Level III

Access

The capacity to enter and exit a transport system. It is an absolute term implying that a location has access or does not.

Accessibility

The measure of the capacity of a location to be reached by, or to reach different locations. The capacity and the structure of transport infrastructure are key elements in the determination of accessibility.

Aerodrome

A defined area on land or water (including any buildings, installations, and equipment) intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure, and movement of aircraft. Aerodromes may include airports, heliports, and other landing areas.

Aframax

A tanker of standard size between 75,000 and 115,000 dwt. The largest tanker size in the AFRA (Average Freight Rate Assessment) tanker rate system.

Air Cargo

Total volume of freight, mail and express traffic transported by air. Includes the following: Freight and Express-commodities of all kinds, includes small package counter services, express services and priority reserved freight.

Air Carrier

Commercial system of air transportation, consisting of domestic and international scheduled and charter service.

Air Space

The segment of the atmosphere that is under the jurisdiction of a nation or under an international agreement for its use. They include two major components, one being land-based (takeoffs and landings) and the other air-based, mainly composed of air corridors. These corridors can superimpose themselves to altitudes up to 22,500 meters. The geography of air transport is limited to the use of predetermined corridors.

Air Transportation

Includes establishments that provide domestic and international passenger and freight services, and establishments that operate airports and provide terminal facilities.

Airport

1) An area of land or water that is used or intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of aircraft, and includes its buildings and facilities, if any; 2) Facility used primarily by conventional, fixed-wing aircraft; 3) A facility, either on land or water, where aircraft can take off and land. Usually consists of hard-surfaced landing strips, a control tower, hangars and accommodations for passengers and cargo; 4) A landing area regularly used by aircraft for receiving discharging passengers or cargo.

Alternative Fuels

Low-polluting fuels which are used to propel a vehicle instead of high-sulfur diesel or gasoline. Examples include methanol, ethanol, propane or compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, low-sulfur or "clean" diesel and electricity.

Amtrak

Operated by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation of Washington, DC. This rail system was created by President Nixon in 1970, and was given the responsibility for the operation of intercity, as distinct from suburban, passenger trains between points designated by the Secretary of Transportation.

Arterial Street

A major thoroughfare, used primarily for through traffic rather than for access to adjacent land, that is characterized by high vehicular capacity and continuity of movement.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Free trade area established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration. The members of ASEAN are Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The Secretariat of the Association is located in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Average Annual Daily Truck Traffic (AADTT)

The total volume of truck traffic on a highway segment for one year, divided by the number of days in the year.

Average Vehicle Occupancy (AVO)

The number of people traveling by private passenger vehicles divided by the number of vehicles used.

Average Vehicle Rideship (AVR)

The ratio of all people traveling by any mode, including cars, buses, trains and bicycles (or telecommuting), in a given area during a given time period to the number of cars on the road. A key measure of the efficiency and effectiveness of a transportation network - the higher the AVR, the lower the level energy consumption and air pollution.

Backhaul

The process of a transportation vehicle (typically a truck) returning from the original destination point to the point of origin. A backhaul can be with a full or partially loaded trailer.

Balance of payments

A record of receipts from and payments to the rest of the world by a country's government and its residents. The balance of payments includes the international financial transactions of a country for commodities, services and capital transactions.

Balance of Trade

The difference between a country's total imports and exports. If exports exceed imports, a positive balance of trade exists.

Barge

The cargo-carrying vehicle that inland water carriers primarily use. Basic barges have open tops, but there are covered barges for both dry and liquid cargoes.

Barrel

A unit of volume equal to 42 U.S. gallons (or 159 liters) at 60 Degrees Fahrenheit, often used to measure volume in oil production, price, transportation and trade.

Base Period

The period between the morning and evening peak periods when transit service is generally scheduled on a constant interval. Also known as "off-peak period". The time of day during which vehicle requirements and schedules are not influenced by peak-period passenger volume demands (e.g., between morning and afternoon peak periods). At this time, transit riding is fairly constant and usually low to moderate in volume when compared with peak-period travel.

Base Fare

The price charged to one adult for one transit ride; excludes transfer charges, zone charges, express service charges, peak period surcharges and reduced fares.

Belly Cargo

Air freight carried in the belly of passenger aircraft.

Berth

A specific segment of wharfage where a ship ties up alongside at a pier, quay, wharf, or other structure that provides a breasting surface for the vessel. Typically, this structure is a stationary extension of an improved shore and intended to facilitate the transfer of cargo or passengers.

Bill of Lading

A document that establishes the terms of a contract between a shipper and a transportation company. It serves as a document of title, a contract of carriage and a receipt for goods.

Block

A group of railcars destined to the same location.

Borders

Boundary; the line between countries where one presents passports and travel documents

Bottleneck

A section of a highway or rail network that experiences operational problems such as congestion. Bottlenecks may result from factors such as reduced roadway width or steep freeway grades that can slow trucks.

Boxcar

An enclosed railcar, typically 40 or more feet long, used for packaged freight and some bulk commodities.

Bridge.

A structure including supports erected over a depression or an obstruction, such as water, highway, or railway, and having a track or passageway for carrying traffic or other moving loads, and having an opening measured along the center of the roadway of more than 20 feet between under-copings of abutments or spring lines of arches, or extreme ends of openings for multiple boxes; it may also include multiple pipes, where the clear distance between openings is less than half of the smaller contiguous opening.

British Thermal Unit (BTU)

The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water 1 degree Fahrenheit (F) at or near 39.2 degrees F and 1 atmosphere of pressure.

Broker

A person whose business it is to prepare shipping and customs documents for international shipments. Brokers often have offices at major freight gateways, including border crossings, seaports, and airports.

Bulk

not divided into parts or packaged in separate units

Bulk Cargo

Refers to freight both, dry or liquid, that is not packaged such as minerals (oil, coal, iron ore) and grains. It often requires the use of specialized ships such as oil tankers as well as specialized transshipment and storage facilities. Conventionally, this cargo has a single origin, destination and client. It is also prone to economies of scale.

Bulk Carriers

All vessels designed to carry bulk cargo such as grain, fertilizers, ore and oil.

Bulk Terminal

A purpose-designed berth or mooring for handling liquid or dry commodities, in unpackaged bulk form, such as oil, grain, ore, and coal. Bulk terminals typically are installed with specialized cargo handling equipment such as pipelines, conveyors, pneumatic evacuators, cranes with clamshell grabs, and rail lines to accommodate cargo handling operations with ships or barges. Commodity-specific storage facilities such as grain silos, petroleum storage tanks, and coal stock yards are also located at these terminals.

Bus (Motorbus)

Any of several types of self-propelled vehicles, generally rubber-tired, intended for use on city streets, highways, and bus-ways, including but not limited to minibuses, forty and thirty-foot buses, articulated buses, double-deck buses, and electrically powered trolley buses, used by public entities to provide designated public transportation service and by private entities to provide transportation service including, but not limited to, specified public transportation services. Self-propelled, rubber-tired vehicles designed to look like antique or vintage trolleys are considered buses.

