Shipping Terms

B/L - Abbreviation for "Bill of Landing"

BCO - Abbreviation for "Beneficial Cargo Owner." Refers to the importer of record, who physically takes possession of cargo at destination and does not act as a third party in the movement of such goods.

CFR - Abbreviation for "Cost and Freight" (Named Port) does not include clearance and customs to clear destination port.

CIA - Cash in Advance - A method of payment for goods in which the buyer pays the seller in advance of the shipment of goods. Usually employed when the goods, such as specialized machinery, are built to order.

CIF - Abbreviation for "Cost, Insurance, Freight." (Named Port) does not include clearance and customs to clear destination port. Same as C&F or CFR except seller also provides insurance to named destination.

Clean Bill of Lading - A receipt for goods issued by a carrier with an indication that the goods were received in "apparent good order and condition," without damage or other irregularities.  If no notation or exception is made, the B/L is assumed to be "cleaned."

COD - Collect (Cash) On Delivery.

FOB - Free On Board - Good are supplied as delivered to port at shipping location (Named Port).

GRI - Abbreviation for "General Rate Increase." Used to describe an across-the-board tariff rate increase implemented by conference members and applied to base rates.

Gross Weight - Entire weight of goods, packaging and freight car or container, ready for shipment. Generally, 80,000 pounds maximum container, cargo and tractor for highway transport.

HS - Abbreviation for "Harmonised System of Codes" - An international goods classification system for describing cargo in international trade under a single commodity-coding scheme. Developed under the auspices of the Customs Cooperations Council (CCC), an international Customs organization in Brussels, this code is a hierarchically structured product nomenclature containing approximately 5,000 headings and subheadings. It is organized into 99 chapters arranged in 22 sections. Sections encompass an industry (e.g., Section XI, Textiles and Textile Articles); chapters encompass the various materials and products of the industry (e.g., Chapter 50, Silk; Chapter 55, Manmade Staple Fibers; Chapter 57, Carpets). The basic code contains four-digit headings and six-digit subheadings. Many countries add digits for Customs tariff and statistical purposes. In the United States, duty rates will be the eight-digit level; statistical suffixes will be at the ten-digit level. The Harmonized System (HS) is the current U.S. tariff schedule (TSUSA) for imports and is the basis for the ten-digit Schedule B export code.

Letter of Indemnity - In order to obtain the clean bill of lading, the shipper signs a letter of indemnity to the carrier on the basis of which may be obtained the clean bill of lading, although the dock or mate's receipt showed that the shipment was damaged or in bad condition.

Net Weight - Weight of the goods alone without any immediate wrappings, e.g., the weight of the contents of a tin can without the weight of the can.

OBL - Abbreviation for "Original Bill of Lading" - A document which requires proper signatures for consummating carriage of contract. Must be marked as "original" by the issuing carrier.

RFQ - Abbreviation for "Request for Quotation"

SBL - Abbreviation for "Straight Bill of Lading" - A non-negotiable bill of lading which states a specific identity to whom the goods should be delivered. See Bill of Lading.