Glossary of Shipping Terms

Basic Shipment Terms

• Billable weight: The weight you are charged for when you ship a package, which can reflect either the package's actual weight or its dimensional weight, whichever is greater. (See dimensional weight).
• Dimensional weight (DIM weight): A weight value calculated using a package's dimensions (length, width, height) instead of the package's actual weight. Also called billable weight.
• Component: A physical object that gets put into a package. This is often the same thing as an item; however, some items (called kits) may contain multiple components.
  • Related doc: Confirming Components Individually
• Item: An article in a shipment. There may be multiple items in a single package. Items are characterized by their sku, HS code, quantity, price per article, etc. Some items, such as welcome packs or starter kits, may contain multiple components.
  • Related doc: Items Confirmation File Format
• Landmark Tracking Number (LTN): A string that uniquely identifies a particular shipment.
• Package/Parcel: A physical box with an affixed shipping label that is associated with a shipment. Packages are characterized by their dimensions and weight.
• Sku: A sku, short for Stock Keeping Unit, is a unique item number for a company's product. Mercury uses an item’s sku to keep track of many pieces of information, including the item’s country of origin, whether it’s been verified by a customs broker and (if the item is being fulfilled by Landmark) how much of it is stocked in a particular facility.
• Shipment: A data construct used to keep track of and refer to one or more packages addressed to a consignee, and associated products. A shipment often corresponds to a single client order regardless of physical package count. A shipment’s detail page includes basic shipment information, the receiver’s address information, shipment tracking history, package details and item details. When a shipment consists of several packages, it’s called a multi-package shipment. While a shipment may comprise multiple packages and items, there is no direct relationship between individual packages and the items they contain.
  • Related docs:
    • Importing Shipments
    • Searching a Shipment
    • Viewing Shipment Details
• Shipping label or HAWB (House Air Waybill): A document attached to each package that uniquely identifies the shipment it is part of. This document can be read both by humans and machines and includes (at minimum) the consignee’s address, the sender/return address and a barcode. Shipping label requirements are specified by the last mile carrier.
  • Related doc: Landmark Label Specifications

