Glossary for Freight

actual freight cost
The estimated freight costs set to Actual Cost Final for a load or a freight order cluster by the user, or the actual amount invoiced by a carrier to the shipping office to carry out the transportation of particular goods.
additional costs
Charges for extra services, such as extra packaging, insurance, and so on. Additional costs are added to the freight costs of a shipment, load, or a freight order cluster. They are levied for shipment lines or freight order cluster lines, which can be invoiced to the customer. This depends on the agreements made with the business partner.
additional cost set
In Freight, an entity used to add extra costs to a shipment line or freight order cluster line. If a shipment line or freight order cluster line matches one or more of the properties of an additional cost set, extra charges are added to the shipment line or freight order cluster line. If the shipment line or freight order cluster line matches the properties of more than one additional cost set, all matching cost sets apply.
carrier
An organization that provides transport services. To use a carrier for load building, freight order clustering, transport cost calculation, and invoicing, you must define the carrier both as a carrier and a buy-from business partner in Common. A carrier is also referred to as a forwarding agent.
Synonym: Logistics Service Provider (LSP)
carrier binding
An option in Freight that prevents the load building engine from overwriting the carrier selected by the user for a given freight order line.
carrier PRO number
The number given by the carrier to identify the load or shipment. The carrier uses this number for tracking purposes.
carrier rate
A freight rate used by a carrier to calculate the transportation costs of a given number of goods.
carrier rate book
A freight rate book where you can maintain freight agreements with carriers.
class code
A code used to identify volume- and weight classes.
client rate
A freight rate agreed upon by a customer and a supplier.
client rate book
A freight rate book where you can maintain freight agreements with business partners.
Client rates
Client rates are freight rates agreed on with an organization's business partners. These rates are maintained in the client freight rate books in Pricing. Client rates is also one of the invoicing methods used to calculate the invoice amount for freight costs.
combination code
A code that refers to the main properties of an item as they relate to transportation, such as:
  • Foodstuffs
  • Refrigerated goods
  • Toxic materials

Combination codes are used to prevent the planning engine from creating loads or shipments from undesirable combinations of items. For example, foodstuffs must never be put in a shipment that also carries toxic materials. To achieve this, you provide foodstuffs with a combination code such as EAT, and toxic materials with a combination code such as TOX.

combined freight order
An entity that groups freight order lines which have a few attributes and attribute values in common, such as load/unload addresses, time windows, and so on. Combined freight orders are created by the load building engine as part of the load building process. The load building engine uses combined freight orders to create stops and trips, which in turn are used to build loads and shipments. A combined freight order is an intermediate piece of data, which provides no planning information, but you can use combined freight orders to analyze how a load plan was created.
consolidation
A planning method, also called planning algorithm, where shipments that go on a particular standard route, or partially travel this standard route, are put together and given as one load to the carrier. If the shipments cannot be carried in one load, the Load Building module of Freight creates the required number of loads.
direct shipping
A planning method, also called planning algorithm, where a shipment is transported directly from the start address to the end address. If the direct shipment algorithm is used, a load only has one shipment. If the available means of transport cannot carry the entire shipment, the shipment is divided over various vehicles. Order lines can be combined in a shipment if the addresses and the dates match.
Earliest load/unload date tolerance
The time limit prior to a freight order's planned load or unload date/time by which you can exceed the planned load or unload date/time. The time limit is expressed in user-definable time units.
Earliest load date/time tolerance
The time limit prior to a freight order's planned load date/time by which you can exceed the planned load date/time. The time limit is expressed in user definable time units.
Earliest unload date/time tolerance
The time limit prior to a freight order's planned unload date/time that you can exceed the planned unload date/time. The time limit is expressed in user-definable time units.
estimated freight cost
The estimated costs of transportation for a shipment, load, or freight order cluster. LN calculates the estimated freight costs during load building or freight order clustering. The estimated freight cost is are calculated with the rate retrieved from Pricing, the travelling distance derived from the ship-from and ship-to addresses, and the total quantities of the goods to be transported. The estimated costs can also be manually entered by the user.
freight class
A classification of an item in terms of:
  • Product density (pounds per square foot)
  • Stowage (size, weight, and shape)
  • Handling
  • Liability (the item's value)

Freight classification is a criteria that is used to determine an item's transportation price. In LN, a freight class can also serve as a criterion that determines the planning group of order lines. Freight classes are mainly used in the U.S.