Bus, Trolley

An electric, rubber-tired transit vehicle, manually steered, propelled by a motor drawing current through overhead wires from a central power source not on board the vehicle. Also known as "trolley coach" or "trackless trolley".

Bus Lane

A street or highway lane intended primarily for buses, either all day or during specified periods, but sometimes also used by carpools meeting requirements set out in traffic laws.

Bus Stop

A place where passengers can board or disembark from a bus, usually identified by a sign.

Cable Car

An electric railway operating in mixed street traffic with un-powered, individually-controlled transit vehicles propelled by moving cables located below the street surface and powered by engines or motors at a central location not on board the vehicle.

Cabotage

Transport between two terminals (a terminal of loading and a terminal of unloading) located in the same country irrespective of the country in which the mode providing the service is registered. Cabotage is often subject to restrictions and regulations. Under such circumstances, each nation reserves for its national carriers the right to move domestic freight or passengers traffic.

Canal

An artificial open waterway constructed to transport water, to irrigate or drain land, to connect two or more bodies of water, or to serve as a waterway for watercraft.

Capacity

The physical facilities, personnel and process available to meet the product of service needs of the customers. Capacity generally refers to the maximum output or producing ability of a machine, a person, a process, a factory, a product, or a service.

Capesize

Refers to a rather ill- defined standard which has the common characteristic of being incapable of using the Panama or Suez canals, not necessarily because of their tonnage, but because of their size. These ships serve deepwater terminals handling raw materials, such as iron ore and coal. As a result, "Capesize" vessels transit via Cape Horn (South America) or the Cape of Good Hope ( South Africa). Their size ranges between 80,000 and 175,000 dwt.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of the ambient air. Carbon dioxide is a product of fossil fuel combustion.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) .

A colorless, odorless, highly toxic gas that is a normal by-product of incomplete fossil fuel combustion. Carbon monoxide, one of the major air pollutants, can be harmful in small amounts if breathed over a certain period of time.

Carload

Quantity of freight (in tons) required to fill a railcar; amount normally required to qualify for a carload rate.

Carpool

An arrangement where two or more people share the use and cost of privately owned automobiles in traveling to and from pre-arranged destinations together.

Carrier

A firm which transports goods or people via land, sea or air. The company moving the passengers or freight.

Catchment Area

Area or region whose economic, political, cultural, social, etc. influence is felt over a larger area, it is the radius of action of a given point. In transportation, it consists in the area under influence of a focal point towards which centripetal fluxes converge; an interception zone of several carriers. Also labeled as Area of Influence or Hinterland.

Centralized Dispatching

The organization of the dispatching function into one central location. This structure often involves the use of data collection devices for communication between the centralized dispatching function, which usually reports to the production control department and the shop manufacturing departments.

Chain store

any of a number of stores under the same ownership selling the same lines of goods

Charter

Originally meant a flight where a shipper contracted hire of an aircraft from an air carrier, but has usually come to mean any non-scheduled commercial service.

Clean Air Act (CAA)

US Federal legislation that sets national air quality standards.

Coach Service

Transport service established for the carriage of passengers at special reduced passenger fares that are predicated on both the operation of specifically designed aircraft space and a reduction in the quality of service regularly and ordinarily provided.

Coal

A black or brownish-black solid, combustible substance formed by the partial decomposition of vegetable matter without access to air. The rank of coal, which includes anthracite, bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, and lignite, is based on fixed carbon, volatile matter, and heating value. Coal rank indicates the progressive alteration, or coalification, from lignite to anthracite. Lignite contains approximately 9 to 17 million British Thermal Unit (BTU) per ton. The heat contents of subbituminous and bituminous coal range from 16 to 24 million BTU per ton, and from 19 to 30 million BTU per ton, respectively. Anthracite contains approximately 22 to 28 million BTU per ton.

Coastal Shipping

Also known as short-sea or coastwise shipping, describes marine shipping operations between ports along a single coast or involving a short sea crossing.

Cold Chain

A temperature controlled supply chain linked to the material, equipment and procedures used to maintain specific shipments within the appropriate temperature range. Often relates to the distribution of food and pharmaceutical products.

Commercial Geography

Investigates the spatial characteristics of trade and transactions in terms of their cause, nature, origin and destination. It leans on the analysis of contracts and transactions

Commodity

An Item that is traded in commerce. The term usually implies an undifferentiated product competing primarily on price and availability.

Commodity Chain (Supply chain)

A functionally integrated network of production, trade and service activities that covers all the stages in a supply chain, from the transformation of raw materials, through intermediate manufacturing stages, to the market. The chain is conceptualized as a series of nodes, linked by various types of transactions, such as sales and intra-firm transfers. Each successive node within a commodity chain involves the acquisition or organization of inputs for the purpose of added value. A complete supply chain involves all the tasks related to the supplying of a final good (from collecting raw materials, manufacturing, assembly, distribution and retailing), while a partial supply chain only considers a subset such as for one manufacturer.

Common Carrier

A transportation line engaged in the business of handling persons or goods for compensation and for all customers impartially.

Comparative Advantages

The relative efficiencies with which countries (or any economic unit) can produce a product or service.

Component

A constituent part; an ingredient; a elemental part of

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)

Natural gas which is comprised primarily of methane, compressed to a pressure at or above 2,400 pounds per square inch and stored in special high-pressure containers. It is used as a fuel for natural gas powered vehicles, mainly by buses.

Commuter

A person who travels regularly between home and work or school.

Commuter Bus Service

Fixed route bus service, characterized by service predominantly in one direction during peak periods, limited stops, use of multi-ride tickets, and routes of extended length, usually between the central business district and outlying suburbs. Commuter bus service may also include other service, characterized by a limited route structure, limited stops, and a coordinated relationship to another mode of transportation.

Commuter Rail

Railroad local and regional passenger train operations between a central city, its suburbs, and/or another central city. It may be either locomotive-hauled or self-propelled, and is characterized by multi-trip tickets, specific station-to-station fares, railroad employment practices, and usually only one or two stations in the central business district. Also known as "suburban rail."

Conference (liner)

An association of ship owners operating in the same trade route who operate under collective conditions such as tariff rates and shared capacity. They provide international liner services for the carriage of cargo on a particular route or routes within specified geographical limits and which has an agreement or arrangement within the framework of which they operate under uniform or common freight rates and any other agreed conditions with respect to the provision of liner services.

Configuration

relative arrangement of parts or elements, a  functional arrangement , something (as a figure, contour, pattern, or apparatus) that results from a particular arrangement of parts or components

Congestion

Occurs when transport demand exceeds transport supply in a specific section of the transport system. Under such circumstances, each vehicle impairs the mobility of others. Urban congestion mainly concerns two domains of circulation, private and public, often sharing the same infrastructures.