General

• 3PL: Shorthand for third-party logistics.
• B2B: Business to Business. Refers to when a package is shipped to a business (rather than an individual consumer).
• B2C: Business to Consumer. Refers to when a package is shipped to an individual consumer.
• Bad data: Bad address, shipping scan error, or invalid data on shipment that causes the shipment to not be processed in Mercury. 
  • Related docs: 
    • Exceptions Management Overview
    • Invalid Data Shipments SOP
• Border crossing: Any shipment crossing a customs border (e.g. US to Canada) will need to be cleared through customs. Shipments are prepared for border crossing by being scanned to a pallet, having their clearance and manifesting information transmitted and then being physically sent out of the warehouse towards the destination of the border crossing, usually another Landmark facility.
  • Related docs:
    • Border Crossing and Customs Overview
    • Entrance Scanning
• Carrier: A company engaged in the business of transporting goods, like FedEx or Canpar. The “last mile carrier” or "final mile carrier" is the entity that actually delivers the shipment to the consignee. The carrier receives shipments from Landmark after they have been processed and otherwise prepared for shipping.
  • Related doc: Carrier Inquiries and Claims Procedure
• Carrier label: A barcoded label with a unique ID number, usually specific to a carrier, with destination address, return address, weight, ref #, # of pieces to the shipment, acct #, etc. Usually created automatically on a thermal printer.
• Consignee: The recipient of a shipment. The consignee might also be called the end consumer. This could be an individual customer, someone ordering a commercial shipment to resell, or a business.
• Consignor/Client: A business that uses Landmark Global to manage its shipping logistics. They send the physical shipment as well as the digital shipping information to Landmark, who then passes it onto the appropriate carrier.
• D2C: Direct to Consumer. A business model that ships products directly to the customer (i.e. without using a third-party retailer).
• E2E: End to end.
• Facility: A warehouse dedicated to logistical operations.
• General Service Agreement (GSA): Contract between Landmark and a client.
• Intended return: When the original shipment was delivered successfully, but the recipient/consignee wants to return the item back to the retailer.
• Invalid data: A general term that includes both “no data” and “bad data” cases, preventing shipments from being processed.
  • Related docs:
    • Exceptions Management Overview
    • Invalid Data Shipments SOP
• No data: An error that occurs when a client sends physical packages without the data associated with them. It is possible for this issue to resolve on its own once the client sends the data.
  • Related docs:
    • Exceptions Management Overview
    • Invalid Data Shipments SOP
• Order tracking: Throughout the shipping process, Mercury regularly communicates with the carrier to provide tracking information to clients and consignees. Tracking information can be viewed either from Landmark’s tracking pageor from the carrier’s site directly. Visiting one of these pages triggers a query to get the latest information on the order’s status. Otherwise, the tracking status is usually updated about once a day. A tracking number identifies the shipment or package for the last mile carrier. This number is unique to the carrier.
  • Related docs:
    • Tracking Overview
    • Track API Request
    • Tracking File Specifications
• Overpack: Something you put your package inside of to make it easier and safer to handle and transport. An overpack can be a protective outer packaging like a box or a crate.
• POD: Proof of delivery.
• PUDO: Pick-up and drop-off.
• Rate card: Rate cards are used within 3PL (Third Party Logistics) companies to calculate charges for their clients by country, usually by weight.
  • Bundle rate: Essentially a standardized rate card. For bundled rates, instead of each client having its own custom set of rates, we link client to a bundle of rates. Bundles are shared between the linked clients and any changes to the rates in a bundle will affect all linked clients. Unlike client rate cards, bundle rates have tiers. Each tier has its own rate card assigned.
• Reships: Undeliverable shipments that get an additional attempt to be shipped again.
• Returns: Shipments that are returned by the end consumer and that get a specific treatment depending on the client's instructions.
  • Related doc: Returns Overview
• RTS: Code for undeliverable returns.
  • Related doc: Returns Overview
• Security Threat Assessment (STA): A process required by the Department of Homeland Security to identify individuals who may pose a threat to transportation security. Employees having unescorted access to cargo to be transported on a passenger airline from the point of acceptance, until it is transferred to the passenger carrier, must pass the STA.
• Service / service code: Carriers often offer multiple services, which allows Landmark or clients to optimize based on shipping goals such as price or speed. For example, most carriers will offer a Ground service for general shipments, an Express or Priority service for more time-sensitive packages and an International service, among others. Each of these services will have a separate service code in Landmark’s systems.
  • Service codes take the format LG + Country + Carrier + Service. For example, UPS Ground delivering within the US would be LGUSSPSG, and a standard international shipment would be LGINTSTD.
• SLA: Service Level Agreement.
• SOP: Standard Operating Procedure.
• TMS: Transportation Management System.
• Unintended/Undeliverable return: When a shipment goes out for delivery and but is unsuccessful.
  • Related doc: Returns Overview
• UPU: Universal Postal Union.
• USMCA: North American Free Trade treaty that replaced NAFTA.
• USPS: United States Postal Service.
• WMS: Warehouse Management System.

Inventory and Fulfillment

• Fulfillment: The process of preparing and delivering ecommerce orders. It includes receiving customer inventory, picking, packing, labeling the order for shipment and finally shipping the package.
• Inventory: Product from the client that is housed by Landmark and can be used to fulfill orders when Landmark handles fulfillment.
• Kit build list: A kit would be the sum of individual skus (for example, sku ABC + DEF + GHI = sku XYZ. This is usually a promotional combination of small products/skus (for example, P90X has a DVD sku, chin-up bar sku, bands sku, etc.).
• Lot control: Lot control involves keeping track of lot numbers for components of Landmark-fulfilled orders, and it is only enabled for certain clients and certain skus. The lot number identifies what lot or batch the component is part of. Lot numbers are especially important for products with expiration dates–for example, health supplements or makeup. 
• Order: An online order on a client website that needs to be fulfilled and shipped to the end consumer.
• Pick ticket / Packing slip: Used to pick orders from a warehouse and usually accompanies the shipment inside the box. Often has a barcode that is scanned to create a shipping label. Much more common nowadays to have peel-and-stick shipping label already printed on the pick ticket / packing slip.
  • Related doc: Pick to Cart System
• UPC Code: A UPC, or Universal Product Code, is a scannable barcode found on product packaging that contains a unique identification number. In Mercury, UPC codes can be used to look up skus during stock shipment receipts. Unlike sku numbers, which may vary across retailers and manufacturers, UPCs are universal.
• Virtual Sku: A special type of sku essential for managing a variety of non-physical products and services. For example, virtual skus may be used to represent digital downloads (such as e-books or software), subscription services, vouchers or gift cards, or customizations (such as special engravings or user-uploaded designs to be printed on a product). Because virtual skus represent non-physical products, they do not incur warehousing costs and they also do not require customs information.

