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1. Access – Basically, how accessible is the property? The room to park a large truck, the distance from truck to front door, the availability of elevators/lifts, how many floors up your unit is located, and so on, all have an influence on access.
2. Agent - Usually another moving company appointed to act as a partner in your move. The most likely situation is that Baron Worldwide will appoint someone at destination to receive your shipment, clear it through Customs and arrange final delivery. The agent’s services will be included in your quotation.
3. Bonded Warehouse – A warehouse that meets with local Customs specifications, and allows shipments to be stored pending clearance by Customs.
4. Booker - The company which you have chosen to be in charge of your move.
5. Chargeable Weight - The weight used by an airline to determine the airfreight charge.
6. COD (Cash On Delivery) - Shipments where customer pays moving charges at the time of delivery. For COD shipments, payment is required in money order, banker’s draft (Cashier’s Check) or credit card (provided prior arrangements have been made).
7. Consignee - The person to whom the shipment is to be delivered.
8. Container – A modular steel box (usually 20-ft or 40-ft) for moving goods securely. Usually used on ships but increasingly linked to road and rail transport.
9. Corporate Account – Your employer company, which is responsible for the moving charges.
10. Cost per cubic meter/cubic feet – A rate given on the estimated space your belongings will fill on a truck / container.
11. Cost per 100 lb. – A rate given on the estimated weight of your belongings.
12. Crate – A wooden case for an overseas shipment (often referred to as a liftvan).
13. Customs Clearance – Formal inspection procedures carried out before allowing a shipment into a country (or out of the country in the case of a vehicle leaving the US).
14. CWT - This abbreviation stands for the rate or charge per 100 pounds.
15. Declared Value – Value the owner declare its goods to be for the purpose of insurance. This will form the basis of your insurance cover and it is important that it reflects the value of your belongings.
16. Destination Agent - The moving company appointed to act on your behalf at destination.
17. Export Wrapping - Method of packing household and personal effects for transportation overseas. Usually involves heavier and more specialized materials.
18. Full Container Load (FCL) - A container carrying your belongings exclusively, with specified move dates as agreed with your mover.
19. Full Cover – Detailed insurance coverage, usually includes loss, theft, fire and breakage, (breakage will be restricted to items packed by your professional mover). May carry excess or deductible, maximum limits on total value or certain types of items, pairs and set clause, mechanical derangement clause and specific exclusions, for example money, stamp/coin collection and jewelry. Always read details carefully.
20. Groupage – Where your shipment will not fill a container, you can save money by sending it groupage. This means your shipment will be loaded with others to fill a container. You should pay lower shipping charges, but delivery will take longer.
21. Insurance Certificate – The official insurance document given to you by the insurance company. You will need this in the event of a claim.
22. Inventory – A list of your belongings to be moved or a list of your belongings in transit or storage.
23. Less than Container Load (LCL) - Where your shipment does not fill a complete shipping container.
24. Lift vans - A crate used in the packing of your belongings.
25. Linehaul - The charge to move your shipment by road from point of collection (which could be at the residence or at the dockside) to the dockside or its final point of destination.
26. Marine Insurance – Insurance specifically to cover your belongings while in transit over long distances and/or across water by vehicle, ship or aircraft. The policy will cover specific marine risks.
27. Origin Agent - The moving company appointed to handle your move at origin.
28. Packed By Owner (PBO) – When you choose to pack your belongings yourself, either into cartons supplied by the mover or into your own boxes. Insurance companies will not insure goods packed by their owners.
29. Packers – Persons in charge of packing, wrapping, loading the goods at origin and unpacking, unwrapping and unloading the goods at destination.
30. Packing List – This document lists all the goods that are packed in a shipment and has 4 main purposes: It is used to check the goods at all stages of handling; as a receipt, therefore the importance of the customer of signing the agreement when the goods are collected and unpacked; as an attachment to the insurance certificate as it is an evidence that the goods were shipped and their conditions at the time of packing; for customs clearance as proof of the goods which are being imported.
31. Replacement Value – Cost of replacing the insured goods at the destination. This will form the basis of your insurance coverage if purchasing replacement insurance and it is important that it reflects their replacement cost at your new destination.
32. Routing – The route the shipment will take to the eventual destination (the route itself as well as the mode of transportation and type of carrier service).
33. Shipper - The person (customer) whose goods are being moved.
34. Storage In Transit (SIT) - Temporary storage of your household goods in the warehouse of the moving company, pending further transportation. Could be at origin or destination or both.
35. Survey Visit – To provide you with a better cost estimate, the moving company will send a sales consultant to your home to assess the volume or weight of the goods to be removed.
36. Third Party Services – Some movers offer to arrange / coordinate additional professional services e.g. plumbers, house cleaners, waterbed dismantling/assembling, carpenters, and maid service.
37. Transit Time – The time indicated between collection and delivery of your belongings.