Railroad Glossary of Terms & Abbreviations
286:
286,000 lbs.
Rail track segments with 286,000 lbs. or 143-ton car capacity
restrictions. A section of track with a 286 restriction cannot
handle cars with lading weight of 143 tons or more.
3PL:
Third Party
Logistics.
Third-party logistics and/or service provider who acts on behalf
of a shipper or carrier. A 3PL may also be referred to as an IMC
(Intermodal Marketing Company), freight forwarder,
transportation broker or intermediary.
AAR:
Association of American Railroads. The Association of
American Railroads represents North America's major freight
railroads and Amtrak. Association members include the BNSF, UP,
KCS, CSXT, NS, CP, CN, TFM and FNM.
ABI:
Automated Broker Interface.
Absorbed Switching:
Switching Payables.
Payment by a carrier, out of its revenue on a shipment,
of the charges assessed by others for switching of its cars.
Accessorial Charges:
Charges for a wide variety of services and privileges
that are made available in connection with the transportation of
goods. They include all charges other than freight charges.
E.g., charges for services such as detention, spotting, rejected
loads, equipment furnished but not used, re-consignment storage
etc.
ACH:
Automatic Clearing House.
Electronic means of receiving payment for line haul
charges from customers.
ACI:
Any system to provide for automated identification of
cars in a train. The commonly used system consists of a set of
13 reflective "modules" on each side of a car, caboose,
locomotive, container, or trailer, which identifies the owner,
number and equipment.
ACS:
Automated
Commercial System.
Actual Placement (AP):
Car placed at a
customer location waiting for loading or unloading. Also known
as Active Placement.
AEI:
Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI).
-
Reader or
Tag AEI Readers (interrogators) are installed at strategic
points such as plant entrance and/or exit points, railroad
junction points etc. to read AEI tags. Also known as
Automatic Car Identification or Rail Car Identification
tags.
-
AEI tags
(transponders) store certain information about the rail car,
such as the owner and car number. Tags can be mounted on
trailers, railcars, containers and locomotives. As tagged
equipment passes a reader, the tag identifies the equipment
and the reader relays the time, date or other programmed
information to a host computer.
Allowance Contract
Incentive Agreement:
Rail agreements specifying a contract allowance or
incentive payment based on a minimum threshold. The minimum
threshold may involve volume increases, improved balance,
private equipment or equipment conversion, street time
improvement etc.
AMS:
Automated Manifest System. Means of speeding the flow of
cargo through an electronic release notification system.
Ancillary Agreement:
Multi-party agreement ancillary to a contract usually
signed by a railroad and its customers for large volumes of
business. These agreements involve the beneficial owner, the
railroad, and the appropriate channel participant(s).
Assigned Units:
Rail-controlled units assigned to a nonasset-based
shipper such as an IMC. The purpose of taking units under
assignment is so that the units will not be returned empty to
the ramp and will constantly be re-loaded and shipped in a high
volume lane on the rail. In return, the customer typically
receives a lower per diem rate.
Availability:
Arrival times for intermodal and over-the-road freight.
Cutoff- to-availability tables reflect transit times of
shipments.
Availability Time:
Time equipment is grounded and available for pick-up by
the customer.
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Back Haul:
-
Haul a
shipment over part of the reverse route the car traveled
with the initial load.
-
Shipment
hauled back over part of or the entire route of the car.
-
Shipment
moving in the direction of the light flow of traffic.
-
Picking
up a load in a piece of equipment that normally runs empty.
Bad Order:
Car awaiting or undergoing repairs.
A freight car loaded improperly, mechanically defective, or with
safety violations.
Ballast Stone: or gravel placed in a roadbed to provide a sturdy
surface for the track and to facilitate drainage.
Bare Table:
Intermodal flat cars moving empty, with no vans or
containers on them.
Beneficial Owner:
Person or legal entity who owns or has title to the
freight being transported. Beneficial owners may use freight
third parties such as IMCs to negotiate transportation services
and rates on their behalf.
Bill of Lading (BOL):
See Shipping Instructions.
Bill Road:
Billing Carrier.
Carrier performing the first line haul service of the
movement. This carrier is responsible for preparing the waybill
document and transmitting the information to any following
carriers.
Blocking or Bracing:
Wooden, metal, or other approved support to keep
shipments in place on railcars or within containers and
trailers.
Bonded Warehouse:
Warehouse owned by persons approved by the Treasury
Department, an under bond or guarantee for the strict observance
of the revenue laws; utilized for storing goods until duties are
paid or goods are otherwise properly released.
Bonds:
-
61
- IT: Immediate Transportation
-
62 - T&E:
Transportation and Exportation
-
63 - IE:
Immediate Exportation
-
69 –
Transit
-
70 –
Multi-transit
Box Car:
Enclosed car used for general service and for freight
that must be protected from the weather.
Bridge Move:
Railroad movement involving at least three roadhaul
carriers at which BNSF is neither the first or last carrier.
Broker:
Individual who acts as an agent for a customer, who is
attempting to route a car to a customer in Mexico or Canada.
Equipment destined to a locale in Mexico is billed only to the
border. At that time a broker, in cooperation with a broker in
Mexico, prepares the proper paperwork. This allows the car to
cross the border and proceed to its destination.
