Glossary

The words, defined once.

Freight is full of terms that sound interchangeable and are not, and most definitions online are written by the agency that owns the term rather than for the dispatcher who has to act on it. These are written the other way round: what it is, who deals with it, when it shows up, and what usually goes wrong.

Crossing the border

ACE — Automated Commercial Environment

ACE is the United States Customs and Border Protection system that carriers file an electronic truck manifest into before a shipment crosses into the US, listing the truck, driver, trailer, shipments and their entry references.

ACI — Advance Commercial Information

ACI is the Canada Border Services Agency programme requiring carriers to transmit an electronic cargo and conveyance manifest before a truck arrives at the Canadian border, so CBSA can risk-assess the shipment in advance.

PAPS — Pre-Arrival Processing System

PAPS is the US Customs and Border Protection process that lets a customs broker file entry information before a truck reaches the United States border, so the shipment can be processed on arrival instead of at the booth.

PARS — Pre-Arrival Review System

PARS is the Canada Border Services Agency process that lets a customs broker submit release information before a truck reaches the Canadian border, so the shipment can be reviewed and released on arrival rather than held at the booth.

Compliance and regulation

IFTA — International Fuel Tax Agreement

IFTA is an agreement among 48 US states and 10 Canadian provinces that lets a carrier file one quarterly fuel tax return covering every jurisdiction it ran in, based on distance travelled in each and fuel purchased in each.

SCAC — Standard Carrier Alpha Code

A SCAC is the two-to-four letter code that uniquely identifies a motor carrier in North American freight and customs systems, issued by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association.

Day-to-day operations

BOL — Bill of Lading

A bill of lading is the contract of carriage issued at pickup — it records what is being shipped, who is shipping it, where it is going, and on what terms the carrier accepts it.

POD — Proof of Delivery

A proof of delivery is the signed document confirming freight arrived and was accepted, and it is usually the thing a customer requires before they will pay the invoice for it.

Probill — Progressive bill number

A probill is the carrier-facing reference number that identifies a shipment on paperwork — the number printed on the bill of lading and rate confirmation that everyone quotes when they call about a load.

TONU — Truck Ordered, Not Used

TONU is a charge billed when a load is cancelled after a truck has already been committed to it, compensating the carrier for capacity that was reserved and can no longer be sold.

Money

An accessorial is any charge on a load beyond the line-haul rate — detention, lumper fees, tarping, scale tickets, advances, layover and similar — billed for work or delay outside the basic move.

Detention is a charge billed to a customer when a truck is held at a pickup or delivery beyond an agreed free period, compensating the carrier for capacity lost while the driver waits.