Glossary

Freight brokerage terms, defined in a sentence.

The words on a rate confirmation, a bill of lading and a carrier invoice, and the ones dispatchers and sales reps use all day. Each entry starts with the definition, then says why the term matters to a broker and what to check. 49 terms and counting.

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3PL (third-party logistics provider): A 3PL is a company that runs logistics functions for a shipper under contract: transportation management, brokerage, warehousing, fulfillment, or all of them; the term covers everything from a freight brokerage to an operator of a shipper's entire distribution network.

Accessorial charges: Accessorial charges are fees a carrier bills on top of the linehaul rate for services or delays beyond a standard pickup and delivery, such as detention, layover, lumper fees, extra stops, liftgate use or truck ordered not used.
Appointment window: An appointment window is the block of time a shipper or receiver has agreed to load or unload a truck; arriving outside it usually means waiting, a rescheduled appointment, or a missed-appointment fee.

Bill of lading (BOL): A bill of lading is the document issued at pickup that lists what was loaded, who shipped it and who receives it; it serves as the receipt for the goods, the contract of carriage, and, once signed at delivery, the proof that the freight arrived.
Blind shipment: A blind shipment is a load whose paperwork hides the identity of the shipper from the receiver, the receiver from the shipper, or both, usually because a broker or distributor does not want its supplier and its customer to meet.
Bobtail: A truck is bobtailing when the tractor drives without a trailer attached, typically on the way to pick up a loaded or empty trailer; a bobtail move is unpaid time for the carrier and is one of the situations a drop-trailer arrangement is meant to reduce.
Broker-carrier agreement: A broker-carrier agreement is the master contract a motor carrier signs before hauling for a freight broker, covering payment terms, insurance, liability for cargo, the ban on re-brokering, and, increasingly, consent to automated status texts and calls; individual loads are then confirmed under it by rate confirmations.

Carrier invoice (freight bill): A carrier invoice is the bill a motor carrier sends a broker or shipper for a completed load, listing the linehaul, fuel surcharge and any accessorial charges against the load's reference numbers, and accompanied by the signed proof of delivery; the broker audits it against the rate confirmation before paying.
Check call: A check call is a phone call a broker or dispatcher makes to a driver during a load to learn where the truck is, whether it is loaded, and when it will arrive; a typical brokerage makes two to four per load per day, and most of them reach voicemail.
Commercial invoice: A commercial invoice is the seller's bill for an international shipment, listing the buyer and seller, each item with its value, quantity, country of origin and harmonized tariff code, and the terms of sale; customs uses it to assess duties, which is why its numbers have to match the packing list and bill of lading.
Consignee: The consignee is the party a shipment is delivered to, named on the bill of lading as the receiver; it may or may not be the party that bought the goods or the party paying the freight.

Deadhead: Deadhead is the distance a truck travels empty, usually from the last delivery to the next pickup; it is unpaid for the carrier and priced into every quote, which is why a load that starts far from where trucks are ends up costing more.
Detention: Detention is the charge a carrier bills for time a driver spends waiting at a shipper or receiver beyond the free time allowed, usually two hours, at a rate of roughly $50 to $100 per hour; it is the most common accessorial charge and the most disputed, because it depends on documented arrival and departure times.
Dispatcher: A dispatcher is the person who assigns drivers to loads and manages them through the move, on the carrier side coordinating trucks and hours, and on the broker side tracking loads and handling exceptions; in a small carrier the dispatcher is often also the owner.
Double brokering: Double brokering is when a carrier that accepted a load hands it to another carrier without the broker's knowledge, or a party posing as a carrier re-brokers freight it never intended to haul; it is prohibited by broker-carrier agreements, breaks the chain of insurance and liability, and is the setup for most cargo theft and payment fraud in truckload freight.
Drop trailer: A drop trailer is a trailer the carrier leaves at a shipper or receiver to be loaded or unloaded later, so the driver can hook another trailer and leave instead of waiting at the dock; drop-and-hook freight moves faster and rarely incurs detention but requires a trailer pool.
Dry van: A dry van is the standard enclosed 53-foot trailer used for freight that does not need temperature control, and the equipment type behind the majority of US truckload shipments; a 'van' load on a rate confirmation means this trailer unless it says otherwise.

