anchorage
Port charge relating to a vessel moored at approved anchorage site in a harbour.

apron
The area immediately in front of or behind a wharf shed on which cargo is lifted. On the "front apron," cargo is unloaded from or loaded onto a ship.

barge
A large, flat-bottomed boat used to carry cargo from a port to shallow-draft waterways. Barges have no locomotion and are pushed by tugboats. Barges carry dry bulk (grain, coal, lumber, gravel, etc.) and liquid bulk (petroleum, vegetable oils, molasses, etc.).

berth
(verb) To bring a ship to a berth. (noun) The wharf space at which a ship docks. A wharf may have two or three berths, depending on the length of incoming ships.

bill of lading
A contract between a shipper and carrier listing the terms for moving freight between specified points.

bollard
A line-securing device on a wharf around which mooring and berthing lines are fastened.

bonded warehouse
A building designated for storage of goods without payment of duties to Customs until goods are removed.

box
Slang term for a container

breakbulk cargo
Non-containerized general cargo stored in boxes, bales, pallets or other units to be loaded onto or discharged from ships or other forms of transportation. Examples include iron, steel, machinery, linerboard and woodpulp.

bulk cargo
Loose cargo (dry or liquid) that is loaded (shoveled, scooped, forked, mechanically conveyed or pumped) in volume directly into a ship's hold; e.g., grain, coal and oil.

Buoys
Floats that warn of hazards such as rocks or shallow ground, to help ships maneuver through unfamiliar harbors.

capacity
The available space for, or ability to handle, freight.

cargo
The freight (goods, products) carried by a ship, barge, train, truck or plane.

carrier
An individual, partnership or corporation engaged in the business of transporting goods or passengers.

channels of distribution
The routes by which products are transported from origin to destination. This includes the physical routes, as well as the different companies involved in ultimately delivering the goods to buyers.

consignment
A shipment of goods. The buyer of this shipment is called the consignee; the seller of the goods is called the consignor.

Consolidated Freight Station or Container Freight Station (CFS
Location on terminal grounds where stuffing and stripping of containers is conducted.

consolidator
The person or firm that consolidates (combines) cargo from a number of shippers into a container that will deliver the goods to several buyers.

container
A box made of aluminum, steel or fiberglass used to transport cargo by ship, rail, truck or barge. Common dimensions are 20' x 8' x 8' (called a TEU or twenty-foot equivalent unit) or 40' x 8' x 8', called an FEU. Variations are collapsible containers, tank containers (for liquids) and "rag tops" (open-topped containers covered by a tarpaulin for cargo that sticks above the top of a closed box). In the container industry, containers are usually simply called boxes.

container freight station
The facility for stuffing and stripping a container of its cargo, especially for movement by railroad.

container crane
Usually, a rail-mounted gantry crane located on a wharf for the purpose of loading and unloading containers on vessels.

container terminal
A specialized facility where ocean container vessels dock to discharge and load containers, equipped with cranes with a safe lifting capacity of 35-40 tons, with booms having an outreach of up to 120 feet in order to reach the outside cells of vessels. Most such cranes operate on rail tracks and have articulating rail trucks on each of their four legs, enabling them to traverse along the terminal and work various bays on the vessel and for more than one crane to work a single vessel simultaneously. Most terminals have direct rail access and container storage areas, and are served by highway carriers.

containerization
The technique of using a container to store, protect and handle cargo while it is in transit. This shipping method has both greatly expedited the speed at which cargo is moved from origin to destination and lowered shipping costs.

contraband
Goods prohibited in trade (such as weapons going to Iran, anything to Cuba). Smuggled goods.

Dead Weight Tonnage (DWT
Maximum weight of a vessel including the vessel, cargo and ballast.

deck barge
Transports heavy or oversize cargoes mounted to its top deck instead of inside a hold. Machinery, appliances, project cargoes and even recreational vehicles move on deck barges.

dock
(verb) - To bring in a vessel to tie up at a wharf berth. (One parks a car, but docks a ship.) (noun) - A dock is a structure built along, or at an angle from, a navigable waterway so that vessels may lie alongside to receive or discharge cargo. Sometimes, the whole wharf is informally called a dock.

dockage
A charge by a port authority for the length of water frontage used by a vessel tied up at a wharf.

