Logistics terms, explained.
Plain definitions of the words shippers, carriers and supply chain teams use every day, from FTL and LR to demurrage and out of charge. Indian usage first, global terms alongside.
13 terms
Road transport
How a truckload is booked, documented, moved and closed in India.
- FTLFull truckload
- A shipment that uses a whole truck for one shipper, loaded at origin and driven direct to the consignee with no transhipment on the way. It suits loads that fill a vehicle by weight or by volume.
- Full truckload with Wheelson
- PTLPart truckload; LTL (less than truckload) outside India
- A load that shares a truck with other shippers' cargo, so the shipper pays for the space it uses. It usually takes longer than FTL, because the truck makes more than one pickup or drop.
- Part truckload with Wheelson
- ODCOver-dimensional cargo
- Cargo whose length, width, height or weight is beyond what a standard truck may carry, such as wind turbine blades, transformers or heavy machinery. An ODC move needs a route survey, permits from the road authorities on the route and, often, escort vehicles.
- ODC with Wheelson
- Project cargo
- Large, heavy or complex cargo for a single project, such as a plant relocation, moved on a plan of its own. A project can combine dismantling, ODC transport, lifting and reassembly.
- Plant relocation and projects
- Indent
- A shipper's request for a vehicle on a lane, giving the loading date, the vehicle type and the load. The indent starts the trip.
- Vehicle placementPlacement TAT
- Getting a qualified vehicle to the shipper's loading point at the agreed time. Placement TAT (turnaround time) is the time from indent to the vehicle reporting for loading.
- LRLorry receipt; consignment note
- The document a road carrier issues when it accepts cargo. It names the consignor, the consignee, the route and the cargo, and its number is used to track the consignment.
- Track a shipment by LR number
- E-way bill
- An electronic document required under India's GST rules to move a consignment above a set value, generally ₹50,000, by road. It is generated on the government's e-way bill portal before the truck leaves.
- PODProof of delivery
- The consignee's signed or digital acknowledgement that a consignment arrived. Freight is usually invoiced against the POD, so a late POD delays settlement.
- FASTag
- India's RFID tag for electronic toll payment. Each toll-plaza read also records where and when a truck passed, which tracking systems use as a checkpoint.
- Dedicated fleet
- Vehicles assigned to one customer's lanes for a contract period, rather than placed trip by trip. It suits steady, predictable volumes.
- Primary and secondary distribution
- Primary distribution moves finished goods from the plant to depots or distributors, usually in full truckloads. Secondary distribution moves them on from there to dealers and retailers.
- Freight settlement
- Closing a trip's freight bill against the contracted rate, the POD and any agreed extras, such as detention, so the carrier can be paid.
11 terms
Warehousing and 3PL
What happens to cargo between the inbound dock and the outbound truck.
- 3PLThird-party logistics
- An outside company that runs logistics operations, such as warehousing, transport and order fulfilment, for a business under a contract and agreed service levels.
- Warehousing and 3PL with Wheelson
- ASNAdvance shipping notice; pre-alert
- Advance notice of an inbound shipment, listing what is coming and when, so the warehouse can plan the dock, the labour and the space before the truck arrives.
- GRNGoods received note
- The record raised when inbound cargo is received and checked against the invoice or purchase order. Stock becomes available only after the GRN.
- PutawayBin location
- Moving received stock from the dock to an assigned storage location, called a bin, and recording that location in the warehouse system.
- SKUStock-keeping unit
- A code for one distinct product in inventory, down to its size, pack or variant, used to store, count and pick it.
- Cycle count
- Counting part of the inventory on a regular schedule and reconciling it with system stock, so accuracy is checked all year without shutting the warehouse for a full count.
- Inventory management
- FIFO and FEFOFirst in, first out; first expired, first out
- Rules for which stock leaves first. FIFO ships the oldest stock first; FEFO ships the stock with the earliest expiry date first, which matters for food and pharmaceuticals.
- Cross-docking
- Moving inbound cargo straight to outbound vehicles with little or no storage in between. It shortens lead time and cuts handling.
- Cross-docking with Wheelson
- Kitting
- Assembling separate SKUs into one ready-to-ship or ready-to-use kit, such as a spare-parts set or a promotional pack.
- Dock-to-stock time
- The time from a truck unloading at the inbound dock to its cargo being available to pick. It measures how quickly a warehouse receives.
- Reverse logistics
- Handling cargo that moves back from the customer: returns, repairs and replacements, inspected and then restocked, refurbished or disposed of.