Consignee

A person or company to whom commodities are shipped. Officially, the legal owner of the cargo.

Constant Dollars

Figures where the effect of change in the purchasing power of the dollar has been removed. Usually the data are expressed in terms of dollars of a selected year or the average of a set of years.

Container

A large standard size metal box into which cargo is packed for shipment aboard specially configured oceangoing containerships and designed to be moved with common handling equipment enabling high-speed intermodal transfers in economically large units between ships, railcars, truck chassis, and barges using a minimum of labor. The container, therefore, serves as the transfer unit rather than the cargo contained therein.

Conventional

following, agreeing with, or based on a way of doing things that is widely accepted and followed

Cooperative

an association owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services

Corridor

A linear orientation of transport routes and flows connecting important locations that act as origins, destinations or points of transshipment. Corridors are multi-scalar entities depending on what types of flows is being investigated. Thus, they can be composed of streets, highways, transit routes, rail lines, maritime lines, or air paths.

Cross-Border Points

A place (along a route) where one crosses the boundary between two countries.

Crude Oil Petroleum

A naturally occurring, oily, flammable liquid composed principally of hydrocarbons. Crude oil is occasionally found in springs or pools but usually is drilled from wells beneath the earth's surface.

Cubage

Cubic volume of space being used or available for shipping or storage.

Current Dollars

The dollar value of a good or service in terms of prices current at the time the good or service is sold. This contrasts with the value of the good or service measured in constant dollars.

Deadhead

The return of an empty transportation container back to a transportation facility. Commonly-used description of an empty backhaul.

Deregulation

Consists in a shift to a competitive economic climate by reorienting and/or suppressing regulatory mechanisms. Deregulation, however, does not necessarily refer to complete absence of free market regulation measures but rather to the promotion of competition-inducing ones (which can seek elimination of monopolies, for example). Particularly observed in the transport and telecommunications sectors.

Destination

A place to which one is journeying or to which something is sent

Dispatcher

An individual tasked to assign available transportation loads to available carriers.

Distributor

an agent or agency for marketing goods

Distribution Center (DC)

The warehouse facility which holds inventory from manufacturing pending distribution to the appropriate stores.

Dock

A space used or receiving merchandise at a freight terminal. A feature built to handle ships. Can also refer to an enclosed port area used for maritime operations.

Downtime

A period during which a vehicle or a whole system is inoperative because of repairs or maintenance.

Drayage

Transporting of rail or ocean freight by truck to an intermediate or final destination; typically a charge for pickup/delivery of goods moving short distances (e.g., from marine terminal to warehouse).

Drop

A situation in which an equipment operator deposits a trailer or boxcar at a facility at which it is to be loaded or unloaded.

Durable Goods

Generally, any goods whose continuous serviceability is likely to exceed three years.

Economic Evaluation

(also called Appraisal or Analysis) refers to various methods for determining the value of a policy, project or program to help individuals, businesses and communities make decisions that involve tradeoffs. Economic evaluation is an important part of transportation decision-making.

Economic Integration

the act or process of integrating economies as equals into society or an organization

Energy

The capacity for doing work as measured by the capability of doing work (potential energy) or the conversion of this capability to motion (kinetic energy). Energy has several forms, some of which are easily convertible and can be changed to another form useful for work. Most of the world's convertible energy comes from fossil fuels that are burned to produce heat that is then used as a transfer medium to mechanical or other means in order to accomplish tasks. Electrical energy is usually measured in kilowatt hours, while heat energy is usually measured in British thermal units.

Energy Intensity

In reference to transportation, the ratio of energy inputs to a process to the useful outputs form that process; for example, gallons of fuel per passenger-mile or Btu per ton-mile.

Environmental impact assessment

A process for carrying out an appraisal of the full potential effects of a development project on the physical environment.

Environmental management system

A set of procedures and techniques enabling an organization to reduce environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency.

Ethanol

An alternative fuel; a liquid alcohol fuel with vapor heavier than air; produced from agricultural products such as corn, grain and sugar cane.

European Union (EU)

Formerly the European Community (EC), the European Union since signing of the Maastricht Treaty in November 1993. A regional trade block composed of 15 European states. Its core institutions are known as the «institutional triangle» composed of the European Parliament ( Strasbourg), the Commission ( Brussels), and the EU Council ( Brussels). Also of great notoriety is the European Bank which manages the common currency. Actual members of the EU are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United-Kingdom.

Exclusive Right-of-Way

A highway or other facility that can only be used by buses or other transit vehicles.

Exempt Carrier

A for-hire carrier that is free from economic regulation. Trucks hauling certain commodities are exempt from Interstate Commerce Commission economic regulation. By far the largest portion of exempt carrier transports agricultural commodities or seafood.

Externality (external cost)

Economic cost not normally taken into account in markets or in decisions by market players.

Facilitation

The act of making easier and bringing about

Fare

The price paid by the user of a transport service at the moment of use.

Fare Structure

The system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various passengers using a transit vehicle at any given time.

Feeder

Short sea shipping service which connects at least two ports in order for the freight (generally containers) to be consolidated or redistributed to or from a deep-sea service in one of these ports. By extension, this concept may be used for inland transport services and air transportation.

Ferryboat

A boat providing fixed-route service across a body of water, which can be short or long distance.

Fixed Cost

Costs that do not vary with the quantity shipped in the short-run, i.e. costs that must be paid up-front to begin producing transportation services.

Fixed Route

Service provided on a repetitive, fixed-schedule basis along a specific route with vehicles stopping to pick up and deliver passengers or freight to specific locations; each fixed-route trip serves the same origins and destinations, unlike demand responsive. The terms apply to many modes of transportation, including public transit, air services and maritime services.

Flag State

Country of registry of a sea going vessel. A sea going vessel is subject to the maritime regulations in respect of manning scales, safety standards and consular representation abroad of its country of registration.

Flat Car

A freight car having a floor without any housing or body above. Frequently used to carry containers and/or trailers or oversized/odd-shaped commodities. The three types of flat cars used in intermodal are conventional, spine and stack cars.

Fleet

The vehicles in a transport system. Usually, "fleet" refers to highway vehicles, rail vehicles as well as ships.

Forwarding Agent / Freight Forwarder

Intermediary who arranges for the carriage of goods and/or associated services on behalf of a shipper.

Fossil fuel

a fuel (as coal, oil, or natural gas) that is formed in the earth from plant or animal remains

Freight on board (FOB)

The price of a good is the combination of the factory costs and the shipping costs from the factory to the consumer. The consumer pays for the freight transport costs. Consequently, the price of a commodity will vary according to transportation costs.

Free Trade Zone (FTZ)

A port or an area 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

Cargo; goods to be shipped.

