4 Shipping Terms You Need to Know Now

What are you shipping? Whether it’s medical education supplies, temperature sensitive products, or something entirely different, learning the jargon is a must if you’re going to find the right shipping company. Here are five you must know now.

1. Bill of Lading or Airbill: Also called a BOL, this is your official shipping document. On it, you’ll find the details of the shipment. It describes what is moving, where it originates and where it’s going. The bill of lading or airbill defines the individual shipment.
2. Valuation: This is the insured value of the shipment. You can pay to insure your shipment. Many self-insured clients take the limited carrier liability at no additional cost.
3. TL or LTL: this stands for Truckload or less than truckload. Typical tractor trailers are 53’ long inside and 8’ wide. There are a variety of other smaller trucks also used.
4. Certificate of Origin: This is sometimes abbreviated as C of A. It certifies the country where the goods originated. It is usually issued and signed by a given government department. These aren’t required, but they can be helpful in many different cases.
5. Exclusive Use: when you reserve the entire truck even when you don’t occupy all the space, so nothing else gets loaded on with your freight. LTL can be booked as exclusive use.
6. NFO or Next flight out is a priority level of booking air cargo, as opposed to general freight which has a greater risk be bumped off a flight when overbooked.

ShipCritical moves some of the most sensitive, difficult to move commodities that require a level of expertise that many shipping companies aren’t equipped to handle.. Specializing in critical shipping, we can help you to get your shipment delivered effectively by reducing risks and increasing performance.
Contact us today to learn more about the customized services that we can put together to meet your needs.