Bundled Price:
-
Line haul
rate that includes the cost of drayage services and
accessorial charges such as "free days" or per diem relief.
(Intermodal freight)
-
Line haul
rate that includes the combination of rail and transload
costs. (Carload freight).
Bulk Freight:
Loose freight, such as coal, sand, and grain handled in
its natural state, and not packaged, or boxed in individual
units or containers.
Bulkhead Flat:
Flat cars equipped with fixed or permanently attached
movable bulkheads or ends a minimum of 3 feet in height and flat
floor for general commodity loading.
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CAMIR
Customs: Automated Manifest Interface Requirements. Specific
procedures for the importing trade communities that are
interested in participating in the AMS.
Capacity:
-
General Capacity:
Rail demand or volume. The factors affecting capacity for a
railroad are numerous. These include for example; crews,
track, locomotives, equipment etc.
-
Car
Capacity: Cubic foot capacity of a railcar with the
exception of a flat car. The nominal car capacity refers to
numeric capacity, in thousands of pounds, as stenciled on
the car and defined by the AAR.
-
Line or
track Capacity: Maximum number of trains that can operate
safely and reliably in each direction over a given segment
of track during a given period of time (e.g., 24 hours)
-
Locomotive Capacity: Locomotives available to move demand.
Capitalized Costs:
Expenditures that have future benefit and thus are
recorded as assets.
Car:
Freight car bearing railroad reporting marks.
Car Init & Number:
Car Initial and Number (Sometimes referred to as CARINO).
Initial and number given to a railcar by the AAR in
conjunction with owner's initials as a means of car
identification.
Car Initial:
4-byte initial of the unit that carried the commodity.
Usually this 4-byte initial is stenciled on the equipment. A
unit is a car, van or container. Trailer initials usually ends
in Z as in JBHZ and container initials in U, e.g., JBHU.
Carload:
Shipment of not less than 5 tons of one commodity.
Car Hire:
Compensation to be paid by a user to an owner for use of
a car. Such compensation may include, but need not be limited
to, hourly and mileage rates.
CBP:
Customs and Border Protection.
Chassis:
Supporting frame of a vehicle, trailer, or container,
usually including the wheels or engine onto which the metal
container or trailer is fixed for transportation.
Claim:
Demand, supported by evidence, showing the claimant has
sustained a loss through the negligence of a carrier. The
principal kinds are:
-
Damage
Claim: Claim due to physical injury to shipment or because
shipment was not delivered within a reasonable time.
-
Loss
Claim: Claim due to failure to deliver goods.
-
Overcharge Claim: Claim when more than the legally published
charges are collected.
-
Reparation Claims: Claim for a refund of charges that, while
in accordance with legally published tariffs, are
unreasonable or unjust and the carrier has since published
the lower reasonable rate.
Class I Railroad:
Railroad with operating revenues of more than $259.4
million annually.
Classification:
Grouping of railcars in a yard in accordance with train
movement requirements, usually by destination station or
junction.
Classification Yard:
Yard in which cars are classified and grouped in
accordance with movement requirements.
Clearance:
Limiting dimensions of a rail shipment that allow it to
clear tunnels and bridges.
Collect:
In interline moves, the amount of transportation and
other charges are paid at the point of termination of the final
rail carrier.
Conductor:
Person responsible for the safe and proper management of
the train.
Connecting Carrier:
Carrier that has a direct physical connection with
another or forming a connecting link between two or more
carriers.
Connection:
Railroad or station at which a rail carrier interchanges
traffic.
Consignee:
Receiver.
Company receiving the shipment at destination.
Consignor:
Shipper.
Company sending the rail shipment at origin.
Consist:
-
Make-up
of a freight train in terms of the car types.
-
List of
locomotive units, cars in train.
Constructive Placement (CP):
Car that cannot be placed for loading or unloading due to
some disability on the part of a shipper or receiver. The CPed
car is subject to demurrage charges, the same as if it was
actually placed.
Container:
Receptacle that resembles a truck trailer that is lifted
onto flatcars without the chassis. Most containers are 20, 45,
48 or 53 feet in length.
Container on Flatcar (COFC):
Movement of a container on a railroad flat car. This
movement is made without the container being mounted on a
chassis.
Conventional Car:
Intermodal single platform flat car for conventional
piggyback loading as opposed to stack loading. Designed to carry
single stacked trailers or containers. They are equipped with
one or two stanchions, depending on length, for shipment of one
or two trailers and are about 89ft long with a tare weight of
about 35 tons.
COT:
Certificate of Transportation. Futures
issued by Railroads to grain customers as a guarantee to present
empty covered hoppers for loading at a specific location with
the option to lock in a price. If the railroad does not deliver
the railcar at the prescribed location and time, it pays a
penalty at a rate specified in the COT.
Crew District:
Railroad operations territory with distinct crew
characteristics such as crew rates, over mile rates, arbitraries
etc.
Crossdock:
Distribution facility used for the transfer of intermodal
traffic for rail or truck interchange. The idea is to transfer
incoming shipments directly to outgoing trailers without storing
them in between. Shipments typically spend less than 24 hours at
the facility, sometimes less than an hour.
Customer 6-3-3:
Abbreviated 12-digit customer name.
Customer Destination Instructions (CDI):
Rail location of a customer’s facility.
