The following is a list of additional shipping terms and their definitions that will help you navigate through the terminology of the shipping industry. When shipping household goods there is a weight volume ratio to be considered.
The land portions of the journey (origin and destination) are generally calculated by weight.
The ocean portion of the journey is calculated by volume (cubic feet or cubic meter).
International shipping companies will quote prices in cubic feet. Estimating volume is a much easier form of measurement.
The most common weight volume ratio used for the shipment of household goods is 7 Pounds per Cubic Foot. This is not per item, but for the entire volume of the shipment.
For example the weight volume ratio for 200 CFT is up to 1400 LBS. 
If you are shipping normal household goods, you will not exceed the weight volume ratio.
If you are shipping nothing but books and papers, lead weights or similar heavy items, the weight volume ratio will be exceeded and these are not considered normal household goods.

 Demurrage – this is a penalty imposed by the ship line for delaying their equipment beyond the allowed free time.

Full Packing (FP): This means that every item in your home will be packed professionally for your international move. You may see CP (carrier packed) PBC (packed by carrier) to describe this service. Packing of any kind is an optional extra. You can pack some of your items and leave others to the professionals. This would be known as partial or what I like to refer to as “ala carte” packing.

You can pack all of your items. You may see PBO (packed by owner) to describe this method of packing. The choice is yours. Again don’t confuse packing with loading which was discussed in Part 1.

 GRI – General Rate Increase – is a term used to describe an across-the-board tariff rate increase implemented by conference members and applied to base rates for shipment.

 In Transit – Simply put this means the shipment is moving from home to warehouse, from warehouse to port, over the sea, from ship to warehouse and finally from warehouse to your home. All forms of movement are considered “in transit”.

 Insurance – Insurance is recommended but it is optional.
You can purchase two types of insurance coverage; Limited Coverage and All Risk.
Limited Coverage will cover your shipment for total loss only; it will not cover damages of any kind.
All Risk Coverage will cover your shipment for loss and damages.
Insurance companies will not issue a policy for All Risk insurance unless the shipment is professionally packed. If you are packing your own shipment, you will only be able to purchase a policy for Limited Cover (total loss only). The cost of the insurance is based on a percentage of your declared value.

 Live Load – Is a term used to describe a container that is loaded while the trucking company that carries the container to and from the port waits. The first 2 hours are generally free, and there will be an additional per hour fee charged after 2 hours. The driver that brings the container will not assist with the loading of the container.

Quarantine – This means the shipment is not allowed to leave a protected point because it is suspected of being a health or other hazard to the destination country. During the quarantine period (determined by the port authorities), the “Q” flag is raised.

RO/RO is the abbreviation for Roll On / Roll Off which is a method of shipping wheeled vehicles using ramps rather than cranes to lift the vehicle on or off of the ship. The vehicles are not in containers, but generally loaded in an area of the ship where the vehicle is secured at four points for the shipment.

THC – Terminal Handling Charge – is a charge made for service performed in a terminal area.

 When comparing quotes and talking to international movers, knowledge and a little common sense goes a long way to a stress free move. Enjoy your new adventure.

Let’s learn some more shipping terms and definitions to help you better understand the unique set of terms and acronyms that are used in the shipping industry.

Bill of Lading (B/L):  A document that establishes the terms between a shipper and a transportation company. It is a document of title, a contract of carriage or in layman’s terms a receipt for goods being transported or shipped.

Carrier: Is a term referring to a Ship Line, Freight Forwarder or NVOCC

Customs: Government agency charged with enforcing the rules and regulations passed to protect the country’s import and export revenues.

Customs Duties and Taxes: The documents, duties or taxes that you may be required to produce and or pay vary depending on your status for entering the country. The regulations are subject to change without notice. Each situation is individual and unique. You could be entering as a returning citizen, a retiree, a student, with a work visa or a tourist visa just to name a few. It is essential that you contact the consulate or embassy for your destination country or visit your destination country’s government Customs website for the latest updates in regulations or requirements. If you cannot find the information you need on the website, there is always a way to contact Customs via email and you can then ask questions unique to you and your shipment. It is your responsibility to have the proper documentation available for the Customs Clearance Agent.

Customs Clearance Agent: The person who facilitates the paperwork for normal customs clearance of your shipment.

Density: The weight of the cargo per cubic foot or other unit of measure.

Destination: This is an easy one – the location where a shipment ends its movement.

Door to Door Service (D/D): Your household goods are picked up at your door (origin in the US – can be your home or a storage facility) and delivered to your door in your destination country (can be your home or a storage facility). Customs clearance will be handled (paperwork facilitated by Customs Clearance Agent) for you.

