Documents
- B/L (Bill of Lading) — the ocean transport document. It is a receipt, a contract and, in its original form, a title document: whoever holds it can claim the cargo.
- AWB (Air Waybill) — the air equivalent. Unlike a B/L it is not a title document.
- Packing list — what is in each package, with weights and dimensions. It must match the invoice exactly.
- Certificate of origin — proves where the goods were made, and is what secures a preferential tariff under a trade agreement.
- DIN / DUS — Chile's import and export declarations.
Loads and modes
- FCL — Full Container Load. A whole container, exclusively yours.
- LCL — Less than Container Load. Consolidated cargo, sharing a container.
- FTL / LTL — the road equivalents: a full truck, or shared groupage.
- Breakbulk — cargo loaded directly into the hold, without a container.
- RoRo — roll-on roll-off, for wheeled cargo.
- Transhipment — moving your container from one vessel to another at an intermediate port.
Charges
- THC — Terminal Handling Charge, levied at each port.
- BAF — Bunker Adjustment Factor, the fuel surcharge.
- CAF — Currency Adjustment Factor, covering exchange-rate movement.
- Demurrage — charged when a full container overstays its free days at the terminal.
- Detention — charged when you do not return the empty container in time.
- W/M — weight or measure: LCL is charged on whichever is greater.
Measurements
- CBM — cubic metre, the unit of volume for ocean cargo.
- Chargeable weight — in air freight, the greater of actual and volumetric weight.
- Volumetric weight — volume in cubic centimetres divided by 6,000, for air.
- Payload — the maximum cargo weight a container can legally carry.
- CIF value — cost, insurance and freight: the base on which Chilean duty and VAT are calculated.
Dates and milestones
- ETD / ETA — estimated time of departure and of arrival.
- Cut-off — the deadline for cargo to be at the terminal for a given sailing.
- Blank sailing — a departure the carrier cancels, rolling your booking to the next vessel.
- Free days — the period you can use the container at destination without extra charge.
- POD — proof of delivery, the signed and photographed record that the cargo arrived.
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