Customs Broker:
Company or individual licensed by the Treasury Department
to act on behalf of importers/exporters in handling U.S. customs
transactions.
Cutoff Time:
Time a container or trailer must be in-gated at the
terminal to meet a scheduled train loading for departure. If a
unit comes in after the scheduled cutoff, it is scheduled for
the train coinciding with a later cut-off time.
Cutoff-to-availability tables reflect transit times of
shipments.
Cycle Time:
Velocity.
Length of time consumed by a freight car from one loading to the
next.
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Damage Free (DF):
Car equipped with special bracing devices to decrease the
possibility of damage to lading.
Deadhead:
-
Paid crew
moving on trains, without performing service, from one
terminal to another at railroad's convenience.
-
Any
railroad employee traveling on a pass.
-
Locomotive hauled by another.
Dedicated Train:
Train that, by design, transports a dedicated commodity
or type of cars. In the case of intermodal shipments, trains
only carry trailers and/or containers.
Demurrage:
-
A penalty
charge assessed by railroads for the detention of cars by
shippers or receivers of freight beyond a specified free
time.
-
Detention
of a railcar by the shipper or receiver beyond the time
allowed for loading, unloading.
Deramp:
Lifting of intermodal containers or trailers off
intermodal flatcars by special lift machines.
Derailment:
Term used when rolling equipment leaves the rail tracks.
Destination:
Station where rail movement terminates.
Detention:
Charge made on trailers or containers held by or for a
consignor or consignee for loading or unloading, forwarding
directions, or any other purpose.
Detention Free Time:
Amount of time that a vehicle detained due to improper or
incomplete shipping instructions can remain at an intermodal
facility without incurring detention charges.
Distributed Power (DP):
Addition of a locomotive at the back of a train.
Diversion:
Change made in the route of a shipment in transit, the
destination or consignee of a freight movement triggering a
potential change in the rate and/or availability of the
shipment.
Dog Catcher:
Rescue crew sent out to pick-up trains that had a crew
run out of time on the train.
Door-to-Door:
Movement from the door or dock of the shipping customer
to the door or dock of the receiving customer.
Door-to-Ramp:
Movement from the customers’ front door or dock to the
destination intermodal ramp closest to the receiver.
Department of Transportation (DOT):
U.S. government agency having jurisdiction over matters
of all modes of transportation. The Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) is the branch of the DOT that establishes
safety standards for rail equipment.
Double Track:
Parallel sets of main line tracks typically found in
areas with high densities of traffic.
Double-Stack:
-
Movement
of containers on articulated rail cars that enable one
container to be stacked on another container for better ride
quality and car utilization.
-
Flat cars
enabling containers to be stacked one atop another.
Drayage:
Dray.
Transportation of intermodal freight over-the-road from a rail
head to a customer’s facility. There are 6 types of drayage:
-
Shuttle
Drayage: Movement of an intermodal unit either loaded or
empty from a hub to another parking lot because the railroad
runs out of room at the hub.
-
Expedited
Drayage: Special movement of an intermodal unit
over-the-road to get it there on time. This exceptional
drayage usually involves time-sensitive freight.
-
Crosstown
or Inter-Carrier Drayage: Dray movement of an intermodal
unit "across town" to the intermodal hub of a competing or
interchange rail carrier.
-
IMX or
Intra-Carrier Drayage: Movement of an intermodal unit from a
carrier's rail hub to the same carrier's intermodal hub. An
IMX dray extends the reach of an intermodal hub.
-
Door-to-door Drayage: Retail dray involving over-the-road
movement of a unit to a customer location.
-
Pier
Drayage: Over-the-road movement of an intermodal unit from a
carrier’s rail hub to a port’s dock or pier.
Drayman:
Person employed to pick up or drop off a container or
trailer at an intermodal terminal.
Dwell:
Number of hours a car spends without line haul movement.
Same as Demurrage.
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Electronic Data Interchange (EDI):
Process of sending and retrieving information
electronically.
EDI 322:
EDI Terminal Operations Activity.
This transaction set can be used to provide all the
information necessary for a terminal operator or port authority
to communicate terminal activities (e.g., ingates and outgates)
to authorized parties to a shipment.
EDI 404:
EDI Bill of Lading.
The EDI transaction set used in transmitting bill of
lading information. This transaction set can be used to transmit
rail carrier-specific bill of lading information to a railroad.
It is the initial tender of a shipment between a consignor and a
rail carrier and can be used as notification of equipment
release and/or a legal bill of lading.
EDI 410:
EDI Rail Carrier Freight Details and Invoice.
This transaction set can be used to provide detailed
information of changes associated with a rail movement. The
information is provided by a rail carrier and is sent to the
freight payer.
EDI 417:
EDI Rail Carrier Waybill Interchange.
The EDI transaction set used in transmitting rail carrier
waybill interchange information. This transaction set can be
used to provide the rail carrier with detailed movement
instruction pertinent to a rail carrier shipment and is used by
all Class 1 rail carriers in the United States and Canada.
EDI 418:
EDI Rail Advance Interchange Consist.
The EDI transaction set can be used to transmit advanced
information on equipment being interchanged to a connecting
carrier, from a consignor or to a consignee.
EDI 456:
EDI Railroad Equipment Inquiry or Advice.