Freight Consignee and Handlers

Freight consignees are independent of shippers or producers. They are commissioned by the latter to accomplish all transport operations including storage, transport, management, sometimes re-expedition, etc. from origin to final destination. The notion of freight handler is broader. It comprises any actor involved in transport of freight from origin to destination including transport terminals and sub-contractual services, for instance.

Freight Distribution Center .

See distribution center.

Freight Village

A concentration (or a cluster) of freight related activities within a specific area, commonly built for such a purpose, master planned and managed. These activities include distribution centers, warehouses and storage areas, transport terminals, offices and other facilities supporting those activities, such as public utilities, parking space and even hotels and restaurants. Although a freight village can be serviced by a single mode, intermodal facilities can offer direct access to global and regional markets.

Gasohol

A blend of motor gasoline (leaded or unleaded) and alcohol (generally ethanol but sometimes methanol) limited to 10 percent by volume of alcohol. Gasohol is included in finished leaded and unleaded motor gasoline.

Gasoline

A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons, with or without small quantities of additives, obtained by blending appropriate refinery streams to form a fuel suitable for use in spark ignition engines. Motor gasoline includes both leaded or unleaded grades of finished motor gasoline, blending components, and gasohol.

Gateway

A location offering accessibility to a large system of circulation of freight, passengers and/or information. Gateways reap advantage of a favorable physical location such as highway junctions, confluence of rivers, seaboards, and have been the object of a significant accumulation of transport infrastructures such as terminals and their links. A gateway generally commands the entrance to and the exit from its catchment area. In other words, it is a pivotal point for the entrance and the exit of merchandise in a region, a country, or a continent. Gateways tend to be locations where intermodal transfers are performed.

General Cargo

General cargo consists of those products or commodities such as timber, structural steel, rolled newsprint, concrete forms, agricultural equipment that are not conducive to packaging or unitization. Break-bulk cargo (e.g., packaged products such as lubricants and cereal) are often regarded as a subdivision of general cargo.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A special-purpose system composed of hardware and software in which a common spatial coordinate system is the primary means of reference. GIS contain subsystems for: data input; data storage, retrieval, and representation; data management, transformation, and analysis; and data reporting and product generation.

GIS-T

Acronym for Transportation-oriented Geographic Information System.

Goods

something manufactured or produced for sale, freight

Graph Theory

A branch of mathematics concerned about how networks can be encoded and their properties measured.

Great Circle Distance

The shortest path between two points on a sphere. The circumference inferred out of these two points divides the earth in two equal parts, thus the great circle. The great circle distance is useful to establish the shortest path to use when traveling at the intercontinental air and maritime level. The great circle route follows the sphericity of the globe, any shortest route is the one following the curve of the planet, along the parallels.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

A measure of the total value of goods and services produced by a domestic economy during a given period, usually one year. Obtained by adding the value contributed by each sector of the economy in the form of profits, compensation to employees, and depreciation (consumption of capital). Only domestic production is included, not income arising from investments and possessions owned abroad, hence the use of the word domestic.

Gross National Product (GNP)

The total market value of goods and services produced during a given period by labor and capital supplied by residents of a country, regardless of where the labor and capital are located. GNP differs from GDP primarily by including the capital income that residents earn from investments abroad and excluding the capital income that nonresidents earn from domestic investment.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)

The combined total weight of a vehicle and its freight.

Hazardous Material

A substance or material which the Department of Transportation has determined to be capable of posing a risk to health, safety, and property when stored or transported in commerce.

High-Occupancy-Vehicle Lane (HOV)

A highway or road lane reserved to vehicles that have a specific level of occupancy, with at least one passenger. Often used to alleviate congestion and favor carpooling.

Highway

a public way; a main direct road often traveled at higher speed

Highway Network

an interconnected system of highways

Hours of Service

Ruling that stipulates the amount of time a driver is allotted to work.

Hub

Central point for the collection, sorting, transshipment and distribution of goods and passengers for a particular area. This concept comes from a term used in air transport for passengers as well as freight. It describes collection and distribution through a single point such as the "Hub and Spoke" concept. Hubs tend to be transmodal (transfers within the same mode) locations.

In-bond Shipment

A shipment status in which goods are permitted to enter a country and temporarily stored for transport to a final destination where the duty will be paid.

Inbound Logistics

The movement of materials from shippers and vendors into production processes or storage facilities.

Inflation

Increase in the amount of currency in relation to the availability of assets, commodities, goods and services. Commonly the outcome of an indirect confiscation of wealth (theft) through an over-issuance of currency ("money printing") by central banks and governments. Although it directly influences prices, inflation is outside the supply-demand relationship and decreases the purchasing power, if wages are not increased accordingly. Almost all Central Banks have inflationary policies which enables governments to run deficits for decades by slowly devaluating the debt they contracted in the past.

Infrastructure

1) In transport systems, all the fixed components, such as rights-of-way, tracks, signal equipment, terminals, parking lots, but stops, maintenance facilities, bridges, highway networks, etc. 2) In transportation planning, all the relevant elements of the environment in which a transportation system operates.

Installation

The act of setting into place for use or service

Integration

The act or process or an instance of integrating and incorporation as equals

Integrated Carriers

Carriers that have both air and ground fleets; or other combinations, such as sea, rail, and truck. Since they usually handle thousands of small parcels an hour, they are less expensive and offer more diverse services than regular carriers.

Inter-State

Of, connecting, or existing between two or more states or countries

Interstate Highway

In the US, the highway network system throughout the states (provinces) is called an “interstate”

Interconnectivity

to be or become mutually connected; to connect with one another

Interline Freight

Freight moving from point of origin to destination over the lines of two or more transportation lines.

Intermodal Terminal .

A terminal which can accommodate several modes of transportation. They increasingly tend to be specializing at handling specific types of passengers or freight traffic, while they may share the same infrastructures.

Intermodal Transport

The movement of goods in one and the same loading unit or road vehicle, which uses successively two or more modes of transport without handling the goods themselves in changing modes. Enables cargo to be consolidated into economically large units (containers, bulk grain railcars, etc.) optimizing the use of specialized intermodal handling equipment to effect high-speed cargo transfer between ships, barges, railcars, and truck chassis using a minimum of labor to increase logistic flexibility, reduce consignment delivery times, and minimize operating costs.

Intermodalism

A system of transport whereby two or more modes of transport are used to transport the same loading unit or truck in an integrated manner, without loading or unloading, in a transport chain. Typically used in three contexts: 1) most narrowly, it refers to containerization, piggyback service, or other technologies that provide the seamless movement of good and people by more than one mode of transport. 2) more broadly, intermodalism refers to the provision of connections between different modes, such as adequate highways to ports or bus feeder services to rail transit. 3) In its broadest interpretation, intermodalism refers to a holistic view of transportation in which individual modes work together or within their own niches to provide the user with the best choices of service, and in which the consequences on all modes of policies for a single mode are considered. This view has been called balanced, integrated, or comprehensive transportation in the past.