Freight costs
The estimated transport costs of shipments and loads. The estimated freight costs are based on the carrier rates maintained in Pricing, and the most recent information available on the quantities, volumes, and/or weights of the goods to be transported. During loading, transportation, or transfer changes can be made to the quantities, weights, or volumes of the goods.
Freight costs (update allowed)
If the freight costs have been calculated and invoiced to the customer before the invoice from the carrier has been received, and the amount invoiced to the customer is different from the amount of the carrier invoice, it is possible to charge the customer with the difference. This is controlled by parameter settings: if the difference is greater than a given percentage or amount, the customer is invoiced with the difference.
freight order
A commission to transport a particular number of goods. A freight order includes an order header and one or more order lines.

A freight order header includes some general information, such as the delivery date and the name and address of the customer who is to receive the goods listed on the freight order.

A freight order line includes an item to be transported and some details about the item, such as the quantity and the dimensions.

freight order cluster
A freight order cluster is a group of freight order lines with matching properties, such as shipping offices, planning groups, overlapping time windows, transport means groups, and so on, that is subcontracted to a carrier. The carrier will plan and carry out the transportation of the goods listed on the freight order lines according to the subcontracting order.
freight order clustering
The process of generating freight order clusters from freight order lines.
freight order header
A freight order entry. A freight order header includes some general information about a freight order, such as the delivery date and the name and address of the customer who is to receive the goods listed on the freight order.

A freight order header originates from a purchase-, sales-, warehouse-, or planned distribution order, or can be created manually.

freight order line
A freight order entry. Freight order lines include information about an item to be transported entered on a freight order. A freight order line originates from a purchase-, sales-, warehouse-, or planned distribution order, or can be created manually.
freight order type
A code used to identify and group freight orders.
freight rate
A rate that is used to calculate transportation costs for items listed on loads, shipments, and the following types of orders:
  • Freight orders
  • Sales orders
  • Sales quotations

Freight rates are defined in freight rate books in Pricing. A freight rate is defined by distance, weight, and various other attributes.

Example
WeightRating methodService levelAmountDistance
100 kgDistanceExpress deliveryUSD 15050 km

 

freight rate book
An entity in which you can store freight rate information that is valid for a given period of time.

A freight rate book includes the following elements:

  • A freight rate book header, which contains the code, rating method, distance unit, and free distance.
  • One or more freight rate book lines, which contain the freight rates for a combination of attributes such as carrier and service level.

The freight rates specified in a freight rate book are subject to a minimum or maximum weight, distance, or additional rate value.

freight service level
An entity that expresses the duration of transportation, such as: delivery within twelve hours. A freight service level (optional) is used as follows:
  • As a factor that determines the transportation costs of a load.
  • As a factor that determines the freight rate of a freight order.
Synonym: service level
invoice amount
The amount invoiced to the sold-to business partner for the transportation services. The invoice amount can be derived from the agreements maintained with business partners in Pricing.
Latest load/unload date tolerance
The time limit following a freight order's planned load or unload date/time by which you can exceed the planned load or unload date/time. The time limit is expressed in user-definable time units.
Latest load date/time tolerance
The time limit following a freight order's planned load date/time by which you can exceed the planned load date/time. The time limit is expressed in user-definable time units.
Latest unload date/time tolerance
The time limit following a freight order's planned unload date/time that you can exceed the planned unload date/time. The time limit is expressed in user-definable time units.
leg
Part of a route plan. For each leg you can specify a separate transport category, transport means group, and/or carrier.

