Acronyms leading to confusion
Let’s contribute to creating a common understanding of terminology for ports and terminals and get rid of the confusion by explaining or spelling out what the acronyms in our business mean. There are so may abbreviations used, and often they lead to confusion. When working on new projects and new designs, having a common understanding of concepts is a crucial success factor.
Here is a list. There is a PDF for download included. The list is not a complete dictionary but contains a starter set of acronyms.
| Acronym | Meaning |
| AAPA | American Association of Port Authorities |
| A-Check | A check or Administrative check refers to the administrative tests done in the system before actual operations are carried out. |
| ACS | Access Control System |
| AGV | Automatic Guided Vehicle |
| AIS | Automatic Identification System |
| ASC | Automatic Stacking Crane |
| ATA | Actual Time of Arrival |
| ATD | Actual Time of Departure |
| BAPLIE | EDI message containing the bayplan of a vessel |
| BAS | Berth allocation System |
| BI | Business Intelligence |
| BL or B/L | Bill of Lading: Bill of Lading refers to the freight shipped; the contents of a shipment |
| Bulk Cargo | Refers to Cargo that is not in packages or containers; shipped loose in the hold of a ship without mark and count. Grain, coal and sulphur are examples of typical bulk freight. |
| CALINF | EDIFACT Message: Call information message; Vessel call (or truck call) |
| CCS | Cargo Community System |
| CCTV | Closed Circuit TV |
| CDM | Collaborative Decision Making |
| CFA (C/F agent) | Clearing and Forwarding Agent for whom the order is made |
| CFS | Abbreviation for “Container Freight Station”. A shipping dock where cargo is loaded (“stuffed”) into or unloaded (“stripped”) from containers. |
| Chassis | A frame with wheels and container locking devices to secure the container for horizontal movement |
| CHE | Cargo or Container Handling Equipment |
| COARRI | EDIFACT Message: Container Arrival Message – Discharging and loading confirmation message |
| CODECO | EDIFACT Message: Container Departure Confirmation; contains Container Gate-In / Gate-Out Report |
| Consignee | The consignee (receiver) of the goods, i.e. the person or company to which commodities are shipped. |
| COPARN | EDIFACT Message: Container Pre-Arrival Notice |
| COPINO | EDIFACT Message: Container Pickup inland message that is used by the inland carrier to notify the Terminal |
| COPRAR | EDIFACT Message: Container discharge/loading order message |
| COREOR | EDIFACT Message: Container Release Order |
| COS | Crane Operating System |
| CRS | Container Repair Station |
| CUSCAR | EDIFACT Message: Customs cargo report (Customs cargo report message) |
| DGPS | Differential Global Positioning System |
| EDI | Electronic Data Interchange |
| EDIFACT | Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport |
| EIR | Equipment Interchange Report |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning |
| ETA | Estimated Time of Arrival |
| ETC | Estimated Time of Completion |
| ETD | Estimated Time of Departure |
| Execute before | A date before which the order is supposed to be executed |
| FCL | Abbreviation for “Full Container Load” |
| FPOD | Final Point of Destination |
| GC | Refers to General Cargo (Breakbulk Cargo) that is not in containers but is unitized or in some kind of packaging |
| GOS | Gate Operating System |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| Harmonised System of codes | An international goods classification system describes cargo in international trade under a single commodity-coding scheme. Developed under the auspices of the Customs Cooperation Council |
| HAZMAT | An industry abbreviation for “Hazardous Material.” |
| HHT | Hand-Held Terminal, a radio terminal used for tally, inventory and reefer operations |
| HMC | Abbreviation for Harbour Mobile Crane |
| HR | Human Resources |
| HSCODE | Abbreviation for “Harmonised System of Codes” |
| IALA | The International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities |
| IAPH | International Association of Ports and Harbours |
| ICD | Inland Container Depot |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission |
| IFTDGN | EDIFACT Message: International Forwarding and Transport Dangerous Goods Notification |
| IHMA | International Harbour Masters Association |
| IMDG | International Maritime Dangerous Goods |
| IMDG code | International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code. The regulations published by the IMO for transporting hazardous materials internationally. |
| IMO | International Maritime Organisation |
| IMV | Internal Movement Vehicle |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider |
| ISPS | The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code. Worldwide standard; An amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention on Maritime security, including minimum security arrangements for ships, ports and government agencies |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
| LCL | Abbreviation for “Less than Container Load” |
| Line | The shipping line. Orders are issued by shipping lines to terminals |
| Line agent | The agent represents the shipping line for which the order is made. |
| LPR | License Plate Recognition |
| Manifest | A document that details all the bills of lading issued by a carrier or its agent or master for a specific voyage. A detailed summary of the total cargo of a vessel or train. Used principally for Customs purposes. Also, a detailed list of all cargo in a specific container. |
| MDT | Mobile Data Terminal |
| MOVINS | EDI file containing the prestow or instructions of a shipping line indicating where to load categories of containers or individual containers |
| MT | Abbreviation for Metric Ton |
| MTBF | Mean Time Between Failure |
| MTTR | Mean Time To Repair |
| OCR | Optical Character Recognition |
| OOG | Out of gauge, over-dimensioned cargo or containers with length/height and/or width exceeding standard dimensions |
| Out of Gauge | Cargo outside of standard dimensions. In the case of containerized cargo, cargo that does not fit fully in a container. About non-containerized, oversized cargo. Cargo exceeds the permissible height, width, and/or length limits. Out of gauge cargo requires special permits and special chassis equipment. |
| P-Check | Physical Check. This is a check to see that the actual container or cargo was received or delivered. Other information such as damages and numbers can also be verified. |
| PCS | Port Community System |
| PDS | Position Detection System |
| Place of destination | The final destination of the cargo |
| Place of origin | The place where the cargo originates from |
| PLCM | Product Life Cycle Management |
| PMBOK | Project Management Book of Knowledge |
| PMI | Project Management Institute |
| PMIS | Port Management Information System |
| POD | Port of Discharge/Destination |
| POL | Port of Loading/Origin Port |
| QC | Quay Crane |
| Radio Data Terminal | A mobile device is used to carry out on-site operational data input. This can also be a tablet or some other suitable supported outdoor device. |
| RDT | Radio Data Terminal |
| Reefer | Refrigerated container. Containers whose contents are stored with a specific temperature range by refrigeration, transport, and storage. |
| RFID | Radio Frequency Identification |
| RFP | Request for Proposal |
| RFQ | Request for Quotation |
| RMF | Risk Management Framework |
| RMG | Rail Mounted Gantry, a Container Handling Machine on rails |
| RMI | Remote Machine Interface |
| RMMS | Remote Maintenance Management System |
| RMS | Remote Maintenance System |
| Ro-Ro | Ro-Ro cargo refers to roll-on roll-off cargo. This is typically a reference to motor vehicles that can drive by themselves without needing another transporter. Ro-Ro vessels refer to vessels carrying such cargo. |
| RS | Reach Stacker |
| RTG | Rubber Tired Gantry |
| RTLS | Real-Time Location System |
| SA | Shipping Agent |
| SaaS | Software-as-a-Service |
| SAT | Site Acceptance Testing |
| SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition |
| Service | A standard route or schedule published by Shipping lines indicates the route operation of vessels between various ports. |
| SFTP | Secure File Transfer Protocol |
| Shipper | The shipper of the goods |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement |
| SNMP | Simple Network Management Protocol |
| SOC | Shipper Owned Container |
| Stripping | Removing cargo from a container (Unloading or Devanning) |
| Stuffing | Putting cargo into a container (Loading) |
| TAD | Truck Announcement Document |
| Tally | Physical verification of goods while receiving them, delivering them or transferring them |
| TEU | Abbreviation for “Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit.” |
| TID | Truck Instruction Document – a document provided by the terminal operator to a truck driver with instructions |
| TIR | A document transferring a container from one carrier to another or to/from a terminal. Same as EIR. |
| TOS | Terminal Operating System – Specialized software system that assists in operations of cargo terminals |
| TT | Terminal Truck, also known as Prime Mover |
| UAT | User Acceptance Testing |
| UI | User Interface |
| UOM | Unit of Measure |
| VBS | Vehicle Booking System |
| Vessel/Voyage | The name of the vessel for which the order is made |
| VGM | Verified Gross Mass certificate |
| VMT | Vehicle Mounted Terminal: a radio data terminal fitted in cargo handling equipment to interact with the operator and send instructions for execution |
| VTMIS | Vessel Traffic Management Information System |
| VTS | Vessel Traffic System |
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