest: A document listing all the cargo carried on a transport vehicle, often including details such as names of consignors and consignees, number of packages, and destination.
- Non-Vessel Owning Common Carrier (NVOCC): An intermediary in the ocean freight industry that consolidates smaller shipments into container loads that are then shipped under their own bills of lading.
- Proof of Delivery (POD): A document that confirms a delivery's completion, often capturing the recipient's signature.
- Quarantine: Isolating transported goods for a period of time until they are deemed free of disease or pests.
- RFID (Radio Frequency Identification): Use of radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to an object. Used in logistics for tracking purposes.
- SLA (Service Level Agreement): A contract between a service provider and the end user that defines the level of service expected from the service provider.
- Tariff: A tax imposed by a government on goods or services imported from another country.
- Transit Time: The time taken for goods to be transported from a starting point to a destination.
- Visibility: The ability to track goods at every stage of the supply chain.
- Yard Management: The overseeing of the movement of vehicles and trailers in the yard of a warehouse or manufacturing facility.
- Zone Skipping: A logistics technique where shipments are sorted and consolidated according to destination region and then shipped directly to the regional destination, skipping intermediate sorting facilities.
- Freight Forwarder: A firm specializing in arranging storage and shipping of merchandise on behalf of its shippers.
- Gateway: In logistics, a point through which freight flows from one territory to another.
- Hub-and-Spoke: A system of connections arranged like a wire wheel, in which all traffic moves along spokes connected to the hub at the center.
- Incident Management: The management of unexpected disruptions in the supply chain, with strategies to return to normal operations.
- Lean Logistics: Application of lean manufacturing principles to logistics, aiming to minimize waste within the shipping process.
- Multimodal Transportation: The shipment of goods using two or more different forms of transportation.
- Optimization: The process of making the logistics and transportation process as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
- Palletization: The use of pallets to consolidate freight into larger, more manageable units for transportation.
- Rate Shopping: Comparing shipping rates across different carriers to find the best price for moving goods.
- Reverse Auction: A type of auction in which sellers bid to obtain business from the buyer and prices will typically decrease as the sellers undercut each other.
- Track and Trace: Monitoring and recording the route and status of goods as they are transported.
- Value-added Services: Additional activities that enhance product value, like assembly and packaging, provided by logistics companies.
- Warehouse Management System (WMS): Software designed to support and optimize warehouse functionality and distribution center management.
- X-Docking: See Cross-Docking.
- Yield Management: A strategy based on variable pricing, aimed at maximizing revenue with limited capacity.
- Zonal Pricing: Setting prices according to geographical zones.
- Accessorial Charges: Additional fees charged by carriers for services beyond normal pickup and delivery.
- Backhaul: The return trip of a transportation vehicle from its destination to its point of origin, especially when carrying goods back over part or all of the route.
- Cabotage: The transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country by a transport operator from another country.
- Demographics: Statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it, used in market analysis for logistics.