ELD (electronic logging device): An ELD is the device connected to a truck's engine that records driving time automatically for hours-of-service compliance, required on most US commercial trucks since 2017; the same data feed powers ELD-based load tracking when the carrier agrees to share it.
ETA (estimated time of arrival): In truckload freight, an ETA is the time the truck is expected to reach its next stop, computed from its last known location, the remaining drive time, and the driver's remaining hours; it is only useful compared with the appointment window, which turns it into on time, at risk or late.

Flatbed: A flatbed is an open trailer with no sides or roof, used for freight that is loaded by crane or forklift from above or the side and that does not fit in a van: steel, lumber, machinery, building materials and equipment; flatbed loads add securement, tarping and often permits to the carrier's job.
Freight broker: A freight broker is a licensed intermediary that arranges transportation for a shipper by hiring a motor carrier, taking responsibility for covering the load, tracking it and paying the carrier, and earning the difference between what the shipper pays and what the carrier is paid; brokers move roughly a fifth of US truckload freight.
Freight class (NMFC): Freight class is the number, from 50 to 500, that the National Motor Freight Classification assigns to LTL freight based on its density, stowability, handling and liability, and that LTL carriers use to price a shipment; the wrong class is the most common reason an LTL invoice differs from the quote.
Freight factoring: Freight factoring is the sale of a carrier's unpaid invoices to a factoring company for immediate cash, typically 97 to 99 percent of face value, so the carrier is paid within a day or two instead of waiting the broker's 30-day terms; the factor then collects from the broker.
Freight forwarder: A freight forwarder arranges the movement of goods across borders on behalf of a shipper, booking ocean or air space, consolidating cargo, preparing customs and export documents and coordinating the trucking at each end; unlike a broker, a forwarder often takes possession of the freight and issues its own bill of lading.
FTL vs LTL: FTL (full truckload) means one shipper's freight fills or has exclusive use of a trailer that goes directly from pickup to delivery; LTL (less-than-truckload) means the shipment shares a trailer with other shippers' freight and moves through carrier terminals, which is cheaper for small shipments and slower and more handled.
Fuel surcharge (FSC): A fuel surcharge is the per-mile or percentage amount added to a freight rate to pass changes in diesel prices through to the shipper, usually calculated from the weekly national average diesel price published by the US Department of Energy against a base price written into the contract.

Hours of service (HOS): Hours of service are the federal limits on how long a truck driver may drive and work: 11 hours of driving within a 14-hour window after 10 consecutive hours off, a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and 60 or 70 hours in 7 or 8 days; they decide whether a driver can legally make an appointment, which is why they matter to a broker's ETA.

Layover: A layover is the charge a carrier bills when a driver is held overnight, or for a full day, through no fault of the carrier, typically because a receiver cannot unload until the next day; it is priced per day, commonly $150 to $350, and sits alongside detention as the accessorial for lost time.
Linehaul: Linehaul is the base charge for moving freight from origin to destination, before fuel surcharge and accessorials; in truckload it is the negotiated rate for the move, and in LTL it is the terminal-to-terminal leg between the pickup and delivery routes.
Load board: A load board is an online marketplace where brokers and shippers post loads that need a truck and carriers post trucks that need a load, with rates, lanes and equipment searchable by both sides; it is where most spot-market truckload freight is covered.
Load tender: A load tender is a shipper's offer of a specific shipment to a carrier or broker, with the stops, dates, freight details and, under a contract, the rate; accepting the tender commits the recipient to cover the load, and a rejected tender rolls to the next provider in the shipper's routing guide.
Load tracking: Load tracking is the process of knowing where a shipment is and when it will arrive between pickup and delivery, done by phone check calls, driver apps, ELD or telematics feeds through visibility platforms, or text-message location links; the output that matters is not the map but the status: on time, at risk or late against the appointment.
Lumper fee: A lumper fee is the charge for third-party labor that unloads a trailer at a warehouse, common at grocery and retail distribution centers; the driver typically pays it on the spot and the carrier bills it back at cost with the receipt, which is why a lumper charge without a receipt is the classic invoice dispute.

