AA

Always Afloat (In some ports the ship aground when approaching, or at berth.)Agency Tariff A tariff published by an agent on behalf of several carriers.Agent (Agt.) A person authorized to transact business for and in the name of another person or company. Types of agent are:
(1) brokers, (2) commission merchants, (3) resident buyers,
(4) sales agents, 5) manufacturer's representatives.Air Waybill The forwarding agreement or carrying agreement between shipper and air carrier and is issued only in nonnegotiable form.Arrival Notice A notification by carrier of ship's arrival to the consignee, the "Notify Party," and - when applicable - the "Also Notify Party." These parties in interest are listed in blocks 3, 4 and 10, respectively, of the Bill of Lading.

AWWL Always within Institute Warranties Limits (Insurance purpose).B/L Abbreviation for "Bill of Lading." BAF Abbreviation for "Bunker Adjustment Factor." Used to compensate steamship lines for fluctuating fuel costs. Sometimes called "Fuel Adjustment Factor" or FAF. Bank Guarantee Guarantee issued by a bank to a carrier to be used in lieu of lost or misplaced original negotiable bill of lading.Bill of Lading (B/L) A document that establishes the terms of a contract between a shipper and a transportation company. It serves as a document of title, a contract of carriage and a receipt for goods.

- Amended B/L: B/L requiring updates that do not change financial status; this is slightly different from corrected B/L.

- B/L Terms & Conditions: the fine print on B/L; defines what the carrier can and cannot do, including the carrier's liabilities and contractual agreements.

- B/L's Status: represents whether the bill of lading has been input, rated, reconciled, printed, or released to the customer.

- B/L's Type: refers to the type of B/L being issued. Some examples are: a Memo (ME), Original (OBL), Nonnegotiable, Corrected (CBL) or Amended (AM) B/L.

- Canceled B/L: B/L status; used to cancel a processed B/L; usually per shipper's request; different from voided B/L.

- Clean B/L: A B/L which bears no superimposed clause or notation which declares a defective condition of the goods and/or the packaging.

- Combined B/L: B/L that covers cargo moving over various transports.

- Consolidated B/L: B/L combined or consolidated from two or more B/L's.

- Corrected B/L: B/L requiring any update which results in money  or other financially related changes.

- Domestic B/L: Non-negotiable B/L primarily containing routing details; usually used by truckers and freight forwarders.

- Duplicate B/L: Another original Bill of Lading set if first set is lost. also known as reissued B/L.

- Express B/L: Non-negotiable B/L where there are no hard copies of originals printed.

- Freight B/L: A contract of carriage between a shipper and forwarder (who is usually a NVOCC); a non-negotiable document.

- Government B/L (GBL): A bill of lading issued by the U.S. government.

- Hitchment B/L: B/L covering parts of a shipment which are loaded at more than one location. Hitchment B/L usually consists of two parts, hitchment and hitchment memo. The hitchment portion usually covers the majority of a divided shipment and carries the entire revenue.

- House B/L: B/L issued by a freight forwarder or consolidator covering a single shipment containing the names, addresses and specific description of the goods shipped.

- Intermodal B/L: B/L covering cargo moving via multimodal means. Also known as Combined Transport B/L, or Multimodal B/L.

- Long Form B/L: B/L form with all Terms & Conditions written on it.  Most B/L's are short form which incorporate the long form clauses by reference.

- Memo B/L: Unfreighted B/L with no charges listed.

- Military B/L: B/L issued by the U.S. military; also known as GBL, or Form DD1252.

- B/L Numbers: U.S. Customs' standardized B/L numbering format to facilitate electronic communications and to make each B/L number unique.

- Negotiable B/L: The B/L is a title document to the goods, issued "to the order of" a party, usually the shipper, whose endorsement is required to effect is negotiation.  Thus, a shipper's order (negotiable) B/L can be bought, sold, or traded while goods are in transit and is commonly used for letter-of-credit transactions.   The buyer must submit the original B/L to the carrier in order to take possession of the goods.- Non-Negotiable B/L: See Straight B/L. Sometimes means a file copy of a B/L.

- "Onboard" B/L: B/L validated at the time of loading to transport. Onboard Air, Boxcar, Container, Rail, Truck and Vessel are the most common types.

- Optional Discharge B/L: B/L covering cargo with more than one discharge point option possibility.

- "Order" B/L: See Negotiable B/L.

- Original B/L: The part of the B/L set that has value, especially when negotiable; rest of set are only informational file copies. Abbreviated as OBL.

- Received for Shipment B/L: Validated at time cargo is received by ocean carrier to commence movement but before being validated as "Onboard".

- Reconciled B/L: B/L set which has completed a prescribed number of edits between the shippers instructions and the actual shipment received. This produces a very accurate B/L.

- Short Term B/L: Opposite of Long Form B/L, a B/L without the Terms & Conditions written on it. Also known as a Short Form B/L. The terms are incorporated by reference to the long form B/L.

- Split B/L: One of two or more B/L's which have been split from a single B/L.

- Stale B/L: A late B/L; in banking, a B/L which has passed the time deadline of the L/C and is void.

- Straight (Consignment) B/L: Indicates the shipper will deliver the goods to the consignee.  It does not convey title (non-negotiable).  Most often used when the goods have been pre-paid.

- "To Order" B/L: See Negotiable B/L.

- Unique B/L Identifier: U.S. Customs' standardization: four-alpha code unique to each carrier placed in front of nine digit B/L number; APL's unique B/L Identifier is "APLU". Sea-land uses "SEAU". These prefixes are also used as the container identification.

- Voided B/L: Related to Consolidated B/L; those B/L's absorbed in the combining process. Different from Canceled B/L.