International Air Transportation Association (IATA)

Established in 1945, a trade association serving airlines, passengers, shippers, travel agents, and governments. The association promotes safety, standardization in forms (baggage checks, tickets, weight bills), and aids in establishing international airfares. International Air Transportation Association (IATA) headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

International Airport

Any airport designated by the Contracting State in whose territory it is situated as an airport of entry and departure for international air traffic.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

A specialized agency of the United Nations whose objective is to develop the principles and techniques of international air navigation and to foster planning and development of international civil air transport. International Civil Aviation organization (ICAO) Regions include: (AFI) African Indian Ocean Region, (CAR) Caribbean Region, (EUR) European Region, (MID/ASIA) Middle East/Asia Region, (NAM) North American Region, (NAT) North Atlantic Region, (PAC) Pacific Region, (SAM) South American Region.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

Established as a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1948. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) facilitates cooperation on technical matters affecting merchant shipping and traffic, including improved maritime safety and prevention of marine pollution. Headquarters are in London, England.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 100 countries, one from each country. ISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. ISO's work results in international agreements which are published as International Standards.

Inventory

The number of units and/or value of the stock of good a company holds.

Jet Stream

A migrating stream of high-speed winds present at high altitudes.

Jitney

Privately-owned, small or medium-sized vehicle usually operated on a fixed route but not on a fixed schedule.

jobber

a person who buys goods and then sells them to usually smaller dealers

Just-in-Time

The principle of production and inventory management in which goods arrive when needed for production or consumption. Warehousing tends to be minimal or non-existent, but in all case much more efficient and more limited in duration.

Knot, Nautical

The unit of speed equivalent to one nautical mile: 6,080.20 feet per hour or 1.85 kilometers per hour.

Lading

Refers to the freight shipped; the contents of a shipment.

Landed Cost

The dollar per barrel price of crude oil at the port of discharge. Included are the charges associated with the purchase, transporting, and insuring of a cargo from the purchase point to the port of discharge. Not included are charges incurred at the discharge port (e.g., import tariffs or fees, wharfage charges, and demurrage charges).

Layover Time

Time built into a schedule between arrival at the end of a route and the departure for the return trip, used for the recovery of delays and preparation for the return trip.

Lead-time

The total time that elapses between an order's placement and its receipt. It includes the time required for order transmittal, order processing, order preparation, and transit.

Less-Than-Containerload/Less-Than-Truckload (LCL/LTL)

A container or trailer loaded with cargo from more than one shipper; loads that do not by themselves meet the container load or truckload requirements.

Level of Service (LOS)

1) A set of characteristics that indicate the quality and quantity of transportation service provided, including characteristics that are quantifiable and those that are difficult to quantify. 2) For highway systems, a qualitative rating of the effectiveness of a highway or highway facility in serving traffic, in terms of operating conditions. A rating of traffic flow ranging from A (excellent) through F (heavily congested), and compares actual or projected traffic volume with the maximum capacity of the intersection or road in question. 3) For paratransit, a variety of measures meant to denote the quality of service provided, generally in terms of total travel time or a specific component of total travel time. 4) For pedestrians, sets of area occupancy classifications to connect the design of pedestrian facilities with levels of service.

Light-Rail Transit (LRT)

Fixed guideway transportation mode that typically operates on city streets and draws it electric power from overhead wires; include streetcars, trolley cars and tramways. Differs from heavy rail -- which has a separated right of way, and includes commuter and intercity rail -- in that it has lighter passenger capacity per hour and more closely spaced stops.

Line Haul Costs

Costs that vary with distance shipped, i.e., costs of moving goods and people once they are loaded on the vehicles.

Liquid Bulk Cargo

A type of bulk cargo that consists of liquid items, such as petroleum, water, or liquid natural gas.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

An alternative fuel; a natural gas cooled to below its boiling point of -260 degrees Fahrenheit so that it becomes a liquid; stored in a vacuum type container at very low temperatures and under moderate pressure. LNG vapor is lighter than air.

Load Factor

The ratio of passengers or freight actually carried versus the total passenger or freight capacity of a vehicle or a route.

Lock

A channel where the water rises and falls to allow boats to travel a dammed river.

Logbook

A daily record of the hours an interstate driver spends driving, off duty, sleeping in the berth, or on duty not driving.

Logistics

The process of designing and managing the supply chain in the wider sense. The chain can extend from the delivery of supplies for manufacturing, through the management of materials at the plant, delivery to warehouses and distribution centers, sorting, handling, packaging and final distribution to point of consumption. Derived from Greek logistikos (to reason logically), the word is polysemic. Nineteen century military referred to it as the art of combining all means of transport, revictualling and sheltering of troops. A more fitted meaning consists in the set of all operations required for goods (material or nonmaterial) to be made available on markets or to specific destinations. With increasing multimodal and containerized freight transport that complexify the coordination itineraries, logistics rely heavily on highly performing computerized information management implements. The term also applies to passenger transportation.

Logistics Center

Geographical grouping of independent companies and bodies which are dealing with freight transport (for example, freight forwarders, shippers, transport operators, customs) and with accompanying services (for example, storage, maintenance and repair), including at least a terminal. Also called “Freight village”.

Long Ton

2,240 pounds.

Manifest

A list of the goods being transported by a carrier.

Maritime routes

Corridors of a few kilometers in width trying to avoid the discontinuities of land transport by linking ports, the main elements of the maritime / land interface. Maritime routes are a function of obligatory points of passage, which are strategic places, of physical constraints (coasts, winds, marine currents, depth, reefs, ice) and of political borders. As a result, maritime routes draw arcs on the earth water surface as intercontinental maritime transportation tries to follow the great circle distance.

Maritime Terminal

A designated area of a port, which includes but not limited to wharves, warehouses, covered and/or open storage spaces, cold storage plants, grain elevators and/or bulk cargo loading and/or unloading structures, landings, and receiving stations, used for the transmission, care, and convenience of cargo and/or passengers in the interchange of same between land and water carriers or between two water carriers.

Market Area

The surface over which a demand offered at a specific location is expressed. Commonly, a customer is assumed to go to a location where a product or service can be acquired or a part or a finished good has to be shipped from the place of production to the place of consumption.

Materials management

Considers all the activities related in the manufacturing of commodities in all their stages of production along a supply chain. It includes production and marketing activities such as production planning, demand forecasting, purchasing and inventory management. It must insure that the requirements of supply chains are met by dealing with a wide array of parts for assembly and raw materials, including packaging (for transport and retailing) and, ultimately, recycling discarded commodities. All these activities are assumed to be inducing physical distribution demands.

Mobility

Refers to a movement of people or freight. It can have different levels linked to the speed, capacity and efficiency of movements.

Mode, Transport

The physical way a movement is performed.

Model

An analytical tool (often mathematical) used by transportation planners to assist in making forecasts of land use, economic activity, travel activity and their effects on the quality of resources such as land, air and water.

