Cross-border logistics glossary
The terms that show up in an international e-commerce shipment, explained in context and in terms of what they mean when shipping with MailAmericas.
Search by name, acronym or synonym (for example “DDP”, “pick and pack” or “customs”).
International transport
9 termsThe leg between the origin hub and the destination country: air freight, documentation and how the billable weight is calculated.
Air freight
Air freight is the transport of cargo by plane, the usual mode for international e-commerce parcels because of its speed compared with sea freight.
Freight forwarding
Freight forwarding is the service of organising the international transport of a load: booking the freight, preparing the documentation and coordinating the route between origin and destination.
AWB (air waybill)
The AWB (air waybill) is the transport document an airline issues for a load: it identifies the load, its route, its weight and the parties involved, and serves as the contract of carriage.
Volumetric weight
Volumetric weight is the theoretical weight of a parcel calculated from its size (length by width by height, divided by a factor), used to charge for the space it takes in transport.
Chargeable weight
Chargeable weight is the weight used to calculate a shipment's rate: the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight, rounded up to the rate's weight band.
Transit time
Transit time is the time a shipment takes between an agreed reference point (usually manifest closure at origin) and delivery to the buyer, measured in business or calendar days depending on the agreement.
Multi-carrier
A multi-carrier model is a logistics operation that combines several carriers (airlines, delivery networks) and picks the best one for each route, instead of depending on a single one.
Airline
In cross-border logistics, the airline is the company that carries the consolidated load between airports under an AWB, and whose schedule and capacity define the departure frequency on each route.
Consolidated shipment
A consolidated load is an international shipment made up of many parcels from different sellers that travel together under one AWB and one manifest, and are separated only in the destination country.