Like any industry, the freight shipping industry has a language of its own, and for an outsider, it can sound like a different language.
Folks in the trucking industry use a variety of terms that might be unfamiliar to those who aren’t familiar with the field. For example, truckers use the term “shipper” to mean a shipping company or route, but not everyone is always clear on what shippers do. This can cause confusion and prevent newbies from getting involved in the industry as soon as they realize these terms have no meaning outside of their specific meaning.
Truck Load
Truck loads refer to freight that would fit in a normal truck. Therefore when a carrier is looking for truck loads, it’s safe to assume that they are looking for work on a site like https://www.shiply.com/us/truck-loads.
Deadheading
This is the term used for a trucker temporarily driving empty trucks to and from job sites or from one place to another. It refers to driving the truck without any cargo inside it. Truck drivers have to do this to reach their desired destination in time, but they have no cargo inside them. These drivers are often paid for this service provided as part of their compensation.
Bobtailing
Bobtailing is sometimes confused with deadheading. However, bobtailing is when the driver is driving the cab without a trailer. For instance, a truck that has only a trailer will generally bobtail to one location. Similarly, a truck with just the cab and no trailer will bobtail to another location.
Carrier
A carrier is a company that offers freight shipping services. These companies provide trucks and drivers for customers who need help in relocating the cargo. In some cases, the carrier is responsible for all transportation costs, while in other cases, the customer has to pay the cost of transportation to their satisfaction.
Broker
A broker is an intermediary between shippers and carriers. As these people don’t own trucks themselves, they don’t usually enter into contracts with carriers as a rule. However, they are often used as go-betweens when a customer needs to get in contact with a carrier but doesn’t want to deal directly with the carrier.
Shipper
Shippers are the people who own or work at companies or organizations that need freight shipping services. They may need the help of carriers to transport a load from one place to another.
Black eye
When a trucker tells another driver that they have a black eye, it means that a headlight bulb has blown.
Alligator / Gator guts
These terms mean the same that there is a blown tire in the road.
Consignee
This is the person receiving the goods.
These are some of the more common terms used. A trucker should know the lingo and be able to use it in a conversation with a new driver. Some of these terms are used frequently, but not all of them are used all the time. Furthermore, these words often have different meanings depending on where you reside. For example, truckers use Texas slang, while those from the midwest will have different slang.
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