Organizing your car shipment can seem like a complicated procedure full of paperwork. Therefore, it is inevitable that you are going to deal with unknown acronyms and terms. Below we are going to present some commonly used terminologies of the auto transport industry.
Glossary of Terms for the Auto Transportation:
A.T.A.: An abbreviation with the meaning of Actual Time of Arrival. It is most commonly used to indicate the exact time when you will have your vehicle delivered to its drop-off destination.
A.T.D.: An abbreviation for Actual Time of Departure is meant to show when the vehicle is picked up and departed from the original location.
Agent: An individual or a company that has the authorization to arrange and handle shipping transactions and documents.
Auxiliary Service: This is a supplementary service if additional assistance is required to load or unload your car on or off the freight trucks.
Bill of Lading (B.o.L.): Legal document in the form of either receipt/contract showing detailed vehicle loading information, agreement of its transportation, terms of the shipment, etc. In simple terms, BoL is a receipt of freight services, the copy of which you need to have with you at the drop-off location.
Binding Estimate: The total cost presented on the final contract, showing the exact price for the shipping service you will end up paying.
Brokerage License: This is a legal document that brokers should possess to make shipping arrangements.
Carrier’s Liability for Loss or Damage: The shipper company presents a statement of loss/damage to the client while the vehicle is under their responsibility. You may usually come across such a statement in a Damage Claim Form.
Co-Loading: It means loading more than one car in a single carrier. This mode of transportation is quite common due to its cost-effectiveness.
Cut-off Time: The term generally indicates the deadline of the shipment delivery to its final destination.
Diversion: This term means rerouting or changing the originally decided route while the shipment is in transit.
Enclosed Car Hauler: This is a transport method to carry out auto shipping and protect your car from road hazards. Enclosed auto transport is a common choice to ship a rare or high-end vehicle by adding more protection during a road trip.
En Route: It signifies that the vehicle is in transit towards the final destination.
Open Carrier: The open-air carriers are the most common and cheapest method of shipment, but the vehicles on-board can be vulnerable to external elements such as wind, snow, road debris, etc.
Proof of Delivery (P.O.D.): A document is a shipping receipt that may also contain information about the car’s condition after delivery.
Shipping Mileage: It shows the total distance between pickup and delivery points.
S.I.T.: An abbreviation for storage in transit.
Terminal-to-Terminal: The terminals are assigned areas where the shipped vehicles are stored and prepared for loading. In this case, the clients need to drop off and pick up their car from the closest terminal.
Tracking: Following the auto shipment progress throughout its delivery process.
Vehicle Logistics Company: It is a service provider that plans and manages auto transport procedures.
V.I.N. Number: A vehicle identification number is a unique registered code used to identify individual motor vehicles.