The EDI transaction set providing multiple functions in
support of a wide variety of tracing and monitoring functions
including: Waybill Contents, Trip Plan Contents, and Event Data.
EDI 622:
EDI Intermodal Ramp Activity.
This transaction set can be used to transmit specific
intermodal ramp activities to consignors and other carriers or
shipper agents, when the activity takes place. This activity
includes in-gate, out-gate, train arrival, train departure and
deramp.
EDI 821:
EDI Payment Order/Remittance Advice.
This transaction can be an order to a financial
institution to make a payment to a payee. The remittance advice
can go directly from a payer to a payee through a financial
institution, or through a third party agent.
EDI 824:
EDI Application Advice.
This transaction set can be used to provide the ability
to report the results of an application system’s data content
edits of the transaction sets. The results of editing
transaction set can be reported at the functional group level or
transaction set level in coded or free format.
EDI 997:
Functional Acknowledgement.
This transaction set can be used to define the control
structure of a set of acknowledgements to indicate the results
of the syntactical analysis of the electronically encoded
documents.
Embargo:
To resist or prohibit the acceptance and handling of
freight. An embargo may be caused by acts of God such as
tornadoes, floods, inclement weather, congestion, etc.
End-of-Train device (EOT):
Device that
is installed at the rear of the train to transmit information to
the train engineer.
Engineer:
Person who drives the train.
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FIRMS:
Facility Information and Resources Management System.
Code representing the location of the goods.
Freight All Kinds (FAK):
-
General
rate levels offered to various types of customers (domestic,
international, contract/non-contract holders) for
transporting intermodal shipments.
-
Freight
in mixed shipments. Commodities representing 2 or more major
STCC groups, where it is impossible to determine the
predominant group.
Fuel Surcharge:
Incremental charge added to a freight charge, separate
from the line-haul charge, to offset increases in fuel price
against the assumed cost of fuel in the initial freight charge.
Flat Car:
Freight car that has a floor without any housing or body
above. Frequently used to carry containers and/or trailers or
oversized/odd-shaped commodities. Three types of flat cars used
in intermodal transportation are conventional, spine and stack
cars.
Flip Transfer:
of a container from one chassis to another, from the ground to a
chassis or from a chassis to the ground.
Foreign:
All other railroads or belonging to another railroad.
FRA:
Federal Railroad Administration.
The FRA is the branch of the DOT that establishes safety
standards for rail equipment. The FRA deals specifically with
transportation policy as it affects the nation's railroads and
is responsible for enforcement of rail safety laws.
Free Time:
Period allowed the owner of a rail container or trailer
to accept delivery before storage or detention charges begin to
accrue.
Freight:
-
Cargo or
goods carried by a vehicle.
-
Shipment
transported.
-
Compensation paid to a railroad for transporting a
commodity.
-
Total
charges for the rail shipment from the waybill origin to the
waybill destination. This does not include miscellaneous
charges such as a stop to partially unload.
Freight
Bill:
Statement given to the customer of charges for transportation.
This is information taken from the waybill.
Freight Forwarder:
Person or organization that assembles small shipments
into one large shipment which is then tendered to a regulated
over the road carrier. Upon reaching destination, the shipment
is separated into small shipments and delivered.
FSAC:
Freight Station Accounting Codes.
5- or 6-digit reference numbers used by railroads in
timetables to identify their stations.
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Gateway:
Station or point through which freight commonly moves
from one territory or carrier to another.
Gondola:
Freight car with sides and no roof.
Grade:
Degree of inclination of a railroad track or slope.
Grade Crossing:
Crossing of highways, railroad tracks, or pedestrian
walks or combinations of these on the same level.
Grade Separation:
Highway or railroad crossing using an underpass or
overpass.
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Hazardous Material:
Haz Mat.
Substance or combination that because of its quantity,
concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics, may
cause or significantly pose a substantial hazard to human health
or the environment when improperly packaged, stored,
transported, or otherwise managed.
Hopper Car:
Freight car with its floor sloping to one or more doors
designed for unloading the contents (such as coal or ore) by
gravity.
Horsepower (HP):
Measure of power. One HP = The force that will raise
33,000 pounds by 1 foot in 1 minute.
Hump Yard:
Railroad classification yard in which the classification
of cars is accomplished by pushing them over a summit, known as
hump, beyond which they run by gravity.
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Ingate:
-
Location
within an intermodal ramp where entering trucks are
inspected.
-
Process
of checking a container or trailer into the intermodal
facility. The ingate process includes inspection of the
unit, reservation confirmation, the input of data into a
computer system. When delivering the vehicle to the
facility, the drayman must state the applicable shipper and
destination.
Interchange:
Exchange of railcars between connecting railroads at
specified junction points.
Interchange Agreement:
Agreement between a railroad and a drayage company that
allows a specific drayage company to drop off or pick up
railroad or private intermodal equipment at the said railroad's
facilities. Also known as an Equipment Interchange Agreement.
Interline Freight:
Freight moving from point of origin to destination over
two or more transportation lines.
Interline Move:
Rail traffic moving over track belonging to two or more
railroads, with interline switching at the gateway.
Intermodal Mode: of rail transportation that covers the multi-modal
transportation of trailers and/or containers by ship, rail, and
truck.
