Shipping Container Terms
Glossary of Shipping Container Terms
APCA – “Australian Post Charge Additional”.
ACEP – “Approved Continuous Examination Program”. This is designed to ensure the safety of the trip of the shipping container.
BCO – “Beneficial Cargo Owner”. This is the recipient of the shipping container and its contents at the destination.
BIC – This represents “Bureau International des Containers”. This Paris, France organisation maintains the alpha prefixes that are used to identify specific shipping containers.
Bill of Lading – The contract between the goods owner and the shipping company to transport the goods.
Box – A slang term for a shipping container.
BV – “Bureau Veritas”. This is an international classification society for shipping containers and their contents.
CAN – This is a reference number given by a country’s customs and excise agency upon clearance of shipped goods.
Carrier – Used in reference to shipping containers, this is either the company moving your container from A-B or the vessel.
CBM – The volumetric size of the shipping container in cubic metres.
CFS – “Container Freight Station” – where containers are packed and unpacked.
Closed Area- Container is at the port yard, not yet available for pick up.
COC – “Carrier Owned Container” where the company (carrier) moving your goods owns the container you are moving your freight in.
Coffee container – originally used for coffee, it is a container with vents on the side to allow air circulation. Also known as a Ventilated Container (see below).
CW Certificate – A safety certificate saying that the container is transportable at sea and is cargo-worthy.
Container Inspector – A safety inspector who inspects damage to shipping containers and who assesses them.
CSC Plate – A plate that is fixed to the doors of a container that has a serial number and other technical data about the container itself.
Container Terminal – This can be inland or a seaport, and is a specialist port that handles containers.
CY – “Container Yard” – where shipping containers are stored.
Demurrage – This is a fee charged for containers and their goods when stored for a longer period than the physical transportation times.
Detention – A fee charged for containers that have been returned late to the owner.
EIR – “Equipment Interchange Receipt” – a receipt for transfer of responsibility to the next carrier in the chain as the container moves to its destination. This might be from a railway to a truck company, the truck company to the port and so on.
FAK – “Freight All Kinds”. A shipping container that has a number of different shipments for different BCOs and/or senders.
FCL – “Full Container Load”. A full container.
FEU – “Forty Foot Equivalent Unit”, an abbreviation for a 40 foot (12 metre) container.
Freight Forwarder – A private company or agency that handles the transport of the container, its customs clearances and securing cargo space for the container’s journey.
Flat Rack Container – A container with no walls for cargo that is too wide to fit into a box container.
Gateway – This is the multi-modal port where goods will move from one mode (say, a truck) to another (a ship for instance) in its journey.
GOH – “Garments On Hanger”. These containers are handling clothes or other items on hangers inside the shipping container.
GP – “General Purpose” container. A classic box container for general cargo. This is usually 6 metres (20ft) or 12 metres (40ft).
HC or High Cube Container – This is a shipping container with around 0.3 metres (1ft) or extra headroom inside the container over and above the standard size.
IICL – “Institute of International Container Lessors”. This is an organisation representing the largest container leading companies in the world. It also sets repair standards on containers.
Insulated Shipping Container – A container with insulation that carries cargo that has to be kept at a constant temperature. This can be a refrigerated (reefer) unit but doesn’t always have to be.
Intermodal – refers to the different modes of transport a container will travel by such as road, rail and sea.
ISO – An international body for standards of goods. This sets the standards for shipping container construction.
LO/LO – “Lift on-lift off”. This is a fee for lifting containers off and onto containerships.
MGW – “Maximum Gross Weight” – the maximum allowable weight for a loaded shipping container.
O/H – “Over Height”. The cargo it too big to fit inside the shipping container.
O/S – “Open Sided” – a container that has no sides and is suitable for cargo that is too wide for a standard container.
O/T – “Open Top” shipping container. Can be loaded from the top by crane, but can take cargo that is too tall for a GP or HC container.
Payload – “Payload”. Maximum weight of the cargo or goods that can be carried within the container.
RAL Colour Coding – A colour matching system to give the exact colour of the coating of a shipping container – this can include branding colours and allows for grading and easier identification of the box.
Reefer Shipping Container – A refrigerated container with a unit that controls the temperature of the goods within. These can include freezer containers where the goods inside are kept at seat, subzero temperatures.
Relay – The act of transfer of a shipping container from one vessel to another.
SOC – “Shipper Owned Container”. The shipper owns the container you are hiring to transport your goods.
Slot – The allocated space for the container on the containership, allowing carriers to know exactly which container is located where on the ship.
TARE – The weight of the shipping container without any goods inside.
TEU – “Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit”. The standard unit of container sizes is twenty feet (6 metres). Used to refer to the capacity of ports or ships.
THC – “Terminal Handling Charge”. The port’s handling fee for moving the container around.
Time Slot – The time that is booked to either collect or deliver the shipping container.
Throughput – The expected or measured time it takes to move a container through a container terminal.
Transshipment – The act of moving the container from one vessel to another for their journey onward to their port of destination.
Turnaround Time – The time it takes for a container to leave a container terminal after its initial arrival.
Ventilated Container – See ‘Coffee Container’ above – a type of container with air vents to allow air circulation to keep the interior of the box cooler and allow air and gas venting.
Waybill – This is a bill of lading that records the receipt of goods that also acts as evidence of the contract of transport and service.
WWT – “Wind and Watertight”. Ventilated containers are the exception to the rule. Most containers are wind and watertight to keep out the elements and protect the cargo inside.