Resources
Logistics Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the shipping and freight terms you will meet when shipping to Kenya or booking US trucking.
- Air Waybill (AWB)
- The transport document for air cargo, issued by the airline or forwarder.
- Bill of Lading (B/L)
- The ocean transport document that acts as a receipt, contract of carriage and document of title.
- Chargeable weight
- For air freight, the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight.
- Consolidation
- Combining several smaller shipments into one larger shipment to save cost.
- Customs clearance
- The process of declaring goods to customs and paying duties so they can be released.
- Demurrage
- A charge for keeping a container at the port beyond the free period.
- Detention
- A charge for keeping a shipping line's container outside the port beyond the agreed time.
- Door-to-door
- A service covering pickup at origin through to delivery at the final address.
- Drayage
- Short-distance trucking of containers, usually between a port or rail ramp and a warehouse.
- Dry van
- An enclosed trailer for general freight that does not need temperature control.
- FCL
- Full Container Load — one shipper uses the whole container.
- Flatbed
- An open trailer for oversized, heavy or irregular freight.
- Freight forwarder
- A company that organises shipments on behalf of shippers, booking carriers and handling documents.
- FTL
- Full Truckload — one shipper uses the whole trailer.
- ICD
- Inland Container Depot — an inland facility where containers are cleared, e.g. ICD Nairobi.
- Incoterms
- International rules (such as FOB, CIF, DAP) defining who pays for and is responsible for each part of a shipment.
- Intermodal
- Moving freight using more than one mode, such as truck and rail, in the same container or trailer.
- KEBS PVoC
- Kenya Bureau of Standards Pre-Export Verification of Conformity — inspection of certain goods before shipping to Kenya.
- KRA PIN
- Kenya Revenue Authority Personal Identification Number, needed by importers.
- LCL
- Less than Container Load — goods share a container with other shippers.
- LTL
- Less Than Truckload — freight shares trailer space with other shipments.
- Northern Corridor
- The transport route from Mombasa through Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and eastern DRC.
- SGR
- Standard Gauge Railway — Kenya's railway from Mombasa to Nairobi and Naivasha.
- TEU
- Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit — the standard measure of container capacity.
- Volumetric weight
- A weight calculated from a package's dimensions, used when it is larger than actual weight.