Key takeaways
- Ocean freight vocabulary clusters into parties, documents, journey events, time/cost, equipment, and operations.
- The money terms — free time, LFD, demurrage, detention, per diem — are the ones worth memorizing first.
- A container number identifies the box; a booking number identifies the booked shipment before containers are assigned.
- Most 'delays' trace back to a hold blocking availability while free time keeps counting.
People and parties
- BCO (Beneficial Cargo Owner) — the actual owner of the goods, who moves cargo under their own contracts rather than through a forwarder.
- Freight Forwarder — a company that arranges shipping on behalf of shippers, coordinating carriers, customs, and inland moves.
- NVOCC — a carrier that does not operate ships but issues its own bills of lading, buying space from vessel operators.
- Consignee — the party receiving the shipment at destination.
- Drayage Provider — the trucker who moves the container between the port/terminal and its next stop.
Documents and identifiers
- Container Number — the box's unique ID: four letters plus seven digits (e.g., MSCU5829104).
- Booking Number — the reference for a booked shipment with a carrier, used before container numbers are assigned.
- Bill of Lading (B/L) — the carrier's contract of carriage and receipt for the goods; also a document of title.
- SCAC — the Standard Carrier Alpha Code identifying a carrier.
- HBL / MBL — House and Master Bills of Lading; the forwarder issues the house, the carrier issues the master.
The journey
- Gate In / Gate Out — the container entering or leaving a terminal; gate-out (outgate) is pickup.
- Loaded / Discharged — lifted onto or off the vessel.
- Transshipment — transferring cargo from one vessel to another at an intermediate hub.
- Rolled Cargo — a container bumped to a later sailing, usually from overbooking or a schedule slip.
- Empty Return — bringing the emptied container back to the carrier, closing the cycle.
Time and cost
- ETA / ETD — Estimated Time of Arrival / Departure.
- Free Time — the days allowed before demurrage or detention charges begin.
- LFD (Last Free Day) — the deadline before demurrage starts at the terminal.
- Demurrage — charges for a container overstaying inside the terminal after arrival.
- Detention — charges for holding a container outside the terminal too long after pickup.
- Per Diem — the daily rate charged for detention on the carrier's equipment.
Equipment and vessel
- TEU / FEU — Twenty- and Forty-foot Equivalent Units, the standard container size measures.
- Chassis — the wheeled frame a container sits on for road transport.
- Reefer — a refrigerated container for temperature-controlled cargo.
- Vessel / Voyage — the ship and its specific numbered sailing.
- AIS — the Automatic Identification System vessels use to broadcast position at sea.
Operations and holds
- Hold — a block (customs, agency, line, or unpaid fee) preventing a container's release.
- Availability — the point at which a discharged container is released for pickup.
- Appointment — a booked slot to pick up or drop off at a terminal that uses appointment systems.
- Demurrage Clock — the running count of days past free time while a box sits at the terminal.
- Exception — any shipment that has deviated from plan and needs attention.
Frequently asked
What's the difference between a booking number and a container number?
A booking number references a booked shipment with a carrier and exists before equipment is assigned. A container number identifies a specific physical box. Early in a shipment you may only have the booking number; later you track by container.
Is per diem the same as detention?
They overlap. Per diem is the daily rate charged for keeping the carrier's equipment out too long; detention is the charge that rate produces. In practice teams use the terms interchangeably for the outside-the-terminal clock.