Port and logistics glossary

Plain definitions of the terms port terminals, forwarders and cargo owners meet every day, each with its official or primary source. Every term has its own anchor, for example /glossary#efti. Definitions are general explanations, not legal advice; contracts and national rules decide each case. Checked 2026-10-06.

Cargo, quantity and documents

Outturn report

An outturn report records the cargo actually discharged from a vessel, prepared by the terminal operator after the vessel has completed working. For bulk and break-bulk cargo it lists per bill of lading the goods, number of packages and mass (South Africa's port rules, rule 119, are one published example). Compared with the bill of lading it shows shortages and surpluses. Outturn, the product, takes its name from this idea: what really came out, checked against what every system says.

Bill of lading (B/L)

A bill of lading is the document issued by or for the carrier that receipts the goods shipped and evidences the contract of carriage by sea. Its quantity is the reference against which outturn, shore-scale and survey figures are compared.

Draft survey

A draft survey determines the weight of bulk cargo loaded or discharged by reading the vessel's draft marks before and after, corrected for water density, ballast, fuel and other deductibles. Survey, shore-scale and bill-of-lading figures often differ; comparing the three is the basis of bulk quantity claims.

Weighbridge ticket

A weighbridge ticket records a vehicle's gross weight, its tare weight and the resulting net weight, with times, the vehicle plate and the instrument used. It is the terminal's own evidence of quantity received or delivered by road or rail.

Tare, gross and net weight

Gross is the weight of the loaded vehicle, tare the weight of the empty vehicle, and net (gross minus tare) the weight of the cargo. A preset tare is a stored empty weight reused instead of weighing; if it is too high, the net is understated.

CMR consignment note

The CMR consignment note is the transport document for international carriage of goods by road under the 1956 CMR Convention. Under Article 30, reservations for loss or damage that is not apparent have to be sent within seven days of delivery, Sundays and public holidays excepted.

e-CMR

e-CMR is the electronic CMR consignment note under the 2008 Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention; a compliant one is equivalent to the paper note and has the same evidentiary value. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Germany are among the parties to the protocol (UN Treaty Collection).

Rail commercial act

A commercial act is the record a rail carrier draws up when a check during carriage or delivery shows that the cargo's description, mass or number of pieces does not match the waybill, or that cargo is damaged or lost. Under SMGS it is the evidence on which a claim against the carrier is based.

Time and money

Laytime

Laytime is the period agreed in a charter party during which the owner makes and keeps the vessel available for loading or discharging without payment additional to the freight (BIMCO Laytime Definitions 2013).

Demurrage

In chartering, demurrage is an agreed amount payable to the owner for delay to the vessel once laytime has expired, for which the owner is not responsible (BIMCO Laytime Definitions 2013). In container and terminal tariffs, "demurrage" also names charges for equipment or cargo staying inside the terminal beyond free time; each tariff defines its own meaning.

Despatch

Despatch is an agreed amount payable by the owner if the vessel completes loading or discharging before laytime has expired (BIMCO Laytime Definitions 2013).

Detention

In container shipping, detention is the charge for keeping the carrier's equipment outside the terminal beyond the agreed free time. The exact meaning varies by line tariff and contract.

Free time

Free time is the period during which equipment, cargo or wagons may stay without a charge before storage, demurrage, detention or wagon-use charges begin. Disputes usually concern which event starts and stops the clock.

Wagon-use charge

A wagon-use charge is what a rail carrier bills for keeping its wagons beyond free time at a siding or terminal, typically per wagon-hour. Example: the LTG Cargo 2026 price list charges €2.16 per wagon-hour after 24 free hours for carrier-owned wagons.

Notice of readiness and statement of facts

A notice of readiness tells the charterer, shipper, receiver or other person named in the charter party that the vessel has arrived and is ready to load or discharge. The statement of facts records the times of the events during the port call; together they are the evidence for any laytime and demurrage calculation.

Time-based charges at a glance

Which clock runs depends on where the equipment or cargo is and whose it is; the contract or tariff decides the details.

EU regulation and customs

eFTI

eFTI (electronic freight transport information) is the EU framework under which, from 9 July 2027, authorities must accept regulatory freight information made available electronically through certified eFTI platforms. It is set by Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 and covers road, rail, inland waterway and air. Operators may use it; they are not obliged to. See the eFTI 2027 checklist.

eFTI platform and eFTI common data set

An eFTI platform is an IT system certified by an accredited conformity assessment body to process regulatory freight information; the eFTI common data set is the full list of data elements, set by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2024.

ICS2

ICS2 (Import Control System 2) is the EU's advance cargo information system for safety and security, in which operators declare goods before they arrive in or transit through the EU. Since 1 June 2026 every consignment entering the EU by any means of transport should have a valid ENS (European Commission).

Entry summary declaration (ENS)

An entry summary declaration (ENS) is the safety and security data filed in ICS2 for goods brought into the customs territory of the EU, before their arrival. For sea transport, for example, it is due at the latest 24 hours before loading for containerised cargo and four hours before arrival at the first EU port for bulk cargo (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, Article 105).

EMSWe

EMSWe (European Maritime Single Window environment), Regulation (EU) 2019/1239, is the framework for electronic reporting by ships arriving at, staying in and departing from an EU port, and applies from 15 August 2025. It covers ship reporting, not terminal cargo operations.

NCTS

NCTS (New Computerised Transit System) is the trans-European customs system for managing goods moving under Union and Common Transit procedures. Each accepted transit declaration receives a Master Reference Number.

MRN

An MRN (Master Reference Number) is the unique identifier a customs system gives an accepted declaration, for example a transit declaration in NCTS, so the movement can be tracked to its end.

Temporary storage

Temporary storage is the situation of non-Union goods stored under customs supervision between their presentation to customs and their placing under a customs procedure or re-export, which must happen within 90 days (Union Customs Code, Articles 5(17) and 149).

Seveso threshold

A Seveso threshold is the qualifying quantity of a dangerous substance, listed in Annex I of Directive 2012/18/EU, at or above which an establishment falls under the Seveso III obligations for major-accident prevention. Lower-tier and upper-tier establishments have separate qualifying quantities.

TOS (terminal operating system)

A terminal operating system is the software that plans and records a terminal's operations: vessel, yard, gate and equipment. Outturn works on top of a TOS and replaces none of it.

Related

• eFTI 2027 checklist
• Demurrage and detention leakage
• Reconciling weighbridge, gate and invoice data
• Demurrage & Detention control
• Claims Recovery