draft
The depth of a loaded vessel in the water taken from the level of the waterline to the lowest point of the hull of the vessel; depth of water, or distance between the bottom of the ship and waterline.

dredge
(noun) A waterborne machine that removes unwanted silt accumulations from the bottom of a waterway. (verb) The process of removing sediment from harbour or river bottoms for safety purposes and to allow for deeper vessels.

dry bulk
Minerals or grains stored in loose piles moving without mark or count.Examples are potash, industrial sands, wheat, soybeans and peanuts.

duty
A government tax on imported merchandise.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
The exchange of information through an electronic format. Electronic commerce has been under intensive development in the transportation industry to achieve a competitive advantage in international markets.

feeder service
Ocean transport system involving use of centralized ports to assemble and disseminate cargo to and from ports within a geographic area. Commodities are transported between major ports, then transferred to feeder vessels for further transport to a number of additional ports.

fender piles
The wooden or plastic pilings on the outer edge of the wharf function like the fenders on a car. They are there to absorb the shock of a ship as it docks at the wharf and to protect the structural pilings that actually support the wharf. Fender piles are also called sacrifice piles since they are designed to be discarded after they are broken.

freight
Merchandise hauled by transportation lines.

freight forwarder
An individual or company that prepares the documentation and coordinates the movement and storage of export cargoes.

gantry crane
Track-mounted, shoreside crane utilized in the loading and unloading of breakbulk cargo, containers and heavy lift cargo.

general cargo
Consists of both containerized and breakbulk goods, in contrast to bulk cargo. General cargo operations produce more jobs than bulk handling.

Grain elevator
Facility at which bulk grain is unloaded, weighed, cleaned, blended and exported.

gross tonnage
The sum of container, breakbulk and bulk tonnage.

harbour
A port of haven where ships may anchor.

heavy lift
Very heavy cargoes that require specialized equipment to move the products to and from ship/truck/rail/barge and terminals. This "heavy lift" machinery may be installed aboard a ship designed just for such transport. Shore cranes, floating cranes and lift trucks may also adapted for such heavy lifts.

Home port
Port from which a cruise ship loads passengers and begins its itinerary, and to which it returns to disembark passengers upon conclusion of voyage. Sometimes referred to as "embarkation port" and "turn around port."

hopper car
A freight car used for handling dry bulks, with an openable top and one or more openings on the bottom through which the cargo is dumped.

interchange
Point of entry/exit for trucks delivering and picking up containerized cargo. Point where pickups and deposits of containers in storage area or yard are assigned.

intermodal shipment
When more than one mode of transportation is used to ship cargo from origin to destination, it is called intermodal transportation. Intermodal transportation uses few laborers and speeds up the delivery time.

ISO
International Standards Organization. Worldwide organization formed to promote development of standards to facilitate the international carriage and exchange of goods and services. Governs construction specifications for ISO containers.

JIT
The abbreviation for "just in time," which is a way to minimize warehousing costs by having cargo shipped to arrive just in time for its use. This inventory control method depends on extremely reliable transportation.

LASH
These 900-foot-long ships carry small barges inside the vessel. LASH stands for Lighter Aboard Ship.

LCL
The acronym for "less than container load." It refers to a partial container load that is usually consolidated with other goods to fill a container.

Length Overall (LOA
Linear measurement of a vessel from bow to stern.

Lift On-Lift Off (LO/LO
Cargo handling technique involving transfer of commodities to and from the ship using shoreside cranes or ship's gear.

LTL
Means a shipment that is "less than truckload". Cargoes from different sources are usually consolidated to save costs.

manifest
The ship captain's list of individual goods that make up the ship's cargo.

master
The officer in charge of the ship. "Captain" is a courtesy title often given to a master.

maritime
(adjective) Located on or near the sea. Commerce or navigation by sea. The maritime industry includes people working for transportation (ship, rail, truck and towboat/barge) companies, freight forwarders and customs brokers; stevedoring companies; labor unions; chandlers; warehouses; ship building and repair firms; importers/exporters; pilot associations, etc.

mooring dolphin
A cluster of pilings to which a boat or barge ties up.

neo-bulk cargo
Uniformly packaged goods, such as wood pulp bales, which stow as solidly as bulk, but are handled as general cargoes.

ocean carrier
Diesel-fueled vessels have replaced the old steamships of the past, although many people still refer to modern diesel ships as steamships.

on-dock rail
Direct shipside rail service. Includes the ability to load and unload containers/breakbulk directly from rail car to vessel.

operating port
At an operational port like Northport, the terminal operator builds the wharves, owns the cranes and cargo-handling equipment and hires the labor to move cargo in the sheds and yards.

pallet
A short wooden, metal or plastic platform on which package cargo is placed, then handled by a forklift truck.