Door to Port Service (D/P): Your household goods are picked up at your door (origin in the US – can be from your home or a storage facility) and discharged at the port of destination. You will need to clear your shipment through Customs and arrange to have your items picked up and delivered to your home or storage facility.

Drayage: This is a term used by trucking companies that truck a container to and from the port and or container yard of the ship line.

ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) when your shipment is estimated to arrive in your destination country.

ETD (Estimated Time of Departure) when your shipment is estimated to leaves the US.

Export: The shipment of goods leaving the US to a foreign country.

FMC: You may have heard the term FMC, but what is it and why is it important in an international shipment? FMC (Federal Maritime Commission) is the U.S. Governmental regulatory body responsible for administering maritime affairs including the tariff system, Freight Forwarding Licensing, enforcing the conditions of the Shipping Act and approving conference or other carrier agreements. Now that you know this, you may still be asking yourself, what does this mean? To put it simply, a company that is shipping items overseas must be licensed by the FMC or they legally cannot ship items overseas.  This OTI (Ocean Transportation Intermediary) license can be of a FF (Freight Forwarder) or an NVOCC (Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier). 

Freight Forwarder (FF) is a person whose business is to act as an agent on behalf of an NVOCC.

Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC or NVO) is a cargo consolidator in ocean trades who will buy space from a carrier and sub / sell it to smaller shippers.
IntlMOVE www.IntlMOVE.com is an NVOCC.

Look for more shipping terms and explanation in Part III.

Have you noticed when you talk to an international moving company that there is a unique set of terms and acronyms that are used in this industry? Sometimes it is confusing and difficult to compare quotes you received because you are not even sure what the international moving companies are talking about. Here are some terms, definitions and explanations to help you understand the terminology used when shipping your household goods.

Packing seems to be a simple term, but it may be necessary to clarify even a simple term like this. Packing refers to putting items into a box or wrapping, covering or protecting furniture in some way. This term should not be confused with the word loading. Loading refers to taking packed items and loading them into the truck or container. Loading is included in the cost, but packing is always an optional, additional cost if the quote you received is for packed by owner (PBO).

Cubic Foot(CFT or CF) is a unit of measure for volume (1 foot L x 1 foot H x 1 foot W)
Cubic Meter(CBM or CM) is a unit of measure for volume (1 meter L x 1 meter H x 1 meter W)
Volume is measured by the Length x Height x Width in feet or in meter of an item or group of items.

HHG is the acronym for household goods.

You can ship your belongings as a FCL (full container load) shipment or as a LCL (less than container load) shipment. FCL shipment means you are taking either a 20 FT, 40 FT Standard or 40 FT HC (high cube) container for your shipment and your shipment only. This is also known as a dedicated container.

The 20 FT and 40 FT Standard are the most commonly used containers. They are the most economical and readily available. A 20 FT container will comfortably hold 900 CFT of household goods or one standard vehicle and approximately 200-300 CFT of household goods. The interior dimensions are 7’8” Wide x 7’10” High x 19’4” Long and if it was “filled with sand or water” would hold 1161 CFT. The 40 FT STD (standard) container will comfortably hold 1800 CFT of household goods or one standard size vehicle and approximately 900 CFT of household goods. The interior dimensions are 7’8” Wide x 7’10” High x 39’6” Long and it was “filled with sand or water” would hold 2372 CFT.

The term “self load” means that you load the packed items into the container yourself. Many of the ship lines no longer release containers to private residences. Many of the trucking companies that carry the containers from ship line’s container yard to the pick up location no longer will go to private residences due to insurance restrictions. For these reasons, the trend is to pick up your belongings in a truck, bring them to the warehouse and load the container at the warehouse.

 The containers belong to the ship line. The containers are not for storage. You can store the contents of the container but you cannot store the contents in the container. The container sits on a chassis with wheels that is about 4 feet above the ground. The container does not come with a ramp or lift gate (like a moving truck) so if you were thinking about the self load option, this alone would be a reason not to consider it. At the warehouse, a loading dock, ramp or forklift is used to load the items into the container.

 LCL shipment means your shipment will be loaded into a shared or consolidated container with other shipments. Your LCL shipment will either be palletized or put in a lift van to keep it separate from the other shipments in the container. When your shipment is palletized, the items are placed on a treated, wooden pallet (a platform without sides).  The wood is treated to satisfy requirements in all countries. The items are then shrink wrapped (polyethylene or similar material shrunk into an envelope around the items) to the pallet to secure them for shipping. A lift van is a treated, wooden crate that is used when items will not travel well on a pallet. A standard size lift van will hold approximately 200 CFT of household goods. The lift van and the pallet are easily moved from place to place by means of a forklift. Look for more shipping terms in another article.