Monorail

An electric railway in which a rail car or train of cars is suspended from or straddles a guideway formed by a single beam or rail. Most monorails are either heavy rail or automated guideway systems.

Motorway / Highway

Road, specially designed and built for motor traffic, which does not serve properties bordering on it, and which: (a) is provided, except at special points or temporarily, with separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic, separated from each other, either by a dividing strip not intended for traffic, or exceptionally by other means; (b) does not cross at level with any road, railway or tramway track, or footpath; (c) is specially sign-posted as a motorway and is reserved for specific categories of road motor vehicles. Entry and exit lanes of motorways are included irrespectively of the location of the sign-posts. Urban motorways are also included.

National Transportation System

An intermodal system consisting of all forms of transportation in a unified, interconnected manner to reduce energy consumption and air pollution while promoting economic development and supporting the Nation's preeminent position in international commerce. The NTS includes the National Highway System (NHS), public transportation and access to ports and airports.

Network

an interconnected or interrelated chain, group, or system

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Came into force on January 1st 1994. NAFTA binds Canada, the United-States and Mexico over respect of a series of common economics rules. Beside the liberalization of exchange of goods and services, the NAFTA regulates investments, intellectual property, publics markets and the non-tariff barrier. The NAFTA is a result of a tradition of trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. that became explicit with the 1989 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1991 Canada-U.S. Trade Agreement (CUSTA).

Net Tonnage

The net or register tonnage of a vessel is the remainder after deducting from the gross tonnage of the vessel the tonnage of crew spaces, master's accommodations, navigation spaces, allowance for propelling power, etc. It is expressed in tons of 100 cubic feet.

Network

Framework of routes within a system of locations, identified as nodes. A route is a single link between two nodes that are part of a larger network that can refer to tangible routes such as roads and rails, or less tangible routes such as air and sea corridors.

Network Analysis

The pattern of transportation systems, the location of routes or rails, the location of intersections, nodes and terminals can be considered as a network. However, on the analytic side, more attention is paid to the whole system rather than to single routes or terminals. Networks analysis aims at identifying flows, shortest distances between two given points, or the less expensive road to take for transporting goods between those points. To facilitate the task, networks have been approximated by the use of the graph theory relying on topology.

Nitrogen Oxides

A product of combustion of fossil fuels whose production increases with the temperature of the process. It can become an air pollutant if concentrations are excessive.

Non-Arterial Road

A secondary road

Ocean Bill of Lading

A receipt for the cargo and a contract for transportation between a shipper and the ocean carrier. It may also be used as an instrument of ownership which can be bought, sold, or traded while the goods are in transit.

Oceanic Airspace

Airspace over the oceans of the world, considered international airspace, where oceanic separation and procedures per the International Civil Aviation Organization are applied. Responsibility for the provisions of air traffic control service in this airspace is delegated to various countries, based generally upon geographic proximity and the availability of the required resources.

Off-Peak Period

Non-rush periods of the day when travel activity is generally lower and less transit service is scheduled. Also called "base period".

Operating Cost

Costs that vary with the quantity shipped in the short-run. 1) Fixed operating cost: refers to expenditures that are independent of the amount of use. For a car, it would involve costs such as insurance costs, fees for license and registration, depreciation and finance charges; 2) Variable operating cost: expenditures which are dependent on the amount of use. For a car, it would involve costs such as the cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and other maintenance.

Operating Ratio

A measure of operation efficiency defined as: (Operating Expenses/Operation Revenues) x 100.

Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

In 1960 replaced the European Organization of Economic Development (EOED) created in 1949 to facilitate post-war reconstruction of Europe via American aid. The OECD is currently composed of 29 member states, of which 21 are European. It acts as a policy leveling forum where government representatives of member states seek to harmonize economic policies touching such sectors as commerce, industry, cooperation, foreign aid and agriculture. Its headquarters are in Paris.

Outbound Logistics

The process related to the movement and storage of products from the end of the production line to the end user.

Outlet

a market for a product; an agency (as a store or dealer) through which a product is marketed

Output

something produced

Owner-operator

Trucking operation in which the owner of the truck is also the driver.

Pallet

A raised platform, normally made of wood, facilitating the handling of goods. Pallets are of standard dimensions.

Paradox

a statement that seems to go against common sense but may still be true

Park and Ride

An access mode to transit in which patrons drive private automobiles or ride bicycles to a transit station, stop, or carpool/vanpool waiting area and park the vehicle in the area provided for the purpose. They then ride the transit system or take a car-or vanpool to their destinations.

Particulates

Carbon particles formed by partial oxidation and reduction of the hydrocarbon fuel. Also included are trace quantities of metal oxides and nitrides, originating from engine wear, component degradation, and inorganic fuel additives. In the transportation sector, particulates are emitted mainly from diesel engines.

Passenger Miles - Km

The total number of miles (km) traveled by passengers on vehicles; determined by multiplying the number of unlinked passenger trips times the average length of their trips.

Payload

Weight of commodity being hauled. Includes packaging, pallets, banding, etc., but does not include the truck, truck body, etc.

Peak Period

Represent a time period of high usage of a transport system. For transit, it refers to morning and afternoon time periods when ridership is at its highest.

Peak/Base Ratio

The number of vehicles operated in passenger or freight service during the peak period divided by the number operated during the base period.

Pendulum service

Involves a set of sequential port calls along a maritime range, commonly including a transoceanic service from ports in another range and structured as a continuous loop. They are almost exclusively used for container transportation with the purpose of servicing a market by balancing the number of port calls and the frequency of services.

Perishable

likely to spoil or decay

Phased

In stages or steps

Physical distribution .

The collective term for the range of activities involved in the movement of goods from points of production to final points of sale and consumption. It must insure that the mobility requirements of supply chains are entirely met. Physical distribution comprises all the functions of movement and handling of goods, particularly transportation services (trucking, freight rail, air freight, inland waterways, marine shipping, and pipelines), transshipment and warehousing services (e.g. consignment, storage, inventory management), trade, wholesale and, in principle, retail. Conventionally, all these activities are assumed to be derived from materials management demands.

Piggyback

A rail/truck service. A shipper loads a highway trailer, and a carrier drives it to a rail terminal and loads it on a flatcar; the railroad moves the trailer-on-flatcar combination to the destination terminal, where the carrier offloads the trailer and delivers it to the consignee.

Piggyback Trailers

Trailers which are designed for quick loading on railcars.

Pipeline

A continuous pipe conduit, complete with such equipment as valves, compressor stations, communications systems, and meters for transporting natural and/or supplemental gas from one point to another, usually from a point in or beyond the producing field or processing plant to another pipeline or to points of utilization. Also refers to a company operating such facilities.

Planning

Refers to a process that allows people's needs, preferences and values to be reflected in decisions. Planning occurs at many different levels, from day-to-day decisions make by individuals and families, to major decisions made by governments and businesses that have comprehensive, long-term impacts on society. Management can be considered a short-term form of planning, while planning can be considered longer-term form of management.