Network

• Airport code: A unique 3-letter combination that identifies an airport. For a list of airports and their codes, visit airportcodes.org.
• Bill of Lading (BOL): A document that accounts for a single shipment (whether one box, one pallet, three pallets or a full truckload), generally documenting a point-to-point move. A BOL is created any time there is a freight consolidation. There is often a bill of lading for a pallet of small parcels that are individually labeled. There will still be a manifest, usually traveling with the consolidation for the end delivery courier/carrier of the parcels. BOLs are used for ground transportation and have a unique tracking number.
  • Related docs:
    • BOL API
    • SOP: Print Daily Client Pickup BOLs
    • Page: Print Daily Client Pickup BOLs
• CIF: Cost, insurance and freight. This term specifies the division of responsibility between the shipper/supplier and the consignee/buyer in the process of shipping the cargo from one destination to another.
• Country code: A unique ISO code that identifies a country. For a list of country codes, visit iban.com/country-codes.
• Cross-dock: A facility where inbound freight can be loaded directly onto the carrier’s vehicle.
• DAP: Delivered-at-Place. An arrangement in which the seller takes on all the risks and costs of delivering goods to an agreed-upon location. This means the seller is responsible for everything, including packaging, documentation, export approval, loading charges, and ultimately delivery.
  
• Drop zone: A place where shipments are handed off to the carrier, usually after a zone skip has been done.
• EMC: European Mail Center.
• EMS: Express Mail Service. A postal network for the delivery of document and goods, should be the fastest service between posts.
• FMC: Final mile carrier. The company who we give packages to deliver to doorstep.
• FOB: Stands for "free on board". If a shipment is designated FOB (the seller's location), then as soon as the shipment of goods leaves the seller's warehouse, the seller records the sale as complete. The buyer owns the product in route to its warehouse and must pay any delivery charges.
• Freight Management System (FMS): A software system (or set of tools) that assists with entering, scheduling and receiving freight pickups. 
• FSC: Fuel surcharge.
• Full Truckload (TL): 48- or 53-foot trailer pulled by a single truck from point A to B. Flat rate plus fuel surcharge. Both domestic and international full truckloads are common. You can fit 26 pallets on a 53-footer and 24 on a 48-footer. A full truckload may be abbreviated as TL.
• Hub: A central location to which traffic from many cities is directed and from which traffic is fed to other areas.
• Indirect Air Carrier (IAC): A security program of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that requires the adoption of strict security measures by organizations that utilize the services of passenger air carriers for the transportation of goods.
• IPC: International Post Corporation. A cooperation between postal operators to support Postal operators in their network development and the provision of quality and remuneration reporting. See www.ipc.be.
• Lane / Shipping lane: The physical path that packages follow when being transported. Lanes are characterized by:
  • Where physical consolidation within Landmark takes place
  • Where they are sent to be border crossed
  • Which border is being crossed and where (e.g. Australia could be crossed into from multiple ports of entry including Melbourne, Brisbane, etc.)
  • How shipments are crossing the border (i.e. via air or ground)
  • Where shipments get handed off to the carrier
• Last mile carrier network: The infrastructure (warehouses, trucks, IT, etc.) used by the last mile carrier to deliver shipments.
• LCL: Less than container load, usually very expensive relative to full containers. Much less common than a full container.
• Linehaul: LTL and/or Truckload consisting of multiple pallets and multiple shipment often going to a cross-dock or deconsolidation point.
  • Related docs:
    • Linehaul API Request
    • Creating a Linehaul
    • Create FedEx Ground Linehaul
    • Create UPS Ground Overpack
• LTL: Less than truckload. Usually one or more pallets going from one point to another.
• Manifest: The shipping manifest is a vital document used in international trade and is part of the set of documents used in international transport. It lists the goods to be transported so that the total number of boxes within a consolidation carried by the carrier can be verified. Each carrier has different manifest requirements. Many times we transfer this data to carriers electronically, via Mercury.
• Manifest account: A set of data identifying a shipper in the last mile carrier network. This varies from carrier to carrier and might be as simple as API credentials or a list of “magic” numbers which are then used to generate tracking numbers. These manifest accounts also allow Mercury to keep track of pricing, service levels, pickup locations, and any other details agreed upon with the carrier.
• MAWB number: A MAWB (Master Airway Billed) number is an 11-digit number that identifies the airline and the shipments involved.
  • Related doc: E-AWB Creation
• Ocean container: Usually either a 20-foot or 40-foot container that travels on a boat and is transloaded in the port onto a truck or rail for final delivery inland. Usually these are sealed and not opened until they reach the destination. Generally, there are 10 pallets on a 20-foot and 20 pallets on a 40-foot container.
• ROW: Stands for Rest of the World. Often used in the context of zone charts as a catch-all final category.
• Zone: A shorthand way of summarizing the distance between a shipment’s origin and destination so that shipping can be charged accordingly. Zones usually have names like “D1”, “9”, or “AT”. Typically, zones do not correspond with a particular geographic region, but rather refer to the total distance a shipment will have to travel. For example, a package going from Los Angeles to San Francisco might be zone 1, whereas a package going from New York to San Francisco would be zone 7.
  • Related doc: Zone Chart Basics
• Zone Chart: A chart that maps particular postal codes to their corresponding zones. Each zone chart must specify the origin postal codes it is valid for, as well as include the mapping from destination postal code to zone.
  • Related docs:
    • Zone Chart Basics
    • Managing Zone Charts
• Zone Chart Group / Zone Type: As the name suggests, this is a group of related zone charts. This is the file that will be linked to a particular rate card or service, and it will contain multiple zone charts on a single spreadsheet.
  • Related docs:
    • Zone Chart Basics
    • Managing Zone Charts
• Zone skipping (aka Downstream induction): Using a different truck to take a parcel closer to the destination before handing it off to the carrier so that the carrier will charge for a smaller zone. For example, some shipments might be crossed into Toronto but then driven over to the Canada Post hub in Winnipeg. Zone skips are only used when there is a lot of shipping volume for an area and carrier. The most common is “Full Skip (Toronto)”.

