The Alibaba.com Team

A full truckload (FTL) is a shipment large enough that it requires a full truck for its transportation.

Less than truckload (LTL) is a freight trucking method for smaller shipments that don’t fill up a truck and can be combined together to fill up a full truckload.

A dry run refers to a trucking scenario when a trucker is unable to complete a pickup or delivery.

A clean truck fee is levied by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as part of the Clear Air Action Plan to help cut down on air pollution.

A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a document that lists all potential hazards and the safe handling process of all potentially dangerous goods.

A shipper is a person who consigns goods and signs a contract of carriage with a carrier in one‘s name or on one‘s behalf on the freight documents.

A house bill of lading (HBL) is an acknowledgment of the receipt of goods issued by a freight forwarder or a non-vessel operating company (NVOCC).

An original bill of lading (OBL) is a contract of carriage, which doubles as a title of the cargo and a carrier’s receipt of the cargo.

An express bill of lading is a type of bill of lading with no original bill of lading issued and the cargo is automatically released at the destination.

A master air waybill (MAWB) is a transport document for air cargo with details of delivery terms issued by the air cargo carrier or its agent.

A house air waybill (HAWB) is a transport document for air cargo issued by the freight forwarders in natural air waybill format with delivery details.

An arrival notice is a document sent to the notify party to inform them of the cargo’s arrival date. It is issued by the ocean freight forwarder, freight carrier, or agent.

A packing list is a customs declaration document with each shipment’s list of packages detailed individually by weight, dimension, and quantity.

A CFS (container freight station) is a warehouse where cargo consolidation and deconsolidation takes place.