Placard

A label that identifies a hazardous material shipment and the hazards present.

Platform / modular manufacturing

Strategy in which a multinational corporation retains its core competencies, namely its research and development, retailing, marketing and distribution, while subcontracting much of the manufacturing to the lowest bidders.

Point of Sale (POS)

The time and place at which a sale occurs, such as a cash register in a retail operation, or the order confirmation screen in an on-line session. Supply chain partners are interested in capturing data at the POS because it is a true record of the sale rather than being derived from other information such as inventory movement.

Port

A harbor area in which are located marine terminal facilities for transferring cargo between ships and land transportation.

Port Authority

An entity of state or local government that owns, operates, or otherwise provides wharf, dock and other marine terminal investments at ports.

Port of Entry

A port at which foreign goods are admitted into the receiving country. Also refers to an air terminal or land access point (customs) where foreign passengers and freight can enter a country.

Prepaid

A freight term, which indicates that charges are to be paid by the shipper. Prepaid shipping charges may be added to the customer invoice, or the cost may be bundled into the pricing of the product.

Primary Transportation

Conveyance of large shipments of petroleum raw materials and refined products usually by pipeline, barge, or ocean-going vessel. All crude oil transportation is primary, including the small amounts moved by truck. All refined product transportation by pipeline, barge, or ocean-going vessel is primary transportation.

Private Carrier

A carrier that provides transportation service to the firm that owns or leases the vehicles and does not charge a fee.

Private Warehouse

A company owned warehouse.

Product Life Cycle .

Defined as the period that starts with the initial product design (research and development) and ends with the withdrawal of the product from the marketplace. A product life cycle is characterized by specific stages, including research, development, introduction, maturity, decline, and obsolescence.

Proof of Delivery

Information supplied by the carrier containing the name of the person who signed for the shipment, the time and date of delivery, and other shipment delivery related information.

Propane .

An alternative fuel; a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) which is stored under moderate pressure and with vapor heavier than air; produced as a by-product of natural gas and oil production.

Public Transportation .

Passenger transportation services, usually local in scope, that is available to any person who pays a prescribed fare. It operates on established schedules along designated routes or lines with specific stops and is designed to move relatively large numbers of people at one time.

Purchase Order ( PO)

The purchaser's authorization used to formalize a purchase transaction with a supplier. The physical form or electronic transaction a buyer uses when placing an order for merchandise.

Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID)

Technology that uses small devices attached to objects that transmit data to a receiver. An alternative to bar coding used for identification and tracking purposes, notably for items shipped in units (boxes, containers, etc.), but can also be attached to an individual item. Main technical advantages include data storage capacity, read/write capability, and no line-of-sight requirements during scanning.

Railroad

All forms of non-highway ground transportation that run on rails or electro-magnetic guideways, including; 1) Commuter or other short-haul rail passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area, and 2) High speed ground transportation systems that connect metropolitan areas, without regard to whether they use new technologies not associated with traditional railroads. Such term does not include rapid transit operations within an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportation.

Rail, Commuter .

Railroad local and regional passenger train operations between a central city, its suburbs and/or another central city. It may be either locomotive-hauled or self-propelled, and is characterized by multi-trip tickets, specific station-to-station fares, railroad employment practices and usually only one or two stations in the central business district. Also known as "suburban rail".

Rail, Heavy .

An electric railway with the capacity for a "heavy volume" of traffic and characterized by exclusive rights-of-way, multi-car trains, high speed and rapid acceleration, sophisticated signaling and high platform loading. Also known as "rapid rail," "subway," "elevated (railway)" or "metropolitan railway (metro)".

Rail, High Speed

A rail transportation system with exclusive right-of-way which serves densely traveled corridors at speeds of 124 miles per hour (200 km/h) and greater.

Rail, Light

An electric railway with a "light volume" traffic capacity compared to heavy rail. Light rail may use shared or exclusive rights-of-way, high or low platform loading and multi-car trains or single cars. Also known as "streetcar," "trolley car" and "tramway".

Rapid Transit

Rail or motorbus transit service operating completely separate from all modes of transportation on an exclusive right-of-way.

Rate

The price of transportation services paid by the consumer of them. They are the negotiated monetary cost of moving a passenger or a unit of freight between a specific origin and destination. Rates are often visible to the consumers since transport providers most provide this information to secure transactions.

raw materials

materials that can be converted by manufacture, processing, or combination into a new and useful product

Receiving

The function encompassing the physical receipt of material, the inspection of the shipment for conformance with the purchase order (quantity and damage), the identification and delivery to destination, and the preparation of receiving reports.

Retailer

someone who sells in small amounts to people for their own use

Reliability

Refers to the degree of certainty and predictability in travel times on the transportation system. Reliable transportation systems offer some assurance of attaining a given destination within a reasonable range of an expected time. An unreliable transportation system is subject to unexpected delays, increasing costs for system users.

Return to Vendor (RTV)

Material that has been rejected by the customer or buyer's inspection department and is awaiting shipment back to supplier for repair or replacement.

Ridesharing

A form of transportation, other than public transit, in which more than one person shares the use of the vehicle, such as a van or car, to make a trip. Also known as "carpooling" or "vanpooling".

Ridership

The number of rides taken by people using a public transportation system in a given time period.

Rolling Stock

The vehicles used in a transit system, including buses and rail cars.

Route

Course, a line of travel

Seasonality

Repetitive pattern of demand from year to year (or other repeating time interval) with some periods considerably higher than others. Seasonality explains the fluctuation in demand for various recreational products, which are used during different seasons.

Semi-Trailer

A non-powered vehicle for the carriage of goods, intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle in such a way that a substantial part of its weight and of its load is borne by the motor vehicle.

Service

supplying some public demand or providing maintenance and repair

"Seven Sisters"

The seven major oil multinationals which by the early 20th century have achieved dominance over the industry. Five of them were American and the two other were British. The American companies included Exxon (Standard Oil of New Jersey), Mobil (Standard Oil of New York) and Socal (Standard Oil of California which later became Chevron), which were the result of the forced breakup of Standard Oil in 1911, and Gulf and Texaco which were created after the discovery of the Spindletop field in Texas in 1901. The British companies were Royal Dutch Shell (a joint venture with the Netherlands) and British Petroleum (BP), whose interest in world oil expanded with the discovery of oil fields in Persia ( Iraq) and in the Dutch East Indies ( Indonesia). Through mergers and acquisitions the "Seven Sisters" have become four; ExxonMobil, Chevron-Texaco, BP (acquired Amoco and Arco) and Royal Dutch Shell.

Shipper

Party that tenders goods for transportation. The company sending goods.

Shipping Manifest

A document that lists the pieces in a shipment.

Short Sea Shipping

Commercial waterborne transportation that does not transit an ocean. It is an alternative form of commercial transportation that utilizes inland and coastal waterways to move commercial freight from major domestic ports to its destination.

