Accessorials: Charges by the carrier for address corrections and missing account numbers, among other errors.

Bill of lading: Document that serves as the carrier’s acknowledgement of receipt of goods for shipping.

Certificate of origin: Document required for a package to clear customs in some countries that limit imports from certain nations.

Delivery density: Number of packages being delivered to a particular destination.

Day-definite delivery: Agreement of a carrier to deliver a package by a certain date.

Drop-ship: To have the manufacturer handle delivery to the end user, rather than the reseller stocking the merchandise in its distribution center and then shipping the goods to the buyer.

Geotype reports: Reports from a carrier showing what portion of a shipper’s deliveries go to superrural, rural, suburban, urban, and superurban locales.

LTL: Less than truckload, shipments that do not fill a trailer and can be consolidated with shipments from other senders to save money.

LTL shipper: Carrier that consolidates smaller shipments from multiple shippers, using strategically placed hubs; also called consolidator.

Rate-shopping software: Software that determines the most cost-effective carrier for each package, based on criteria such as package weight and destination.

Portfolio pricing: Bundling of a package carrier’s services within a contract, which includes the creation of revenue tiers that determine a client’s volume discounts.

Tariff code: Product-specific code of 6-10 digits, as determined by the World Customs Organization, that is required on international shipping documents for tax purposes.

TL: Truckload.

TL shipper: Carrier that handles only full truckloads.

Zone reports: Reports from a carrier showing how much volume a client ships to each zone.