Pier
A structure, which just out into a waterway from the shore, for mooring vessels and cargo handling. Sometimes called a finger pier.

pilot
A licensed navigational guide with thorough knowledge of a particular section of a waterway whose occupation is to steep ships along a coast or into and out of a harbor. Local pilots board the ship to advise the captain and navigator of local navigation conditions (difficult currents; hidden wrecks, etc.).

port-of-call
Port at which ship makes a stop along its itinerary. Calls may range from five to 24 hours. Sometimes referred to as "transit port" and "destination port."

quay
A wharf, which parallels the waterline.

reefer
A container with refrigeration for transporting frozen foods (meat, ice cream, fruit, etc.)

refrigeration or reefer units
The protective cooling of perishable freight by ice, liquid nitrogen, or mechanical devices

ro/ro
Short for roll on/roll/off . A ro/ro ship is designed with ramps that can be lowered to the dock so cars, buses, trucks or other vehicles can drive into the belly of the ship, rather than be lifted aboard.

Rubber-Tired Gantry (RTG)
Traveling crane used for the movement and positioning of containers in a container field. RTG's may also be used for loading and unloading containers.

Spreader
a device for lifting containers by their corner posts. The spreader bar on a container crane is telescopic to allow lifting various length containers.

stevedores
Labour management companies that provide equipment and hire workers to transfer cargo between ships and docks. Stevedore companies may also serve as terminal operators. The laborers hired by the stevedoring firms are called stevedores.

straddle carrier
Container terminal equipment, which is motorized and runs on rubber tires. It can straddle a single row of containers and is primarily used to move containers around the terminal.

stripping
The process of removing cargo from a container.

stuffing
The process of packing a container with loose cargo prior to inland or ocean shipment.

Tank barges
Used for transporting bulk liquids, such as petroleum, chemicals, vegetable oils and liquefied gases.

tariff
Schedule, system of duties imposed by a government on the import/export of goods; also, the charges, rates and rules of a transportation company as listed in published industry tables.

terminal
The place where cargo is handled is called a terminal (or a wharf).

terminal operator
The company that operates cargo handling activities on a wharf . A terminal operator oversees unloading cargo from ship to dock, checking the quantity of cargoes versus the ship's manifest (list of goods), transferring of the cargo into the shed, checking documents authorizing a haulier to pick up cargo, overseeing the loading/unloading, etc.

transit port
When the majority of cargoes moving through a port aren't coming from or destined for the local market, the port is called a transit (or through) port.

transshipment
The unloading of cargo at a port or point where it is then reloaded, sometimes into another mode of transportation, for transfer to a final destination.

tugboat
Strong v-hull shaped boat used for maneuvering ships into and out of port and to carry supplies. A ship is too powerful to pull up to the wharf on its own. It cuts power and lets the tug nudge it in. Generally barges are pushed by towboats, not tugs.

Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU)
A unit of measurement equal to the space occupied by a standard twenty foot container. Used in stating the capacity of container vessel or storage area. One 40 ft. Container is equal to two TEU's.

vessel
A ship or large boat.

vessel operator
A firm that charters vessels for its service requirements, which are handled by their own offices or appointed agents at ports of call. Vessel operators also handle the operation of vessels on behalf of owners.

warehouse
A place in which goods or merchandise is stored.

way bill
The document used to identify the shipper and consignee, present the routing, describe the goods, present the applicable rate, show the weight of the shipment, and make other useful information notations.

wharf
The place at which ships tie up to unload and load cargo. The wharf typically has front and rear loading docks (aprons), a transit shed, open (unshedded) storage areas, truck bays, and rail tracks.

wharfage fee
A charge assessed by a pier or wharf owner for handling incoming or outgoing cargo.

yard
a system of tracks within a certain area used for making up trains, storing cars, placing cars to be loaded or unloaded, etc.