Glossary

Logistics terms#

3PL

Third-party logistics provider. A company that runs transport or warehousing for shippers.

Appointment

The agreed time window for a truck to load or unload at a facility. Shown in the facility's local time.

BOL (bill of lading)

The document that lists the goods, the shipper, the receiver and the carrier. It's also a receipt for the freight.

Broker

A company that arranges freight for shippers using carriers it doesn't own.

Carrier

The trucking company (or airline, railway, shipping line) that physically moves the freight.

Consignee

The receiver of a shipment.

Check call

A phone call to a carrier or driver to ask where a load is. Good tracking makes them unnecessary.

DC (distribution centre)

A warehouse that receives goods and ships them on to stores or customers.

Demurrage

A charge for keeping a container or railcar beyond its free time.

Detention

A charge for keeping a truck or trailer at a facility beyond the free time, usually two hours.

Dock door

A door at a facility where trucks back in to load or unload.

Dwell time

How long a truck spends at a facility, from arrival to departure.

EDI

Electronic data interchange. A standard way for companies' systems to exchange business messages.

EDI 204

A load tender: a shipper or broker offers a load to a carrier.

EDI 214

A shipment status message: arrived, departed, delivered, and sometimes a position.

EDI 990

A carrier's response to a load tender: accepted or declined.

ELD (electronic logging device)

The device in a truck that records driving hours. Required in the US and Canada, and a main source of GPS positions.

ETA

Estimated time of arrival. In Shipment Insight, the Predicted ETA is calculated, not just reported.

Facility

Any place where freight is picked up or delivered: a plant, warehouse, DC or store.

FTL (full truckload)

A shipment that uses a whole truck, usually from one pickup to one delivery.

Gate

The entrance to a facility's yard, where trucks check in and out.

HOS (hours of service)

Legal limits on how long a driver can drive and work before a break or rest. They affect the ETA.

Intermodal

Freight that moves in the same container across more than one mode, such as rail and truck.

Lane

A route between an origin and a destination, for example Montréal to Chicago.

Load

The freight on one truck, and often the word for the shipment itself.

LTL (less than truckload)

A shipment that shares a truck with other customers' freight.

POD (proof of delivery)

A signed document or photo that shows the freight was delivered.

PRO number

The carrier's tracking number for a shipment, common in LTL.

Reefer

A refrigerated trailer or container.

SCAC

Standard Carrier Alpha Code. A two- to four-letter code that identifies a carrier.

Shipper

The company sending the freight, such as a manufacturer or retailer.

Telematics

Systems in a truck that report its position and status over the network.

Tender

Offering a load to a carrier, who can accept or decline it.

TMS

Transportation management system. Software for planning, booking and paying for freight.

Yard

The area outside a facility where trucks, trailers and containers park.

Yard jockey (spotter)

A driver who moves trailers around the yard, between parking slots and dock doors.

YMS

Yard management system. Software that runs the gate, yard and dock doors.

Shipment Insight terms#

API key

A secret that lets your systems use the API. It has scopes and starts with si_live_ or si_test_.

Audit log

A record of who did what in your organization, which admins can view and export.

Exception

An active shipment at Medium or High risk, listed in Exceptions.

Fallback

Switching automatically to the next tracking source when the main one goes quiet.

Geofence

A virtual area around a location. Entering or leaving it records an arrival or a departure.

Idempotency key

A unique value sent with an API request so that retrying it never creates a duplicate.

Milestone

A step recorded on a shipment's timeline, with its time and source.

Organization

Your company in Shipment Insight: a shipper, carrier, broker, 3PL or facility.

Passkey

A way to sign in with your device's fingerprint, face or PIN instead of a password.

Ping

One position report from a tracking source.

Recovery code

A one-time code to sign in if you lose access to your two-factor device.

Risk score

The chance that a shipment misses its appointment, with the reasons behind it.

Role

What a person can do in the console, such as admin, manager, operator or viewer.

Scope

A permission given to an API key, such as reading shipments.

Share

Permission for another organization to see a shipment you're both part of.

Simulated data

Fictional carriers, loads and facilities used while the platform is in preview.

Stale

A shipment that hasn't sent a position for more than 60 minutes.

Tracking rate

The share of active shipments that sent a position in the last hour.

Tracking source

Where updates come from: ELD, carrier API, EDI 214, driver app or manual.

Two-factor authentication

A second check at sign-in, such as a code from an authenticator app.

Webhook

A message Shipment Insight sends to your system when an event happens.

Related