- Reverse logistics with Wheelson
21 terms
Freight forwarding and customs
Ocean and air freight, India's customs process and the charges that come with them.
- Freight forwarder
- A company that arranges the international movement of a shipper's cargo: booking space with shipping lines or airlines, preparing documents and coordinating customs and the road legs at each end.
- Global freight forwarding
- FCLFull container load
- An ocean shipment that fills a whole container for one shipper, charged per container and sealed at origin.
- FCL, LCL or air: compare
- LCLLess than container load
- An ocean shipment that shares a container with other shippers' cargo, consolidated at a CFS. It is charged by weight or measure, whichever is greater.
- TEUTwenty-foot equivalent unit
- The standard unit for counting container capacity: one 20-foot container is 1 TEU and one 40-foot container is 2 TEU.
- Bill of ladingB/L
- The document a shipping line or its agent issues for cargo taken on board. It is the receipt for the cargo, the evidence of the contract of carriage and, when negotiable, the document of title.
- Air waybillAWB
- The transport document for air freight, issued by the airline or its agent. Unlike a bill of lading it is not a document of title, and its number tracks the shipment.
- Chargeable weight
- The weight air freight is billed on: the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight, which is length × width × height in centimetres divided by 6,000.
- CHACustoms house agent; customs broker
- A customs broker licensed by Indian Customs to file declarations and handle clearance for importers and exporters, from the shipping bill or bill of entry to out of charge.
- Customs and CHA with Wheelson
- IECImporter-Exporter Code
- The 10-digit code from India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade that a business needs before it can import or export.
- Shipping bill
- The export declaration filed with Indian Customs, through ICEGATE, before cargo is shipped. Its assessment leads to the let export order.
- Let export orderLEO
- Indian Customs' permission for export cargo to be loaded on the vessel or aircraft, given once the shipping bill is cleared.
- Bill of entry
- The import declaration filed with Indian Customs, with supporting documents uploaded through e-Sanchit. Customs assesses it, the duty is paid and the cargo is cleared.
- IGM and EGMImport general manifest; export general manifest
- The lists of cargo a vessel or aircraft carries, filed with customs by the carrier or its agent: the IGM on arrival, the EGM after departure.
- Out of chargeOOC
- Indian Customs' order clearing imported cargo for home consumption. After out of charge the cargo can leave the port or CFS.
- Delivery orderDO
- The shipping line's or its agent's release that lets the importer take the container or cargo, issued once freight and charges are paid.
- CFSContainer freight station
- A customs-notified facility near a port where containers are stuffed, de-stuffed, examined and held until clearance. LCL cargo is consolidated and split here.
- CFS management with Wheelson
- ICDInland container depot; dry port
- A customs-notified container terminal inland, where cargo is cleared and containers move to and from seaports by rail or road.
- Free daysFree time
- The time a port, terminal or shipping line allows before it starts charging for a container. Demurrage or detention is charged for each day after the free days end.
- Demurrage
- A charge for a full container left at the port or terminal beyond its free days. It is charged by the shipping line or the terminal, per container per day.
- Detention
- A charge for keeping a shipping line's container outside the port beyond its free days, until it is returned empty. On the road, detention also means a charge for holding a truck at loading or unloading beyond the agreed time.
- Incoterms®
- The International Chamber of Commerce's rules for who arranges and pays for each leg of a sale and where risk passes from seller to buyer. Incoterms® 2020 has 11 rules, from EXW to DDP.
- The 11 rules, summarised
7 terms
Technology and performance
The systems that run a supply chain and the numbers it is judged on.
- TMSTransport management system
- Software to plan, execute, track and settle freight movements: indents, carrier assignment, tracking, POD and freight bills in one system.
- moWe, Wheelson's agentic TMS
- Agentic TMS
- A TMS in which AI agents do the checking and follow-up, such as qualifying carriers before placement or flagging a late truck, and recommend actions that people approve.
- Business Agents
- Control tower
- One view of shipments across modes, carriers and sites, in which exceptions are raised and handled as they happen rather than found afterwards.
- Supply chain visibility
- SIM-based tracking
- Locating a truck through the driver's mobile network, with the driver's consent, so a trip can be tracked without a GPS device fitted to the vehicle.
- ETA deviation
- The gap between a shipment's planned and current estimated time of arrival. Tracking systems raise it as an alert once it passes a set threshold.
- OTIFOn time, in full
- The share of deliveries that arrive on the agreed date with the full ordered quantity. It is the commonest delivery KPI.
- POD-to-invoice cycle
- The days from proof of delivery to the freight invoice. A shorter cycle means faster billing and settlement.
Start with the problem
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