MC number (operating authority): An MC number is the docket number the FMCSA assigns to a carrier's or broker's operating authority, the federal permission to move freight or arrange it for compensation across state lines; brokers verify a carrier's authority, insurance and safety record against FMCSA records before tendering a load.

OS&D (over, short and damaged): OS&D stands for over, short and damaged: the exceptions a receiver records at delivery when the shipment has more pieces than the paperwork, fewer, or damaged ones; the notation on the proof of delivery starts the claim, and the carrier's liability turns on whether the exception was noted at the time of delivery.
Owner-operator: An owner-operator is a truck driver who owns or leases the truck and runs it as a business, either under their own operating authority or leased to a carrier; owner-operators and small fleets make up most of the trucks on the spot market and most of the carriers a brokerage tracks by phone.

Packing list: A packing list itemizes what is physically in a shipment, carton by carton or pallet by pallet, with quantities, weights and dimensions but no prices; it travels with the freight, is used by the receiver to check the delivery, and, on international shipments, by customs alongside the commercial invoice.
PRO number: A PRO number is the tracking and billing number an LTL carrier assigns to a shipment when it is picked up, printed on a label applied to the freight and on the carrier's bill of lading and invoice; it is the key to tracking the shipment and to matching the invoice to the quote.
Proof of delivery (POD): A proof of delivery is the document signed by the receiver confirming the freight arrived, when, and in what condition, usually the delivery copy of the bill of lading; carriers are paid against it, claims are opened from the notes written on it, and shippers will not pay a broker's invoice without it.

Quick pay: Quick pay is a broker's offer to pay a carrier within a few days of receiving the proof of delivery instead of standard net-30 terms, in exchange for a discount of roughly one to three percent of the invoice; it competes with factoring and is a lever brokers use to attract carriers.

Rate confirmation: A rate confirmation is the document a freight broker sends a carrier to confirm one load: the pickup and delivery stops with dates and appointment windows, the equipment, the commodity and weight, the agreed rate and accessorial terms, and the reference numbers; signed by the carrier, it is the contract for that load under the broker-carrier agreement.
Reconsignment: Reconsignment is a change to a shipment's destination or consignee after the carrier has taken possession of the freight; carriers charge a fee for it plus the cost of the additional miles, and it must be requested in writing by the party that controls the freight.
Reefer: A reefer is a refrigerated trailer with its own diesel-powered cooling unit, used for temperature-controlled freight such as food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals; reefer loads carry a set temperature on the rate confirmation and bill of lading, and the trailer's temperature log is evidence in any claim.

Seal number: A seal number is the serial number of the tamper-evident seal applied to a trailer's doors after loading, recorded on the bill of lading so the receiver can confirm the trailer was not opened in transit; a broken or mismatched seal at delivery is grounds to refuse the load.
Shipper: In freight, the shipper is the party that tenders the freight for transport, named on the bill of lading as the consignor; in a broker's vocabulary the word also means the customer, the company whose freight the brokerage moves and whose traffic or logistics manager the sales team calls.
Spot rate vs contract rate: A spot rate is the price for moving one load now, set by supply and demand on that lane that week; a contract rate is a price agreed for a lane for a period, usually a year, through a shipper's bid; spot rates swing above and below contract rates with the market, and brokers live in the gap between them.

TONU (truck ordered not used): TONU, truck ordered not used, is the fee a carrier charges when a load is cancelled after the truck has been dispatched or has arrived at the shipper, compensating for the wasted trip and the load the truck could have taken instead; typical fees run $150 to $250 for a dry van, more for reefers and flatbeds.
Tracking link: A tracking link is a web link sent to a driver, usually by text message, that opens a page where one tap shares the phone's location with the broker for a load, without installing an app; it is the lightest form of load tracking and works with any driver on any phone, subject to the carrier's consent to be texted.
Transit time: Transit time is the number of days a shipment takes from pickup to delivery; for truckload freight it is set by distance and the driver's hours of service, about 500 miles per driving day for a single driver, and it is the basis for the delivery appointment a broker commits to.