Intermodal
Association of North America (IANA)
Industry trade association representing the combined
interests of intermodal freight transportation companies.
Intermodal Marketing Company (IMC):
Company that purchases rail and truck transportation
services, uses equipment from multiple sources, and provides
other value-added services under a single freight bill to the
ultimate shipper or beneficial owner.
Intermodal Marketing Extension (IMX):
Intermodal facility that provides over-the-road
transportation to and from a BNSF intermodal hub.
Interterminal Switching:
Switching move performed by two railroads. The first
railroad moves equipment from an industry, then interchanges
equipment with the second railroad for placement at an industry
within the same terminal switching limits.
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Joint-Line Move:
Move where one interline rate is applicable for the
entire movement from rail origin to rail destination on two or
more railroads. It is published in a single tariff under
concurrence of participating railroads. The rate includes all
interchange charges unless otherwise noted. Usually shipping
instructions governing interline rates are sent to the origin
carrier who forwards the shipping instructions to the other
carriers in the route.
Junction:
Station where railroads interchange railcars at a common
point or within the switching limits over their own lines, or
intermediate line or lines.
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Landing Tons:
Lading, Lading Weight, Tons or Tonnage.
Freight volume in tons excluding the weight of the
equipment it moves in.
Landbridge:
Rail landbridge.
Containerized marine traffic that is routed via rail
across the United States on traffic between the Far East and
Europe/Canada in lieu of all water routes.
Less Than Truckload (LTL):
-
Shipment
that would not, by itself, fill the truck to capacity by
weight or volume.
-
Trucking
carrier that only accepts multiple small shipments for a
single trailer.
Line Abandonment:
Discontinuation of service and maintenance on certain
tracks or line segments of a railroad subject to approval of
appropriate federal and state agencies.
Line Haul:
Movement of freight over tracks of a railroad from one
station to another (not a switching service). Also known as road
haul.
Local Freight Train:
Train with an assigned crew that works between
pre-designated points. Local trains handle the switching outside
the jurisdiction of a yard switcher.
Local Move:
Traffic originating and terminating on a railroad's lines
without any interchange. The one carrier serves both the origin
and destination station.
Loss and Damage:
"Normal" day-to-day losses and damages as a result of
moving freight such as vandalism, damage due to shipping or
derailments and accidents.
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Maintenance of Way (MOW):
Process of
maintaining roadbed (rail, ties, ballast, bridges, etc.). These
materials are hauled in special maintenance of way cars, which
also include cars that are equipped with heavy equipment, such
as cranes and tie replacing machines.
Manifest:
-
Document
listing the commodities within a vehicle and their
quantities.
-
Document
listing all the railcars on a train and their contents.
Manifest Train:
Scheduled merchandise freight train.
Merchandise Train:
Freight train transporting freight other than bulk
commodities.
MIB:
Master In-Bond.
Mileage Allowance:
Allowance based on mileage made by railroads to owners of
privately owned freight cars.
Multilevel Car:
Long flatcar designed with multiple levels for
transporting finished automobiles and trucks.
MVOC:
Master Vessel operating Carrier.
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NACS:
North American Container System.
The North American Container System (NACS) is an
Intermodal equipment program designed to facilitate the free
interchange of domestic 48’ and 53’ containers between member
railroads. NACS is an "unbundled" transportation product,
meaning that transportation costs do not include equipment
detention costs. In other words, the customer is responsible for
detention charges when the equipment is not moving on a
participating NACS railroad system. Members of NACS program
include BNSF, CN, CSXI, KCS, NS and CP.
NITL:
Notification:
Arrival Notice or Notification.Notice
furnished to the consignee of the arrival of freight.
Notify:
Process whereby the railroad informs the drayage provider
or shipper that a unit is available for pickup. The notification
will place the move in a destination dwell status.
Notify Party:
Party notified at the time a container or trailer is
grounded from a train. Most notify parties are draymen.
NVOCC:
Non-vessel operating common Carrier. Off-line
Event: Shipments
that occur on rail carriers other than BNSF.
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Origin:
Station where rail movement begins.
"Out of Rout":
Longer or less competitive route.
Outgate:
Process of checking a container or trailer out of an
intermodal facility. The process includes inspection of the
unit, input of data into a computer system. Draymen at the out
gate must indicate shipper, vehicle initial and number and
assigned pick up security number.
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Peak Season:
Period of increased seasonal shipments on a railroad.
Peak season for intermodal shipments is defined as September 1
to December 15. This coincides with the Thanksgiving and
Christmas shipping season.
Per Diem:
Charge made by a transportation line against another for
the use of its cars based on a fixed rate per day.
Per Diem Relief:
Nullification of a charge made by a transportation line
against another for the use of its cars.
Piece Count:
Number of individual cases, packages or bundles in an
intermodal trailer or container. This information is usually
required when the intermodal unit is crossing international
boundaries.
Piggyback:
Transportation of a highway trailer on a railroad flat
car.
Placard:
Sign affixed to a rail car or truck, indicating the
hazardous designation of the product being transported in that
vehicle.
Plus-car-kind:
3-digit generic car grouping used by the BNSF.
Prepaid:
In interline moves, the amount of transportation and
other charges are paid at the point of origin of the first rail
carrier.
