Below is a list of common shipping terms, abbreviations, and acronyms you may encounter while working with X Delivery.
- WMS: Warehouse Management System
- OMS: Order Management System
- IMS: Inventory Management System
- TMS: Transportation Management System
- EDI: Electronic Data Interchange (commonly comes up in conversations selling through different marketplaces); also used in billing feeds
- 3PL: Third-party Logistics (fulfillment)
- FAK: freight of all kinds
- TinT: Time in transit
- FIFO: First in first out
- LTL: Less than truckload (freight)
- FTL: Full truckload (freight)
- FCL: Full container load
- LCL: Less than container load
- Parcel: Generally, packages under <150 lbs
- SKU: Stock Keeping Unit
- BOL: Bill of lading, issued to confirm receipt of cargo for shipment
- DOT: Department of Transportation – we usually reference this for dangerous good certified training courses. They regulate all road surface movements
- FAA: The Federal Aviation Authority regulates all air movements in the US, including dangerous goods. The IATA (international Air Transport Association) regulates the transport of dangerous goods internationally.
- Manifest: an advance notice/checklist of the packages that a driver or carrier agent will pick up from a shipper’s premises.
- Dimensional Weight: A pricing technique for carriers to better reflect the cost of carrying bigger packages, regardless of their weight. Example: A giant box of feathers may weigh 1 lb, but take up 1/3 of a truck. Dimensional weight is used to more accurately assess the cost to the carrier of taking on the shipment. Dim weight is determined by a dim divisor. This is calculated as LxWxH, then divided by a divisor (usually 166).
- Drop Shipping: A retail fulfillment method where a store does not keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a sale comes through, the store purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly from the third party to the customer (so that the store in question never holds inventory).