The following types of transport legs exist:

  • Advance
  • Main
  • Beyond
load
The largest consignment for which Freight plans transportation. A load contains a number of goods that are transported by a means of transport that belongs to a transport means group travelling to a given destination on a given date/time via a specific route. A load can contain more than one shipment, for example if the consolidation planning algorithm is used.
load building
The freight planning engine of Freight. The load building engine groups goods that require transportation into shipments and loads.
Load date
The date and time loading takes place at the ship-from location.
Load date/time tolerance
The acceptable deviation of a freight order's planned load date/time. The deviation is expressed in user-definable time units.
load plan
The identification of a structure of shipments and loads created for one or more freight orders. The shipments and loads show the transport planning details, such as planned loading and unloading dates and addresses, of the freight orders for which transportation planning is generated. You can use the load building engine to create a load plan. If you select a range of freight orders and start up the load building engine, the freight orders are grouped into shipments and loads. The resulting shipments and loads form a load plan. You can also create load plans manually.
Synonym: plan
Logistics Service Provider (LSP)
See: carrier
matrix definition
An entity in which you can define the attributes of a plan matrix.
means of transport
An individual identifiable means of transport used for freight planning and freight order clustering, such as:
  • Truck
  • Airplane

For load building and freight order clustering purposes, Freight checks the availability of individual means of transport, if specified for a load or a freight order line.

Not applicable
No invoicing allowed.
order
A general term that covers all types of orders, such as:
  • Purchase orders
  • Sales orders
  • Warehouse orders
  • Production orders
  • Subcontracting orders
  • Freight orders
  • Service orders
order line
An order entry. It includes information about an item on an order.
originating order
The order from which an order is created. For example, if a warehousing order is created from a sales order, the sales order is the originating order of the warehousing order.
piece unit
The basic unit used to indicate the loading capacity of a means of transport. For example, loading metre. If a truck has a capacity of 15 loading metres, and an item is 0.01 loading metres, the truck can hold 1,500 items. Other examples: pallet, crate, or box. In the latter cases, the loading unit is also the unit or type of container used to load the means of transport, which can be defined as handling units. See also handling unit.

Piece units are used in load building and loading capacity requirement checks.

plan
plan matrix
A set of attributes and values used as selection criteria for a planning group.

For example, a plan matrix can include the following values:

  • Transport means group: TNK (tankers).
  • Ship-to business partner: Tradex PLC.

These characteristics are used to allocate freight order lines to planning groups. If the values defined in the plan matrix of a given planning group match values of particular freight order lines, these freight order lines are allocated to the planning group.

Planned load date
The date and time loading is planned at the ship-from location.
Planned unload date
The date and time unloading is planned at the ship-to location.
planning algorithm
A planning method used to plan for the transportation of goods. Goods listed on freight order lines are grouped into shipments. Shipments, in turn, are grouped into loads. A planning method determines how shipments and loads are built.

In Freight, the following planning methods are available:

  • Consolidation.
  • Pooling
  • Direct Shipping
Synonym: planning method
planning group
An entity that is used to group freight order lines into shipments and loads or freight order clusters.

Each freight order line is allocated to a planning group. Freight order lines with different planning groups cannot be in the same shipment, load, or freight order cluster. For example, all goods destined for Belgium are subdivided into planning group Belgium.

From a hierarchical perspective, the planning group is one level below the shipping office. A shipping office has one or more planning groups. Freight orders are grouped into shipping offices, the underlying freight order lines are grouped into the planning groups of the shipping office.

Planning group pane
The planning group pane is located at the upper left of the Graphical Plan Board (fmlbd0215m000) window. The Planning group pane shows the planning groups of the selected shipping office.

Below the display section of the Planning group pane the planning algorithm buttons are displayed.

planning method
pooling
Pooling is a planning method, also called planning algorithm, in which multiple fixed addresses, such as distribution centers, ports, and so on, covered by a route plan, are visited. In such cases, the transport route usually consists of several legs.

At one of the legs, shipments travel the same way and are pooled together to go to their destination or to a distribution point. At the distribution point, the shipments are reallocated to different means of transport to be taken to their final destination.