Price Authority:
One of the following types of pricing documents:
-
Contract
or Ancillary
-
(Exempt)
Quote or Special Quote
-
Exempt
Memorandum or
-
Circular
Tariff
PTT:
Permit to Transfer.
Pup:
28-foot trailer, used mostly in less-than-truckload
business.
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Rail Controlled:
System or Rail Controlled Equipment.
Railcar, trailer, or container owned or controlled by a
railroad.
Rail Foamer:
Person who is a rail fanatic. Rail foamers enjoy train
watching and keep railroad memorabilia.
Rail Served:
Facility that has rail service directly to the property
Ramp:
-
Lifting
of intermodal containers or trailers unto intermodal
flatcars by special lift machines.
-
Slang
word for an intermodal terminal where trailers and
containers are lifted unto departing railcars or lifted off
arriving railcars.
Ramp-to-Door:
Movement of lading from the intermodal ramp closest to
the customer to the receivers from door (dock)
Ramp-to-Ramp:
Movement of lading from the intermodal ramp closest to
the customer to the closest intermodal ramp to the receiver
Rebill:
Situation where an independent or separate waybill is
issued for each portion of a shipment rather than a single joint
waybill, where the shipment is interchanged among competing
railroads. On rebill traffic, a carrier’s waybill will identify
either the actual origin rail station or the actual destination
rail station but not both.
Receiver:
Consignee.
Company receiving shipment at destination.
Reefer:
Refrigerated boxcar.
Reconsignment:
-
Reloading
the contents of a railcar, van, or container at a station to
enable resorting for export or import.
-
Any
change, other than a change in route, made in a consignment
before the arrival of goods at their billed destination.
-
Any
change made in a consignment after the arrival of goods at
their billed destination when the change is accomplished
under conditions that make it subject to the reconsignment
rules and charges of the carrier.
Reciprocal Switching:
Switching done by competing railroads to place equipment
to industries located on the railroad.
R-EDI:
Rail industry’s PC-based software that lets a customer
input a bill of lading, which is then translated and transmitted
as an EDI 404 transaction
Regional Railroad: Non-Class
I, line-haul freight railroad that operates at least 350 miles
of road and/or has operating revenues of at least $40 million.
REN:
Rate EDI Network.
This is the system at the AAR (Railinc) through which
railroads electronically transmit freight transportation prices
to each other. Only the carriers participating in the route are
able to access confidential rates under the REN system.
RIA:
Rail Industry Agreement.
It is a six-part pact signed by AAR Class 1 railroads and
the American Shortline Association in 1998 that governs certain
big railroads and small railroad activities. These activities
include car supply, interchange services etc.
Right-Of-Way:
Roadway.
Property owned by a railroad over which tracks have been laid.
Rule 11:
Type of interline shipment where each railroad bills the
customer separately. It is the default rate rule governing
interline traffic where a joint-line rate is unavailable. Rule
11 must be indicated on the original bill of lading along with
each price authority for the rail carriers involved in the
movement. A cross-town transfer is not included on Rule 11
shipments that originate on BNSF.
Rule 260 Junction:
5-byte on or off-junction station name, connecting
station name. This information represents the beginning of
service for intermediate and interline received rail shipments.
Run-through Train:
Train interchanged between two roads with locomotive and
cars.
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Safety Rating:
DOT grants a safety rating to a carrier based primarily
on a driver safety program audit and accident frequency.
Applicable ratings are satisfactory, conditional and
unsatisfactory.
Safe Container Act (SCA):
or Intermodal
Safe Container Act.
Federal Highway Administration act relating to overload
intermodal shipments. Under the act, carriers tendering
shipments with actual gross cargo weight of over 29,000 pounds
(or 14.5 tons) can certify the load by providing shipping
instructions and other documents with certain SCA elements. The
elements include weight certification, certifying party,
certification date etc. The purpose is to minimize overweight
vehicles on the highway and provide recourse for a motor carrier
if fined for an overload shipment.
SCAC:
Standard Carrier Alpha Code.
Code used for identifying truckers, railroads, and other
conveyors.
Scoot:
Train that operates as a shuttle with as many cars as two
engines can haul.
Shipment Notification:
Notification that a shipment has physically departed the
origin that is shown on the waybill or physically arrived at the
destination on the waybill.
Shipper:
Consignor.
Company or customer shipping via rail at origin.
Shipping Instructions:
Bill-of-Lading (BOL).
A shipping form that is both a receipt for property and a
contract for delivery of goods by a carrier. The principal bills
of lading are:
-
Straight:
A non-negotiable document. Surrender of the original is not
required upon delivery of the freight unless necessary to
identify consignee.
-
Order: A
negotiable document. Surrender of the original property
endorsed is required by transportation lines upon delivery
of the freight, in accordance with its terms.
-
Clean:
Either a Straight or Order Bill of Lading in which the
transportation company acknowledges receipt of the property
without noting any exceptions as to shortage or damage to
the property received.
-
Exchange:
Bill of lading given in exchange for another.
-
Export:
Bill of lading given to cover a shipment consigned to some
foreign country.
-
Government: Special form of bill of lading used in making
shipments for the account of the United States Government.
Short Haul:
-
Short
move that is usually under 1000 miles.
