Glossary
Freight Forwarding & Logistics Glossary
Key freight forwarding and logistics terms explained — from airway bills to TMS platforms. Each entry covers what the term means, why it matters for freight forwarders, and how AI automation applies.
4PL Control Tower
A centralized command center that provides end-to-end visibility and orchestration across all logistics providers, carriers, and supply chain partners.
Airway Bill (AWB)
A transport document issued by an air carrier or freight forwarder that serves as a contract of carriage, receipt of goods, and freight bill for air cargo shipments.
BAPI (SAP)
Business Application Programming Interface — SAP's standard API mechanism for enabling external systems to read, write, and transact data within SAP modules including SAP Transportation Management (SAP TM).
Bill of Lading (BL/BOL)
A legal document issued by a sea carrier or their agent that serves as a contract of carriage, receipt of goods, and document of title for ocean freight shipments. Also referred to as BOL.
CargoWise
A global logistics execution platform developed by WiseTech Global, widely used by freight forwarders for managing shipments, customs, accounting, and operations across all transport modes.
Certificate of Origin
A trade document certifying the country where goods were manufactured or produced, required by customs authorities for tariff determination and preferential trade agreement eligibility.
Commercial Invoice
A customs document declaring the value, quantity, and description of goods shipped internationally, serving as the primary basis for customs duty calculation and import clearance.
Confidence Scoring
A measure expressed as a percentage (0-100%) indicating how certain an AI extraction model is about the accuracy of a specific extracted field value, used to determine whether human review is needed.
Control Tower (Logistics)
A centralized operations hub providing end-to-end visibility, exception management, and coordination across multiple logistics providers and transport modes, typically deployed in a 4PL operating model.
Customs Declaration Automation
The use of AI to extract data from trade documents and pre-populate customs declaration forms automatically, reducing manual data entry by 60-80% and accelerating customs clearance processing.
Dataverse (Microsoft)
Microsoft's cloud-based data platform underlying Dynamics 365, providing a unified data model for managing freight operations data with native Power Platform integration for workflow automation.
Demurrage
Charges incurred when cargo containers are not picked up from a port or terminal within the allotted free time period, penalizing delays in container retrieval after vessel discharge.
Detention
Charges for keeping a shipping container beyond the allowed free time period outside the port or terminal, typically incurred when containers are held at the consignee's premises or depot.
Document Intelligence
AI-powered extraction of structured data from unstructured documents such as PDFs, images, and emails — in freight, used to automatically extract shipment data from invoices, airway bills, packing lists, and compliance documents.
eHub (CargoWise)
CargoWise's integration platform that enables external systems to exchange data with CargoWise via XML messages, supporting inbound and outbound document, shipment, and financial data flows.
Exception Routing
The automated process of directing AI-flagged items — such as low-confidence extractions, validation failures, or missing data — to human operators for manual review and correction.
Freight Audit
The process of verifying carrier invoices against contracted rates, shipment records, and service agreements to identify overcharges, billing errors, and compliance issues before payment.
Freight Forwarding
The coordination and arrangement of cargo transportation on behalf of shippers, including booking carriers, preparing documentation, managing customs clearance, and tracking shipments across all modes of transport.
Freight Invoice Matching
The process of verifying freight invoices by matching them against purchase orders and delivery receipts (three-way matching) to ensure charges are accurate before payment.
Freight Rate Benchmarking
The systematic comparison of carrier rates across trade lanes, transport modes, and time periods to identify pricing anomalies, validate competitiveness, and uncover margin optimization opportunities.
Freight Visibility Platform
A system providing real-time tracking and status updates for shipments across multiple carriers, transport modes, and geographies, enabling proactive exception management and customer communication.
GLN (Global Location Number)
A unique 13-digit identification number assigned to physical locations and legal entities in the supply chain, used in EDI transactions, customs declarations, and partner identification across logistics systems.
HS Code (Harmonized System)
An internationally standardized numerical classification system for traded products, used by customs authorities worldwide to identify goods, determine tariff rates, and enforce trade regulations.
HS Code Classification
The process of assigning Harmonized System codes to traded goods based on product descriptions, composition, and intended use. AI automates HS code assignment by analyzing product data, reducing classification errors and customs delays.
LangGraph
A framework for building stateful, multi-step AI agent workflows with branching logic and human-in-the-loop capabilities, used by FreightMynd to orchestrate document extraction, validation, and TMS integration pipelines.
Packing List
A shipping document detailing the contents, weight, and dimensions of each package in a shipment, used by customs authorities, carriers, and consignees for cargo verification and clearance.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
A formal request from a shipper to freight forwarders or carriers asking for pricing on a specific shipment, including rates, transit times, and service terms.
Spot Quote
A one-time freight rate offered for a specific shipment at current market conditions, as opposed to long-term contract rates. Spot quotes require fast turnaround and are prime candidates for AI automation.
Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
A third-party logistics provider manages outsourced logistics operations including warehousing, transportation, and fulfillment on behalf of shippers.
Transportation Management System (TMS)
A software platform used by freight forwarders and logistics companies to plan, execute, and optimize the movement of goods — managing shipments, carriers, documents, compliance, and billing in a centralized system.
Universal Gateway (CargoWise)
CargoWise's API layer for real-time, bidirectional data exchange with external applications, supporting event-driven triggers, webhooks, and synchronous data queries beyond the batch-based eHub approach.
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