Example

50 bicycles go from Amsterdam to New York, another 50 go from Amsterdam to Philadelphia, and a third lot of 20 bicycles goes from Amsterdam to Pittsburgh. The first leg is from Amsterdam to Rotterdam by truck. Rotterdam is the pooling point, where the bicycles are loaded aboard a ship. In New York, they are unloaded and loaded in trucks that take them to their respective final destinations in New York, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.

rate basis number
A code in LN representing a combination of a freight class, transport means group, transport type, and/or planning group.

In Freight, rate basis numbers are used to determine the carrier rates for the following entities:

  • Shipments
  • Loads
  • Sales order lines
  • Sales quotation lines

A rate basis number is allocated to a shipment, load, order line, or quotation line if the freight class, transport means group, transport type and/or planning group of the shipment or load match those defined for the rate basis number.

In Pricing, freight rate books are linked to rate basis numbers. A rate basis number allocated to a shipment, load, and so on, will in turn point to a freight rate book from where freight rates can be picked up.

related order
An order that is associated with the originating order of a freight order. For example, for multi-company warehouse transfers, the ship-from warehouse order is the originating order, and the ship-to warehouse order is the related order if the ship-to and the ship-from orders belong to different companies. For direct deliveries, the purchase order is the originating order and the sales order is the related order.
rough planning
A module in Freight that provides estimates of both available transport capacity and required transport capacity in a given period of time. Using Rough Planning, those responsible for freight planning can see how much transport capacity is available to them, how much they need, and, if necessary, arrange additional capacity from their carriers.
route plan
A network of loading and unloading addresses, one of which is a pooling point. A route plan is usually defined for routes that involve multi-modal transport. A route plan consists of one or more legs. Each leg, or part of the route, can be handled differently depending on the specified transport category and transport means group.
service level
service level
The level of service offered by a carrier in connection with goods transports, such as speedy delivery, delivery within twelve hours, and so on. Usually, a service level is related to the freight rates that a carrier uses to calculate prices for transportation services.
shipment
The smallest consignment for which Freight plans transportation. A shipment is an identifiable part of a load, and contains a number of goods that are transported to a given destination on a given date/time via a specific route.
shipment line
An entity that provides information about one of the items listed on a shipment, such as the weight, the quantity, or the additional costs.
shipment procedure
A procedure that is carried out when a warehouse order or a shipment is processed for transportation. In a shipment procedure, you can specify which transport documents (packing list, packing slip, or Bill of Lading) must be printed when the shipment is transported. For each shipment, a shipment procedure is defined. If a shipment obtains the Confirmed status, the documents specified in the shipment procedure are printed.
shipping office
A department that is responsible for the organization of transportation for one or more warehouses. When goods are moved from or to a warehouse, the responsible shipping office plans the transportation of these goods or subcontracts the transportation of the goods. In direct delivery scenarios, the shipping office provides planning or transport subcontracting services for external suppliers or customers.

In Freight, a shipping office plays a key role in load building and freight order clustering. Freight orders are grouped by shipping office. The groups of freight orders by shipping office are used by the load building engine to build shipments and loads, or by the freight order clustering engine to build freight order clusters.

standard route
A standard route is a fixed route that is traveled with a particular frequency, such as a truck that visits delivery and/or loading addresses according to a fixed schedule, a rail service, or a boat service. Usually, transportation via standard routes costs less than travel via non-fixed routes. For example, you can define a route like Amsterdam via Rotterdam to Antwerp that is run once a day.
stop
A loading and/or unloading activity at an address. This activity is created from the loading and unloading addresses of a combined freight order. Stops are created by the load building engine as part of the load building process. The load building engine uses stops to create shipments. A stop is an intermediate piece of data, which provides no planning information, but you can use stops to analyze how a load plan was created.
stop line
An entity listing the items to be loaded or unloaded at a stop address.
subcontracting
The Freight functionality involved in subcontracting freight order lines or planned loads to a carrier. When freight order lines are subcontracted, the carrier is to carry out the transport planning and the transportation of the goods listed on the freight order lines. When planned loads are subcontracted, the carrier is to transport the goods listed on the loads. The carrier does not have to perform transport planning for the loads, because planning has already been carried out in Freight.
subcontracting instructions
Subcontracting instructions constitute the subcontracting order for a carrier. The subcontracting instructions list the goods for which the carrier is to carry out the transportation.
time window
The time span between a minimum and a maximum date. Usually, the minimum or maximum date is a loading or unloading date.
transport means combination
A combined means of transport that consists of various vehicle types and/or means of transport which jointly transport a load. If a transport means combination includes more than one means of transport, Freight can perform load building for more than one means of transport per load. Transport means combinations are also used in freight order clustering. A transport means combination shows the combined means of transport that is to transport the goods listed on a freight order cluster.
transport means group
A classification used to group means of transport, such as:
  • Vans
  • Trucks
  • Container ships
  • Cargo aircraft

