The words on your freight bill, in plain English.

How LCL ocean freight is priced: on the cubic meters or the metric tons, whichever is greater. One cubic meter is weighed against 1,000 kg.

The volume unit ocean freight is priced on: length × width × height in meters. A pallet 1.2 × 1.0 × 1.5 m is 1.8 CBM.

Cargo too small to fill a container, shipped in one shared with other shippers and priced on W/M.

A container booked by one shipper, sealed at origin and not opened again until destination, unless customs pulls it for an exam.

What air freight is billed on: the actual weight or the volumetric weight, whichever is greater. Volumetric weight is length × width × height in centimeters divided by 6,000.

Putting several shippers’ cargo into one container, or onto one air pallet, so each pays only for the space it uses. Taking it apart at destination is deconsolidation.

Door-to-door covers pickup, the main leg and final delivery. Port-to-port covers the ocean or air leg and the terminal charges at origin. Charges at the destination terminal are billed at destination.

FTL means the whole trailer is yours. LTL means your pallets share the trailer with other freight and you pay for the space they take.

The ocean shipping document that is at once the receipt for the cargo and the contract of carriage, and, when issued negotiable, the title to the goods. Whoever holds the original can claim the cargo.

A carrier that sells ocean transportation under its own bills of lading without operating ships, licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission. EFI is one.

The NVOCC issues the house bill to you; the ocean carrier issues the master bill to the NVOCC. Your cargo moves under both.

The contract of carriage for air freight. The airline issues the master air waybill (MAWB) to the forwarder, the forwarder issues a house air waybill (HAWB) to each shipper, and neither one is a document of title.

Ten data elements the importer must send to CBP no later than 24 hours before ocean cargo is loaded at the foreign port. A late, wrong or missing filing can cost $5,000 per violation.

The export filing the U.S. Census Bureau requires when a shipment has more than $2,500 of goods under one Schedule B number, or needs an export license. On ocean cargo it goes in at least 24 hours before loading.

The 10-digit codes that classify goods: HTS on U.S. imports, where it sets the duty rate, and Schedule B on U.S. exports.

The weighed total of a packed container: cargo, packing and the box itself. Since July 1, 2016, a container without one can’t be loaded.

The guarantee CBP requires before it releases goods on a formal entry. A single-transaction bond covers one entry; a continuous bond covers every entry you file, at every port, for a year.

Moving imported goods under a CBP bond before duty is paid: to another U.S. port for clearance (IT), across the U.S. for export (T&E), or straight back out of the country (IE).

A warehouse approved by U.S. Customs to hold imported goods before duty is paid. Cargo in it can be stored, consolidated or moved on in bond without clearing first.

The rule that let shipments worth $800 or less enter the U.S. duty-free. It’s suspended, and a 2025 law ends it for good on July 1, 2027.

CBP’s voluntary supply-chain security program. Members meet its security criteria for cargo, buildings and people.

The days a carrier or terminal allows before demurrage or detention starts.

The charge for leaving a loaded container at the port terminal past its free days.

The carrier’s charge for keeping its container outside the terminal past the free days, usually per container, per day.

The last moment cargo or documents can reach the warehouse or terminal to make a sailing or flight. Miss it and the cargo waits for the next one.

A warehouse where LCL cargo is loaded into shared containers (consolidation) or taken out of them (deconsolidation). Ours is a bonded CFS in Medley.

Moving cargo from an inbound truck or container straight to an outbound one, with little or no storage in between.

Short-distance trucking of a container between a port or rail yard and a warehouse.

Containers for cargo too tall or too wide for a standard box. A flat rack has no roof and no sides; an open top has no roof, so it loads by crane from above.

Cargo that sticks out past a standard container’s dimensions. It ships on a flat rack or open top and is planned piece by piece.

The international standard for wood packaging: pallets and crates must be heat-treated (56 °C for 30 minutes) or fumigated, and carry the IPPC stamp. Plywood and other processed wood are exempt.

Where the cargo goes onto the vessel and where it comes off.

Moving cargo from one vessel to another at an intermediate port on the way to its destination.

An aircraft that can’t fly until a part arrives. AOG shipments take the first available lift, not the cheapest routing.

A company the TSA approves to tender cargo to passenger airlines on its own authority. EFI holds IAC certification.

Cargo that can harm people, the vessel or the aircraft, like batteries, chemicals, gases and flammables. It moves under IATA rules by air, the IMDG Code by sea and 49 CFR on U.S. roads.

The four-digit number the United Nations assigns to each dangerous substance or article, such as UN 3480 for lithium-ion batteries.

The manufacturer’s document describing a product’s hazards. Carriers ask for it to decide whether the cargo is dangerous goods.