Customs and Clearance

Another document that may be helpful is Duty and Tax Invoice Calculations.

• Bonded facility: A special section within a warehouse (usually fenced off) where shipments can be brought before they have been customs cleared into the country. This allows items to wait for clearance in the facility rather than in line at the border; however, shipments must be cleared by customs before they can leave this bonded area. Setting up a bonded facility requires special licensing.
• Bonded shipment: A shipment that can be cleared after it crosses a customs border rather than before. A bonded shipment goes directly to a bonded facility, where it must remain in a fenced-off section until it is customs cleared and approved to leave that section. This option is only valid for certain skus and facilities. Compare with "free circulation".
• CBP: Short for US Customs and Border Protection.
• Certificate of origin: A form that must be completed by the exporter of goods when claiming a preferential tariff treatment.
• Clearance border: Defines where a shipment crosses a border and defines where a clearance will physically be received within the clearance country. For example, the clearance country Australia has 4 different clearance borders: Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
  
• Clearance country: The country where the shipment goes through customs. For example, when shipping from the United States into Europe, the clearance country might be Belgium, while the delivery country is France. Each clearance country can only support certain delivery countries.
• Clearance type: The way that a shipment is clearing into a country, which can affect the data required to clear as well as how duty and tax is calculated. Typically each country will have, at minimum, two different clearance types: one for low-value/casual shipments and one for high-value/commercial shipments.
• COD: Cash on delivery. Means that the recipient of the package will be responsible to pay all or some of the cost (including duties and taxes).
  • Related doc: Customs Collect FAQS
• Commercial Invoice (CCI): An itemized list of goods in a shipment detailing their price, value and quantity. This document is usually included among an exporter's collection papers. During customs clearance, the commercial invoice is used to calculate duties and taxes for the shipment.
• Country of origin: The legal determined country in which goods have been substantially manufactured or produced.
• Customs: An authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country.
• Customs broker: A company that is licensed as an agent, on behalf of an importer/owner of goods, to carry out customs-related responsibilities. Often this is done by Landmark Trade Services, but some carriers include customs brokerage in their services.
• Dangerous Goods (DG): Articles or substances capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety or property, and that ordinarily require special attention when being transported.
  • Related doc:
    • Mercury's Dangerous Goods System
• DDP vs DDU: For DDP (Delivery Duty Paid) orders, the sender is responsible for paying customs duties and taxes. This cost is usually included at checkout so the buyer can pay for everything at once, a cost which could include administrative fees. For DDU (Delivery Duty Unpaid) orders, the buyer is responsible to settle duty fees with customs. 
  • Related doc:
    • Customs Collect FAQs
• De Minimis Threshold: A value set by the clearance country/region to increase trade by eliminating duties and taxes on low-value shipments. For shipments whose total item is equal to or less than the de minimis threshold, no duties or taxes will be charged. In some countries, the comparison will use the total item value plus the CIF value.
• Drawback: The refund of duties paid on imported materials that are subsequently exported.
• Dutiable vs Non-dutiable: Whether or not a particular product requires duty to be paid. Depends on a number of factors, including a product’s HS code, value, and the country being cleared into.
• Duty: A tax levied by a government on the import, export or use and consumption of goods.
• Duty Deferral Program: A program that permits deferred payment of duties on goods for export.
• Duty Drawback: The refund of duties paid on imported materials that are subsequently exported.
• Exam / Held for Exam: A shipment that Customs wants to physically inspect before clearing (common for shipments that contain cosmetic, medical or consumable projects). Released by Ops once it has been examined.
• Export: To send goods to a foreign country.
• Export declaration: (Form B.l3, Form B.l4) A formal statement made to the Collector of Customs at a port of exit declaring full particulars about goods being exported.
• Free circulation: A shipment is in free circulation once it has cleared customs and any applicable duties/taxes have been paid. This is how most shipments go through customs. Compare with "bonded shipments".
