Glossary
These terms are used by Pier Trucker. “Time” refers to duration, not a clock reading.
(Truck) Turn Time (T) — The sum of Queue time and In-Terminal time.
- Turn Time Max — Time needed to budget for a port visit to make an on-time delivery. If a trucker were to schedule his trips around the median truck turn time, half of his deliveries would be late.
- Turn Time Avg (2 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, ...) — Average Turn Time used in case when no delivery appointment required.
(Container) Dwell Time (D) — Number of days a container stayed at a terminal between the time it was unloaded from the vessel and exited the terminal. If container dwell times begin to increase, terminal congestion often follows. The congestion usually begins in the terminal yard and spreads quickly to the gate.
Queue Time — Elapsed time between arrival in the queue and passage through the entry gate following all in-bound checkpoints. Ideally this measures the time spent waiting inadvertently, and actively advancing at the pace of the queue. GPS cannot discern driver intent such as arriving early for an appointment (which serves no productive purpose), or arriving early to secure a good spot in the queue (subtly different, this does serve a productive business purpose from the trucker's standpoint).
(In-)Terminal Time — The elapsed time between crossing the entry gate (following all inbound checkpoints) and crossing the exit gate (after clearing all outbound checkpoints). May include transaction time (drop-off, wheeled or grounded pickup, flip-line, chassis service), trouble desk, roadability and other inspections, meal breaks. Unlike Pier Trucker, terminals tend to subtract meal breaks when reporting turn time. This serves a terminal's internal purpose of documenting per-minute labor productivity, but it does not relate to the truckers' experience.
Transaction — Truck-terminal operation such as empty dropoff or import pickup, flip, visit to the trouble desk, or other service. One or more transactions occur on a visit.
Visit Time — Same as truck turn time
Chassis — Wheeled base frame on which a container is hauled by a truck.
Flip — To swap a chassis when loaded with a container. The box is lifted off one chassis and put on another, usually because the original chassis was found to be defective in a roadability inspection.
Roadability — Inspection to certify that a chassis is mechanically sound and suitable for use on public roads. Roadability checks performed by longshore labor.
Reefer — Refrigerated container.
Genset — Power generator for refrigerated container.
Trouble window/desk — Where truck drivers have to go when documentation is missing or incorrect, container is not cleared for pickup, etc.
Peel-off — Also referred to as free flow or flow stacks, is a container terminal productivity strategy in which all the import boxes for a single shipper are removed from a ship and placed in a single pile in the container yard of the terminal, so that truckers assigned to pick up the cargo go straight to the stack. Each driver takes the first box available as it is peeled from the pile, rather than waiting to pick up a specific container buried in a container stack.
Demurrage — Refers to the practice of not retrieving a container from a marine terminal within an allotted time.
Detention — Refers to not returning a container to the marine terminal or ocean carrier within an assigned window.
Per Diem — A per diem charge is the fee the ocean carrier charges for each day past the number of “free” days that the container is away from port. Per diem is also known as detention.
Street Turn - also known as a “matchback,” is a transaction when an empty import box is sent to an exporter in need of equipment.
BCO — Beneficial Cargo Owner.
LMC — Licensed Motor Carrier.
MTO — Marine Terminal Operator.
Policy Maker — City and port executive, legislator, air quality control district.
NVOCC — Non-vessel operating common carrier.
IEP — Intermodal Equipment Provider e.g. Flexi-Van Leasing, TRAC Intermodal and Direct ChassisLink Inc (DCLI).
EIR — Equipment Interchange Receipt, same as gate ticket.
Permit to Transfer (PTT) - permission given by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to pick up a container from a terminal and transfer it to an exam site.
Ship to Shore (STS) Crane
Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) Crane
Straddle Carrier
Reach Stacker