Table Of ContentDictionary of Transport and Logistics
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Dictionary of Transport and Logistics
Terms, Abbreviations and Acronyms
David Lowe
First published in 2002
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or
review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication
may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the
prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction
in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned
address:
Kogan Page
120 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JN
© David Lowe, 2002
The right of David Lowe to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by
him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0749435712
Typeset by JS Typesetting, Wellingborough, Northants
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King’s Lynn
www.biddles.co.uk
In this dictionary
The terms, abbreviations and acronyms included herein cover:
(cid:1) heavy vehicle technology;
(cid:1) road haulage and own-account transport operations;
(cid:1) passenger vehicle and public service operations;
(cid:1) legal aspects of transport;
(cid:1) logistics;
(cid:1) supply-chain management;
(cid:1) freighting by rail, air, sea and inland waterway;
(cid:1) passenger transport by rail, sea and air;
(cid:1) transport policy and planning;
(cid:1) related business, accounting and information technology.
An asterisk (*) is used to denote a cross-referenced entry.
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Preface
Originally published in 1991 by Headlight magazine as a small dictionary
of transport terms and abbreviations, this new edition has been updated
and expanded to include many additional terms found in distribution,
logistics, supply-chain operations, shipping, rail and air freighting, in
passenger transport and in related transport planning, business and informa-
tion technology functions. Thus with some 3,000 terms, abbreviations and
acronyms now included, this becomes the most comprehensive dictionary
of its type currently available and hopefully will prove to be a boon to
readers from all sectors and at all levels, from students and junior staff to
top management, all of whom may need to source the meaning or relevance
of industry terms not generally found in standard English language
dictionaries.
But why is such a dictionary needed at all? The answer lies in the fact
that road haulage operations particularly and the broader aspects of freight
and passenger transport and logistics as a whole have become so technically
sophisticated that a whole language of technical and generic terms, jargon,
abbreviations, acronyms and management buzzwords, to say nothing of
legal terminology and definitions, has been generated.
For example, in the same way that a vacuum cleaner is almost always
referred to as a ‘Hoover’ (have people never heard of other makes of carpet
cleaners?), so in most people’s minds a van is always a ‘Transit’, most
curtain-sided vehicles and trailers are called ‘Tautliners’ although many
of them are not of this make, and lorry-mounted cranes from a variety of
manufacturers are invariably referred to as ‘Hiabs’, all of which provides
excellent, and free, publicity for the respective manufacturer concerned.
But this is by no means all; there are many other conundrums such as
why the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (as
this ‘super ministry’ is now called) is still referred to as the ‘Ministry’ and
its enforcement officers as ‘Ministry men’, but is this really who they are?
Answer, no. These days they are examiners from the Vehicle Inspectorate,
an agency offshoot of the DTLR.
Similarly, demountable vehicle bodies are frequently called ‘swop (or
swap) bodies’, but are these one and the same? And does everybody really
know for sure that a ‘fifth-wheel’ is part of an articulated vehicle, or could
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PREFACE
it be something else? And what on earth is a ‘towing dolly’, or a ‘composite
trailer’? And what is the legal definition for each of these? What is a
‘peripheral’ or indeed a ‘tri-axle bogie’? What do ‘liberalization’ and
‘harmonization’ mean in transport terms? Who or what is AETR, or TIR,
or RHA? Where does the word ‘derv’ come from? What is a ‘TREMCARD’
and who would want one? What is a ‘floppy disc’, or come to that a ‘hard
disc’, and who might use one? And what is that word ‘DEKRA’ featured
so prominently on Michael Schumacher’s cap when he wins yet another
Grand Prix?
The list seems endless and covers every aspect of transport and logistics.
New terms are added, old ones fall into disuse, many are overtaken by
ever-newer technological developments, and from time to time organiza-
tions change their names (and the initials or acronyms by which they are
commonly known), and new ones appear.
For anybody unconnected with transport or the wider fields of logistics
and supply-chain management these terms and abbreviations present a
bewildering language of ‘in-words’ and jargon; they must sound to the
uninitiated like pure gobbledegook. Also, there must be many people
already working in or associated with the industry who may not be familiar
with all the terms or who may wish to know what a particular abbreviation
stands for or what organization it represents.
The purpose of this dictionary is to identify these terms and abbrevi-
ations and to explain, in simple language, just what they mean or who
they represent, or to give, translated into plain language, the legal definition.
Where appropriate, company or product names (especially where they are
becoming generic terms) are identified and official organizations are named.
As a work of reference this dictionary should be of interest and use to
those with only an ancillary interest or involvement with the world of
transport and logistics as well as to those wholly occupied with the business,
for example anybody who is a member or intends becoming a member of
the Institute of Logistics and Transport. It should also be of interest to
newcomers to the industry, to those in the business who have only limited
technical understanding and to anybody else who wants to become more
knowledgeable in this area, particularly students at universities and colleges
of further education undertaking logistics and transport-related studies. It
goes without saying that those engaged in the practical operations of road
haulage and/or road passenger transport would find the book to be an
essential source of reference in preparing for the professional competence
examinations in either or both of these disciplines.
The original idea for this dictionary came from discussions with a driver
agency firm, whose young employees were regularly subjected to attempted
bamboozles by boastful temporary drivers as to the type of vehicle they
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PREFACE
could handle with competence (was it a twin-steer, tri-axle, fifth-wheel
bogie with a demountable, range-change, dolly gearbox? Or was it just a
3-ton bread van?). From this the idea developed that many people may
wish to have a ready source of reference to such terms and many others,
hence this book.
In compiling the text I have racked my brain and searched wide for
suitable material but it is inevitable that some terms and abbreviations will
have escaped the net, possibly even simple everyday ones. If this is the
case, I would welcome hearing about them for inclusion in any future
edition. Also to be noted is that many of the words or terms included have
a number of meanings or other uses; here they have been defined only in
the context of their usage in transport and logistics operations, leaving
aside any other meanings or application they may have.
Generally, the masculine pronoun has been used in this book to avoid
cumbersome language and to save space. No discrimination, prejudice or
bias is intended by this. I fully recognize the key role played by the many
female LGV drivers, staff, managers and senior executives in transport
and logistics.
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