• Free Trade Zone (FTZ): An area to which goods may be imported for processing and subsequent export on a duty-free basis.
• Gateway: A port of entry into a country or region.
• HS code: An internationally standardized tariff code used to classify goods for customs. HS codes are also sometimes called tariff classifications. These codes describe products very specifically so that they can clear customs and be taxed appropriately, and they are required for any product being shipped internationally. Each country, however, has a different set of codes that they allow, so a particular product may have its sku harmonized to (associated with) different HS codes for different countries.
  • Related doc: Sku Harmonization
• Importer: A person or company responsible for preparing accounting documents for imported goods and paying the duties and taxes owed.
• IOR: Importer of Record.
• IOSS: Import One Stop Shop number. An IOSS number is required by distance sellers and marketplaces in order to sell goods to buyers in the EU. The IOSS allows suppliers and electronic interfaces selling imported goods to buyers in the EU to collect, declare and pay the VAT to the tax authorities.
• LTS: Landmark Trade Services, a Landmark-specific customs broker.
• NFR: Not for Resale or Non-Commercial, basically meaning goods that are going direct to consumers, not retail (i.e., Walmart, Bob's Boutique, Home Depot, etc.). The rules for importation are more lenient for Non-Commercial Goods.
• Sku harmonization:The process of assigning each individual sku a number from the Harmonized System that accurately describes the product so that it can be taxed appropriately.
  • Related doc: Sku Harmonization
• Pullback: Any item that must be removed from a crossing because we are unable to lawfully import. These are caught manually by checking returns for a set of criteria.
• Reject / Rejected shipment: A shipment that has incorrect or missing information. Released by LTS once corrected information has been given to Customs.
• Tax ID: An individual's primary Tax Identification number provided by a country's local government. For some countries, the consignee's Tax ID is required by customs in order to import shipments from abroad (e.g. China and Brazil).
• Value Added Tax (VAT): A consumption tax on goods and services that is levied (added) at each stage of the supply chain where value is added, from initial production to the point of sale. 

Canada-Specific Terms

• Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS): A system that addresses non-compliance with customs regulations via monetary penalties.
• Advance Commercial Information (ACI): A CBSA risk-management program for identifying high-risk shipments prior to their arrival in Canada.
• Border Services Officer (BSO): A federal law enforcement officer employed by the Canada Border Services Agency.
• Business Number (BN): A number issued to commercial importers/exporters by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.
• Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA): The agency responsible for assuring compliance with trade and security regulations at the Canadian border.
• Canada Customs Invoice (CCI): The agency responsible for assuring compliance with trade and security regulations at the Canadian border.
• Cargo Control Document (CCD): CBSA Form A8A(B), Cargo Control Document, acts as the initial record of a shipment arrival into Canada.
• Courier Low-Value Shipment Program (LVS): A program that allows international couriers to streamline the processing and release of low value shipments (Imports values at $1600 CAD or less) through customs.
• Courier Imports Remission Order (CIRO): Grants duty exemption for goods imported by courier with a value of $20 CAD or less.
• Customs Self Assessment (CSA): A comprehensive CBSA program based on risk management and partnership with approved importers and carriers.
• Dual induction: Meaning two points of entry into Canada (i.e. Seattle and Detroit, usually). Some clients just go into DETROIT or SEATTLE, which would be single induction.
• E-commerce Low Value Inspection System (ELVIS): An automated validation system (currently in the pilot phase) used to streamline customs validation for low-value goods.
• Free and Secure Trade (FAST): A joint program of the CBSA and CBP that expedites customs clearance via a harmonized process for pre-approved importers, carriers and drivers.
• Frequent Import Release System (FIRST): A CBSA program that permits pre-approved importers to obtain line release of specific low-risk commodities.
• Postal Imports Remission Order (PIRO): Grants duty exemption for goods imported by mail with a value of $20 CAD or less.
• Prearrival Review System (PARS): A line release option available to established importers in which shipment data is transmitted to CBSA in advance of its arrival at the Canadian border.
• Valuation: Determination of the value for duty of imported goods under the provisions of the Customs Act.
• Value for Duty (VFD): The value of goods in Canadian funds upon which duty is assessed.