Shunting

Operation related to moving a rail vehicle or set of rail vehicles within a railway installations (station, depot, workshop, marshalling yard, etc.). It mainly concerns the assembly and disassembly of unit trains.

Shuttle

A public or private vehicle that travels back and forth over a particular route, especially a short route or one that provides connections between transportation systems, employment centers, etc.

Silk Road

Historical trade route linking the Eastern Mediterranean basin to Central and East Asia. Named as such because of many prized commodities, namely silk, tea and jade, that were carried from China. Was operational between the 1st century BC and the 16th century.

Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV)

A vehicle with one occupant, the driver, who is sometimes referred to as a "drive alone".

Sleeper Team

Two drivers who operated a truck equipped with a sleeper berth; while one driver sleeps in the berth to accumulate mandatory off-duty time, the other driver operates the vehicle.

Spatial Interaction

A realized movement of people, freight or information between an origin and a destination. It is a transport demand / supply relationship expressed over a geographical space. Spatial interactions cover a wide variety of movements such as journeys to work, migrations, tourism, the usage of public facilities, the transmission of information or capital, the market areas of retailing activities, international trade and freight distribution.

Spatial Structure

The manner which space is organized by the cumulative locations of infrastructure, economic activities and their relations.

Standard

something set up and established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality

Stock Outs

Merchandise that is requested by a customer but is temporarily unavailable. Also referred to as (OOS).

Stockyards

a yard in which livestock are kept temporarily for slaughter, market, or shipping

Suezmax

This standard, which represents the limitations of the Suez Canal, has evolved. Before 1967, the Suez Canal could only accommodate tanker ships with a maximum of 80,000 dwt. The canal was closed between 1967 and 1975 because of the Israel - Arab conflict. Once it reopened in 1975, the Suezmax capacity went to 150,000 dwt. An enlargement to enable the canal to accommodate 200,000 dwt tankers is being considered.

Supply Chain

Starting with unprocessed raw materials and ending with final customer using the finished goods.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

The management of the whole commodity/supply chain, from suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and the final customers. To achieve higher productivity and better returns, SCM mainly try to reduce inventory, increase transaction speeds, and satisfy the needs of the customers in terms of cost, quantity, quality and delivery as much as possible.

Tanker

An oceangoing ship specially designed to haul liquid bulk cargo in world trade, particularly oil.

Tanker Truck

A truck designed to haul liquid bulk cargo in trade, particularly oil.

Tariff

A general term for any listing of rates or charges. The tariffs most frequently encountered in foreign trade are: tariffs of international transportation companies operating on sea, land, and in the air; tariffs of international cable, radio, and telephone companies; and the customs tariffs of the various countries that list goods that are duty free and those subject to import duty, giving the rate of duty in each case.

Terminal

Any location where freight and passengers either originates, terminates, or is handled in the transportation process. Terminals are central and intermediate locations in the movements of passengers and freight. They often require specific facilities to accommodate the traffic they handle.

Terminal market

a metropolitan market which handles all agricultural commodities

Terminal costs

Costs of loading and unloading. They do not vary with distance shipped.

TEU

Twenty-foot equivalent unit, a standard size intermodal container.

Thalweg

The deepest water at any point in a river. The longitudinal line of greatest

Threshold

The minimum and vital market size required to support a given type of economic activity. A mean number of passengers per trip can be identified to sustain profitability of a coach line, for example. A threshold thus rests on a level of demand and can play a determining role in organizing both freight and passenger transport structures on the basis of demographic dynamics, geographic relations to markets and intensity of economic activities.

Throughput

Total amount of freight imported or exported through a seaport measured in tons or TEUs.

Timetable

a table of departure and arrival times of trains, buses, or airplanes; a schedule showing a planned order or sequence

Ton

A unit a measurement of weight, frequently used in freight transport statistics. A metric ton is equivalent to 1,000 kilograms or 2,205 pounds. A short ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds or 0.908 metric tons (in the United States the term ton is commonly used but implies short ton). A long ton, a term not as frequently used, is equivalent to 2,240 pounds or 1.06 metric tons.

Ton-mile

A measure of output for freight transportation; reflects weight of shipment and the distance it is hauled; a multiplication of tons hauled by the distance traveled.

Traffic

the movement (as of vehicles or pedestrians) through an area or along a route (2): the vehicles, pedestrians, ships, or planes moving along a route (3): congestion of vehicles (4): import and export trade and  the business of bartering or buying and selling

Tramp

An oceangoing vessel that does not operate along a definite route or on a fixed schedule, but rather calls at any port where cargo is available.

Transactions

In the business domain, the word transaction is synonymous with exchange and refers to a commercial operation. Generally, before a transaction, there are some negotiations. Whatever they are, transactions generate varying costs, depending on the stakes, the competition, the context of the economic market, etc.

Transaction costs

Costs required for gathering information, negotiating, and enforcing contracts and transactions. Often referred as the cost of doing business.

Transit System

An organization (public or private) providing local or regional multi-occupancy-vehicle passenger service. Organizations that provide service under contract to another agency are generally not counted as separate systems.

Transit time

The total time that elapses between a shipment's delivery and pickup.

Transport

to transfer or convey from one place to another.

Transport costs

Monetary measure of what the transport provider must pay to produce transportation services and comes as fixed (infrastructure) and variable (operating). They depend on a variety of conditions related to geography, infrastructure, administrative barriers, energy, and on how passengers and freight are carried. Three major components, related to transactions, shipments and the friction of distance, impact on transport costs.

Transport Geography

Sub-discipline of geography concerned about movements of freight, people and information. It seeks to link spatial constraints and attributes with the origin, the destination, the extent, the nature and the purpose of movements.

Transportability

The convenience at which passengers, freight or information can be moved. It refers to transport costs, but also to the attributes of what is being transported (fragility, perishable, price). Some political factors can also influence transportability such as laws, regulations, borders and tariffs. When transportability is high, activities are less constrained by distance.

Transshipment

The transfer of goods from one carrier to another and/or from one mode to the other.

Trip Assignment

In planning, a process by which trips, described by mode, purpose, origin, destination, and time of day, are allocated among the paths or routes in a network by one of a number of models.

Trip Generation

In planning, the determination or prediction of the number of trips produced by and attracted to each zone.

Truckload (TL)

Quantity of freight required to fill a truck, or at a minimum, the amount required to qualify for a truckload rate.

Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU)

A standard unit based on an ISO container of 20 feet length (6.10 m), used as a statistical measure of traffic flows or capacities. One standard 40 feet ISO Series 1 container equals 2 TEUs.

Upgrade

Improvement

Upstream / Downstream

Refers to the relative location of a given activity along a supply chain.

Urban Form

The spatial imprint of an urban transport system as well as the adjacent physical infrastructures and socioeconomic activities. Jointly, they confer a level of spatial arrangement to cities.

Variable Cost