For each group, properties are defined, such as:

  • The average speed
  • The loading capacity

Each means of transport defined in Freight belongs to a transport means group. For example, transport means group: Vans, means of transport: van with licence number XX333444 .

transport type
A code that refers to special properties of a means of transport, or of a transport means group, such as:
  • Cold storage
  • Armored; high security

Transport types are used in the load building and freight order clustering engines of the Freight package. The main purpose of Transport types is to ensure that items are transported by a means of transport that has particular properties. Transport types are also used as a criterion to determine the costs of transportation.

trip
A unique identification of a group of stops.
Unload date
The date and time unloading takes place at the ship-to location.
Unload date/time tolerance
The acceptable deviation of a freight order's planned unload date/time. The deviation is expressed in user-definable time units.
vehicle type
A reference to a particular type of vehicle, such as tractor, trailer, container, and so on.

A vehicle type has various properties, such as:

  • With or without loading capacity
  • Self-propelled
volume class
A classification that expresses a range of volumes, for example, from 1 ltr to 10 ltr.

Volume classes (optional) are used to determine the planning group of freight order lines.

weight class
A classification that expresses a range of weights, for example from 10 kg to 50 kg.

Weight classes are optionally used to determine the planning group of freight order lines.

zone
A distance or a geographical area. Zones are used to define freight rates. To define a freight rate, the geographical area defined by the zone is linked to a freight amount in Pricing. Thus the freight rate is used to calculate the transportation costs of goods transports that take place in the area defined by the zone. In other words, all goods transports within the area go for the same rate, provided that the other factors that make up the rate, such as basic weight or carrier, apply.

The following types of zones are available:

  • ZIP.
  • City.
  • Distance. Note: The Zone Type is not used to define freight rates in Pricing.
zone by city
A zone of the City type. Zones of this type are defined by an origin city in an origin country and a destination city in a destination country. For each zone, you can define several origin country/city and destination country/city combinations.
Example

Zone ZC1 Origin country: The Netherlands. Origin city: Amsterdam. Destination country: The Netherlands. Destination city: Rotterdam.

Zone ZC2 Origin country: United Kingdom. Origin city: London. Destination country: Belgium. Destination city: Antwerp.

Zone ZC3 Origin country: The Netherlands. Origin city: Amsterdam. Destination country: The Netherlands. Destination city: The Hague. Origin country: The Netherlands. Origin city: Amsterdam. Destination country: The Netherlands. Destination city: Utrecht.

zone by distance
A zone of the Distance type. A Zone of this type consists of a distance.
Example

ZD1 100 Kilometres

ZD2 500 Kilometres

ZD3 1000 Kilometres

zone by zip
A zone of the ZIP type. A zone of this type consists of a geographical area that is defined by one or more origin areas and one or more destination areas. The origin area consists of an origin country and an origin area. The destination area consists of a destination country and a destination area. Both the origin and the destination areas (which bear no relation to the areas defined in Common) are defined by ranges of ZIP codes. The places in between the origin and destination areas are included in the zone.
Example

Zone ZC1: Origin country: The Netherlands. Origin area: zip codes 1000 AA to 1050 ZZ (Amsterdam and surrounding area). Destination country: The Netherlands. Destination area: 3100 AA to 3145 ZZ (Rotterdam and surrounding area).