CBSA Terms and Mercury Equivalents

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has a few different terms used to describe shipments being imported. This chart explains how these terms translate into customs statuses in Mercury.

Finance

Another document that may be helpful is Duty and Tax Invoice Calculations.

• Accessorial charges: Charges from carriers that are above and beyond typical shipping and fuel charges, i.e., cubing/dimensional charges, rural, beyond charges and other "unexpected" charges from carriers. These charges may or may not be passed on to the client.
• Billing data: Information for a particular shipment about the charges imposed by the last mile carrier to Landmark for the carrier’s services. This data includes the package tracking number and the amount and type of each charge.
• Declared value: The cost of a shipment according to the shipper. The declared value is used to determine taxes, freight charges and insurance. This value might be different from the price the consignee actually pays for their order. For example, they could have bought the item discounted or it might be given to them as a free sample.
• Duty charges: Duty is a tax levied by a government on the import, export or use and consumption of goods. The duty rate for a product is affected by HS code, country of origin (i.e. the place where the principal work is done to make that product), and where the shipment is being cleared to.
• EBIT: Earnings Before Interest & Taxes. This is the profit metric Landmark is measured on annually.
• Fuel surcharge (FSC): Fuel is a common additional charge alongside base (i.e. freight) charges for parcel delivery. These charges are based on service level and destination country, and scale as a percentage of the base cost where relevant.
• Goods and Services Tax (GST): A federal tax that applies to all goods and services supplied in Canada.
• Harmonized Sales Tax (HST): A combined federal and provincial tax that applies to imported goods destined for the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Intercompany (ICO): Transactions occurring or existing between two or more companies.
• K84: The term used for the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) Accounting Period. The K84 accounting period runs from the 25th of the month, to the 24th of the following month. Payment of all duties and taxes for all transactions with CSBA during this time period is due on the last business day of the month.
• Provincial Sales Tax (PST): A provincial tax applicable on goods imported into British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec.
• 
  

Technology and Internet

• API call: An electronic request from a Customer application to a company system. Or an electronic response that the customer application can handle.
• Application Programming Interface (API): Generally, a more sophisticated programming integration for Landmark and its clients. This is a highly scalable and flexible means for a client to send a request for a label/manifest/rate/return label/etc. from Landmark.
• BIRST: A business intelligence tool used for internal reporting that tracks and reports client stats, volumes, transits, revenues, and much more. 
• Cron job: A routine job that runs in the background on a regular basis. Cron jobs handle things like updating tracking information and generating reports.
• CSV: Stands for Comma-Separated Values. A CSV file is a text file in which the data items are separated using commas as a delimiter.
• Deeplink: A URL link that sends users directly to a specific page without requiring them to log in. Often used for tracking shipments.
  
• Delimited file: A file format that uses specific delimiter characters to separate the values in each row.
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): The computer-to-computer exchange of information, generally an older billing and reporting protocol (i.e. EDI 214, etc.).
• FTP: File Transfer Protocol. A means in which to transfer large files, becoming obsolete in favor of SFTP. Companies usually write scripts to drop and retrieve files automatically. FTP files are usually Canadian and US order files.
• Mercury: A web-based software developed by Landmark which supports much of Landmark's business and operations. Mercury is located online at https://mercury.landmarkglobal.com. For more information, see Mercury's documentation site.
• SFTP: Secure File Transfer Protocol.

Other

• Gaylord: A pallet box.
• Packing list: A list detailing the contents of a shipment.
• Pallet: A load-carrying platform to which loose cargo is secured for physical handling.
  • Related docs:
    • Pallet Features Overview
    • Scanning Shipments to a Pallet
    • Pallet Scan
• Shipper: Term used to describe exporter of a shipment.
• Site license: The license required by Health Canada and The Natural Health Product Directorate to warehouse and distribute goods from within Canada. This license needs to be obtained by any shipping party from within Canada, along with each product being licensed (Product License = NHP #).