Logistics glossary: the terms explained

Documents

Consignment note. The document recording the contract of carriage between sender and carrier, signed by both and by the consignee on delivery. Proves what was handed over and the condition it arrived in.

CMR. The 1956 convention governing international road carriage, and in everyday speech the consignment note that goes with it.

AVC. The Dutch standard conditions for domestic road carriage. Not statute, but terms that apply because the parties declare them applicable.

e-CMR. The electronic consignment note, enabled by a 2008 additional protocol, with the same legal weight between countries that ratified it.

Packing list. Belongs to the delivery to the customer and describes the contents. Governs nothing about the carriage and is not proof of delivery in the legal sense.

Reservation. The remark a carrier records on the note at loading or delivery. Without one, the presumption is that everything was in good order.

Planning and execution

Trip planning. Assigning shipments to vehicles and drivers, including sequence and timing. Sometimes called route planning or transport planning; the same work.

Delivery window. The period within which a shipment may be unloaded. Arriving outside it means waiting, or not unloading at all.

Dock slot. A reserved period at a specific loading or unloading door. Common at distribution centres and auctions, where many vehicles arrive at once.

Waiting time. Time a vehicle spends waiting to be loaded or unloaded. Almost always disputed, and almost always poorly documented.

Charter. Transport you subcontract to another carrier. A charter trip sits in your plan but is driven by somebody else.

Cross-docking. Goods arrive and leave again almost immediately, without storage. The sorting happens on the dock rather than in a warehouse.

Load and equipment

Loading metre. One metre of loading floor across the full width of the trailer. The unit space is sold in, and more relevant than weight for bulky freight.

Returnable equipment. Reusable packaging and carriers: crates, roll containers, dollies, pallets. Travels with the shipment and has to come back, which gives it an administration of its own.

Roll container or CC container. The standard wheeled carrier in floriculture. Counted, exchanged and reconciled, and in practice a frequent source of disputed balances.

Stackability. Whether a carrier may be stacked. Decides how much fits far more often than weight does.

Payload. The weight a vehicle may carry. Not to be confused with loading metres: a vehicle can be full in metres and empty in kilos, or the reverse.

Systems

TMS. Transport Management System: the software where orders, planning, execution and invoicing for road transport come together.

WMS. Warehouse Management System: software for warehouse processes, from receipt to order picking. A different system with a different job from a TMS.

EDI. Electronic exchange of business messages in an agreed format, used for example to receive orders without retyping them.

API. A connection letting two systems exchange data directly. More modern and flexible than classic EDI, with the same purpose: never enter anything twice.

Telematics. The hardware and software reporting position, driving behaviour and vehicle data. Supplies the actual times a plan can be adjusted against.