-
Process
by which an interchange carrier changes gateways to shorten
the distance of the move for the other interchange carriers
and hence reduce revenues paid to them.
Shortline:
Small railroad that originates or terminate traffic and
participates in division of revenue. It is usually less than 100
miles in length. It is usually affiliated with or sold by a
major railroad. An example of a BNSF shortline is Montana Rail
Link (MRL).
Shuttle:
-
Expedited
over-the-road service used for time-sensitive freight to
meet service goals.
-
Dedicated
train set cars and locomotives that cycle continuously
between origins and destinations. For corn and wheat the
trains are 110 cars. Also known as a unit train.
Sideloader:
Lift equipment used in intermodal ramps. Sideloaders lift
containers and trailers from the side of inbound or outbound
trains rather than overhead.
Siding:
Track adjacent to a main or secondary track for meeting
or passing trains.
SNP:
Secondary Notify Party. Allows AMS participants to
nominate up to eight other entities to receive a copy of the
status notification for an individual bill of lading.
Spine Car:
Lightweight articulated car that is assembled in
permanent consists of three or five platforms. Spine cars carry
containers or trailers in single stack configuration.
SPLC:
Station Point Location Code.
4-digit station location code
Spot:
To spot a car.
Position a car in a designated position or location
usually for loading or unloading. This is usually at a customer
location.
Spur:
A track extending out from the main track that usually
serves customers
Stack Car:
Well car.
Intermodal flat car specifically designed to place one container
on top of another for better utilization and economics. Also
referred to as a well car because the cars are depressed in the
center to allow clearance of the double stacked containers when
moving under low-lying structures. A single well stack car has a
tare weight of about 27.2 tons.
Staggers Act:
Passed by Congress in 1980, the Staggers Rail Act
deregulated the rail industry and greatly enhanced the railroad
industry's ability to compete with other modes of
transportation.
Standing Spotting Instructions (SSI):
Contains data
used by the waybill system to determine the proper standing
spotting instructions from a consignee so that cars will be sent
to correct destination. That instruction is then written to the
waybill for routing to the proper delivery road,
zone-track-spot, care of party, etc.
Station 3-3-3:
9-byte abbreviated station name.
Station Master:
Book or file containing consolidated rail station numbers
and names.
Surface Transportation Board (STB):
Independent
governmental adjudicatory body administratively housed within
the DOT, responsible for the economic regulation of interstate
surface transportation, primarily railroads, within the United
States. The STB's mission is to ensure that competitive,
efficient, and safe transportation services are provided to meet
the needs of shippers, receivers, and consumers.
STCC:
Standard Transportation Commodity Code.
7-digit reference code for every commodity shipped in
transportation.
Storage Charge:
Charge assigned to the shipper or consignee for holding
containers or trailers at an intermodal terminal beyond the free
time allotted to them.
Storage Track:
Auxiliary track used for storage.
Street Track:
Time a container or trailer is away from the possession
of the railroad.
Street Interchange:
Transfer of financial responsibility of a unit from one
trucking carrier to another on a date and time specified by the
drayage firm in control of that container or by an IMC that has
financial responsibility for that particular container.
Switching:
Movement of freight cars between two close locations.
Typically involves moving cars within a yard or from specific
industry locations to a yard for placement on a train or vice
versa.
Switch Fees:
Railroads charge switch fees to other railroads it allows
into a facility it serves. Unabsorbed charges will be added to
the freight bill.
System Equipment:
Equipment owned or leased by a railroad. Each railroad
considers its own equipment as system equipment.
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Tank Car:
Any car used only for transporting liquids, liquefied
gases, compressed gases, or solids that are liquefied or
compressed prior to loading.
Tare Weight:
Tare. Weight
of clean, empty equipment, i.e., the car contains no lading or
packing and debris resulting from the lading.
Tariff:
Pricing document that covers strictly regulated
shipments. Each tariff is public record and is on file with the
STB. These documents are usually not customer specific and are
often used as reference for other prices created by a carrier.
Tariffs allow customers to get consistency in pricing by
comparing their situation to existing prices on record.
Team Track:
Side track on which cars are placed for the use of the
public in loading or unloading of freight.
Terminal:
Railroad facility used for handling freight and the
receiving, classifying, assembling and dispatching of trains.
Terminal Dwell Time:
Average hours a car is at the specified terminal location
expressed in hours. The measurement begins with a customer
release, received interchange, or train arrival event and ends
with a customer placement (actual or constructive), delivered
interchange, or train departure event. Heavy, bad ordered,
stored, and maintenance of way cars are generally excluded from
the calculation.
Thru-Rate:
Rate applicable from point of origin to point of
destination. It may be a joint rate or a combination of two or
more rates.
Trackage Rights:
Rights that a railroad secures with a competing railroad
to move freight over the foreign road's trackage. The home road
pays per car and mileage fees to the foreign road for trackage
rights payments. The home road uses its own locomotives, crews,
fuel etc.
Track and Trace:
Process of monitoring freight order, freight car or
shipment through its transportation lifecycle. This includes
events such as train arrival, train departure, shipment
notification etc.
Track Lease:
Customer may lease track from a railroad to spot or store
their cars. The railroad usually maintains the track at the
customer’s expense.
Trailer:
Van.
