| Fork Lift | A machine used to pick up and move goods loaded on pallets or skids. |
| Forwarder Compensation | See Brokerage. |
| Foul Bill of Lading | A receipt for goods issued by a carrier with an indication that the goods were damaged when received. Compare Clean Bill of Lading. |
| Four-Way Pallet | A pallet designed so that the forks of a fork lift truck can be inserted from all four sides. See Fork lift. |
| Free Alongside (FAS) | The seller must deliver the goods to a pier and place them within reach of the ship's loading equipment. See Terms of Sale. |
| Free Astray | An astray shipment (a lost shipment that is found) sent to its proper destination without additional charge. |
| Free In and Out (FIO) | Cost of loading and unloading a vessel is borne by the charterer/shipper. |
| Free of Particular Average (FPA) | A marine insurance term meaning that the assurer will not allow payment for partial loss or damage to cargo shipments except in certain circumstances, such as stranding, sinking, collision or fire. |
| Free on Board (FOB - U.S. Domestic Use) | Shipped under a rate that includes costs of delivery to and the loading onto a carrier at a specified point. |
| Free on Board (Int'l Use) | See Terms of Sale. |
| Free Out (FO) | Cost of unloading a vessel is borne by the charterer. |
| Free Port | A restricted area at a seaport for the handling of duty-exempted import goods. Also called a Foreign Trade Zone. |
| Free Sale Certificate | The U.S. government does not issue certificates of free sale. However, the Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, will issue, upon request, a letter of comment to the U.S. manufacturers whose products are subject to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act or other acts administered by the agency. The letter can take the place of the certificate. |
| Free Time | That amount of time that a carrier's equipment may be used without incurring additional charges. (See Storage, Demurrage or Per Diem.) |
| Free Trade Zone | A port designated by the government of a country for duty-free entry of any non-prohibited goods. Merchandise may be stored, displayed, used for manufacturing, etc., within the zone and re-exported without duties. |
| Freight | Refers to either the cargo carried or the charges assessed for carriage of the cargo. |
| Freight Bill | A document issued by the carrier based on the bill of lading and other information; used to account for a shipment operationally, statistically, and financially. An Invoice. |
| Freight Forwarder | A person whose business is to act as an agent on behalf of the shipper. A freight forwarder frequently makes the booking reservation. |
| Freighters | See Ships. |
| Gateway | Industry-related: A point at which freight moving from one territory to another is interchanged between transportation lines. |
| GATT | Abbreviation for "General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade." A multilateral treaty to help reduce trade barriers between the signatory countries and to promote trade through tariff concessions. The World Trade Organization (WTO) superseded GATT in 1994. |
| GBL | Abbreviation for "Government Bill of Lading." |
| GDSM | Abbreviation for "General Department Store Merchandise." A classification of commodities that includes goods generally shipped by mass-merchandise companies. This commodity structure occurs only in service contracts. |
| General Order (G.O.) | When U.S. Customs orders shipments without entries to be kept in their custody in a bonded warehouse. |
| Generator Set (Gen Set) | A portable generator which can be attached to a refrigerated container to power the refrigeration unit during transit. |
| Go-Down | In the Far East, a warehouse where goods are stored and delivered. |
| Gooseneck | The front rails of the chassis that raise above the plane of the chassis and engage in the tunnel of a container leading to the connection to tractor. |
| GRI | Abbreviation for "General Rate Increase." Used to describe an across-the-board tariff rate increase implemented by conference members and applied to base rates. |
| Gross Tonnage (GT) | Applies to vessels, not to cargo, (0.2+0.02 log10V) where V is the volume in cubic meters of all enclosed spaces on the vessel. |
| Gross Weight | Entire weight of goods, packaging and freight car or container, ready for shipment. Generally, 80,000 pounds maximum container, cargo and tractor for highway transport. |
| Groupage | A consolidation service, putting small shipments into containers for shipment. |
| GVW | Abbreviation for "Gross Vehicle Weight." The combined total weight of a vehicle and its container, inclusive of prime mover. |
| Hague Rules, The | A multilateral maritime treaty adopted in 1921 (at The Hague, Netherlands). Standardizes liability of an international carrier under the Ocean B/L. Establishes a legal "floor" for B/L. See COGSA |
| Harbor Master | An officer who attends to the berthing, etc., of ships in a harbor. |
| Harmonized System of Codes (HS) | An international goods classification system for describing cargo in international trade under a single commodity-coding scheme. Developed under the auspices of the Customs Cooperations Council (CCC), an international Customs organization in Brussels, this code is a hierarchically structured product nomenclature containing approximately 5,000 headings and subheadings. It is organized into 99 chapters arranged in 22 sections. Sections encompass an industry (e.g., Section XI, Textiles and Textile Articles); chapters encompass the various materials and products of the industry (e.g., Chapter 50, Silk; Chapter 55, Manmade Staple Fibers; Chapter 57, Carpets). The basic code contains four-digit headings and six-digit subheadings. Many countries add digits for Customs tariff and statistical purposes. In the United States, duty rates will be the eight-digit level; statistical suffixes will be at the ten-digit level. The Harmonized System (HS) is the current U.S. tariff schedule (TSUSA) for imports and is the basis for the ten-digit Schedule B export code |
| Hatch | The opening in the deck of a vessel; gives access to the cargo hold. |
| HAZ MAT | An industry abbreviation for "Hazardous Material." |
| Heavy-Lift Charge | A charge made for lifting articles too heavy to be lifted by a ship's normal tackle. |
| High-Density Compression | Compression of a flat or standard bale of cotton to approximately 32 pounds per cubic foot. Usually applies to cotton exported or shipped coastwise. |
| Hitchment | The marrying of two or more portions of one shipment that originate at different locations, moving under one bill of lading, from one shipper to one consignee. Authority for this service must be granted by tariff publication. See Bill of Lading. |