Rectangular shaped box with permanent wheels attached for the
transport of goods on rail, highway, or a combination of both.
Trailing Ton:
Total lading tons and tare tons of a train.
Transit:
Time that a unit is on the railroad. Intermodal transit
starts from the ingate load at origin and goes until the
notification at destination. Transit calculates the amount of
time a railroad was in possession of a unit and how long it took
to ship that unit from point A to point B.
Transload:
Facility used for transferring shipments from truck to
rail and vice versa.
Transshipment:
Shipments transferred from one transportation line to
another, particularly from rail to a water carrier or vice
versa.
Truckload (TL):
-
Shipment
that fills a trailer or a container to its maximum capacity,
either by weight or volume.
-
Carrier
that accepts only truckload shipments.
TTX:
Railcar leasing company.
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Unit:
-
Carload
unit (for non-intermodal traffic).
-
Trailer
or container unit (for intermodal traffic).
-
Measure
of rail volume.
Unit Train:
Freight trains moving great tonnages of a single bulk
product between two points without intermediate yarding and
switching. Such trains cut costs because they eliminate
intermediate stops in yards and reduce cycle times. Also known
as a shuttle.
USDA:
United States Department of Agriculture.
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Want Date:
Date and time that a rail shipment is wanted at a
customer location
Waybill:
Document covering a shipment. A waybill shows the
forwarding and receiving station, the names of consignor and
consignee, the car initials and number, the routing, the
description and weight of the commodity, instructions for
special services, the rate, total charges, advances and waybill
reference for previous services and the amount prepaid. Created
from shipping instructions.
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Yard:
System of tracks with defined local boundaries, which
provides for the making up of trains, storing of cars and other
related functions.
Yard Block:
Group of cars classified for movement to the same yard.
Yard Move:
Train or rail cars ordered to move from one location to
another in a rail yard.
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Zero Mileage:
Car hire for privately owned freight cars that do not
earn any mileage allowance to be paid to the private car owner.
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Abbreviations
A-
B-
C-
D-
E-
F-
G-
H-
I-
J-
K-
L-
M-
N-
O-
P-
Q-
R-
S-
T-
U-
V-
W
A.A.R.
- Association of American Railroads
A/C
- Account
B2B
- Business to Business
Bbl.
- Barrel
Bdl.
- Bundle
B/L
- Bill of Lading
Bls.
- Bales
B/O
- Bad Order
Bu.
- Bushel
Bx.
- Box
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Abbreviations
C.F.C.
- Consolidated Freight Classification
C/L
- Carload
C/O
- In care of
C.O.F.C.
- Container On Flat Car
Cwt.
- Hundredweight (100 weight units, such as pounds)
Dely.
- Delivery
Dem.
- Demurrage
Div.
- Division
D/O
- Deliver Order Abbreviations Top
Dunn.
- Dunnage
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Abbreviations
EFT
- Electronic Funds Transfer
Est.
- Estimated
F.&W.
- Feed and Water
Gal.
- Gallon
G.T.
- Gross ton
Hgt.
- Height
I.C.C.
- Interstate Commerce Commission
Inc.
- Incorporated
Jct.
Junction
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Abbreviations
K.D.
- Knocked Down
K.D.F.
- Knocked Down Flat
L.&D.
- Loss and Damage
L.C.L.
- Less Than Carload
Ltd.
- Limited
Ltge.
- Lighterage
L.T.L.
- Less Than Truckload
Mdse.
- Merchandise
Memo
- Memorandum
Min.
- Minimum
Min. wt.
- Minimum weight Abbreviations Top
Misc.
- Miscellaneous
M.I.T.
- Milling In Transit
Mty.
- Empty
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Abbreviations
N.E.C.
- Not Elsewhere Classified
No.
- Number
N.O.I.
- Not Otherwise Indexed
N.O.I.B.N.
- Not Otherwise Indexed By Name
N.O.S.
- Not Otherwise Specified
Nstd.
- Nested
N. T.
- Net Ton
Ntfy.
- Notify
O/N
- Order Notify
O.S.&D.
- Over, Short and Damage
O.T.
- Other Than
Pcs.
- Pieces
P.H.P.
- Packing House Products
Pkg.
- Package
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Abbreviations
Q.D.C.
- Quality Distribution Center
R/C
- Reconsigned, Reconsignment
Refrig.
- Refrigeration
Rel.
- Released
R.E.R.
- Railway Equipment Register
R.I.T.
- Refining In Transit Abbreviations Top
R.P.O.
- Railway Post Office
R.R.
- Railroad
Rwy.
- Railway
Ry.
- Railway
S.I.T.
- Storage In Transit
S.L.&C.
- Shipper’s Load and Count
S.L.&T.
- Shipper’s Load and Tally
S/O
- Shipping Order
Stg., Stge
- Storage
Sta.
- Station
Stn.
- Station
S.U.
- Set Up
Swtg
- Switching
Sys.
- System
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Abbreviations
T.O.F.C.
- Trailer On Flat Car
U.F.C.
- Uniform Freight Classification
Vol.
- Volume
W.B.
- Waybill
Whse.
- Warehouse
Wt.
- Weight
W.W.&I.B.
- Western Weighing and Inspection Bureau
Yd.
- Yard Abbreviations Top
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Abbreviations
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