L/H
see Line-Haul

Label Cargo
Cargo, including all commodities, requiring a label according to the provisions of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code.

Lading
The cargo carried in a transportation vehicle.

Laid-down cost
The sum of the product and transportation costs. The laid-down cost is useful in comparing the total cost of a product shipped from different supply sources to a customer’s point of use.

LAN
see Local Area Network

Land bridge
The movement of containers by ship-rail-sip on Japan-to-Europe moves, ships move containers to the U.S. Pacific Coast, rails move containers to an East Coast port, and ships deliver containers to Europe.

Land grants
Grants of land given to railroads during their developmental stage to build tracks.

Landed Cost
Cost of product plus relevant logistics costs such as transportation, warehousing, handling, etc. Also called Total Landed Cost or Net Landed Costs

Lash barges
Covered barges that are loaded on board oceangoing ships for movement to foreign destinations.

Last In, First Out
Accounting method of valuing inventory that assumes latest goods purchased are first goods used during accounting period.

Latent Defect
A flaw, defect or condition not observable at the initial inspection but obviously occurring over a period of time.

LC
see Letter of Credit

LCL
see Less-Than-Carload

LCL
see Less-Than-Containerload

LDI
see Logistics Data Interchange

Lead Logistics Partner
An organization that organizes other 3rd party logistics partners for outsourcing of logistics functions. Also see: Fourth Party Logistics

Lead Logistics Provider
The logistics provider is the integrator for multiple carriers and other Third Party Logistics Providers for a customer. The LLP has the technology that brings the parties together for a customer and will also performing part of the service.

Lead Time
The total time that elapses between an order’s placement and its receipt. It includes the time required for order transmittal, order processing, order preparation, and transit.

Lead Time from Complete Manufacture to Customer Re
Includes time from when an order is ready for shipment to customer receipt of order. Time from complete manufacture to customer receipt including the following elements: pick/pack time, prepare for shipment, total transit time (all components to consolidation point), consolidation, queue time, and additional transit time to customer receipt.

Lead Time from Order Receipt to Complete Manufactu
Includes times from order receipt to order entry complete, from order entry complete to start to build, and from start to build to ready for shipment. Time from order receipt to order entry complete includes the following elements: order revalidation, configuration check, credit check, and scheduling. Time from order entry complete to start to build includes the following elements: customer wait time and engineering and design time. Time from start to build to ready for shipment includes the following elements: release to manufacturing or distribution, order configuration verification, production scheduling, and build or configure time.

Lease Agreement
A contract to make periodic payments for the use of a property for a certain length of time. Such rentals may include additional variable user costs which cannot be predetermined such as cost per copy when leasing copiers.

Lease Purchase Agreement
An agreement whereby the periodic payments may also be applied as installments toward ownership of a property if the leaser decides to assume the option to own. Such options may be stated as a purchase option or a conditional sales contract.

Least Total Cost
A dynamic lot-sizing technique that calculates the order quantity by comparing the setup (or ordering) costs and the carrying cost for various lot sizes and selects the lot size where these costs are most nearly equal. Also see: Discrete Order Quantity, Dynamic Lot Sizing

Least Unit Cost
A dynamic lot-sizing technique that adds ordering cost and inventory carrying cost for each trial lot size and divides by the number of units in the lot size, picking the lot size with the lowest unit cost. Also see: Discrete Order Quantity, Dynamic Lot Sizing

Legal Notice
Advertising in newspapers or other legally acceptable publications. May include public posting of an intent to award a contract.

LesSee
A person or firm to whom a lease is granted.

Lessor
A person or firm that grants a lease.

Less-Than-Carload
Shipment that is less than a complete rail car load .

Less-Than-Container Load
Common term for an amount of goods to be shipped and which do not fill an entire container. Ocean rates for LCL are commonly higher on a per-unit basis than for a full container load. Thus, consolidation of several LCL loads from different places or shippers into a full container can save on costs.

Less-Than-Trailer Load
‘See ”Less Than Container Load” .’

Less-Than-Truckload
Freight from several shippers loaded onto an individual trailer. The shipment is based upon a separate rate than truckload rate. Less-than-Truckload is in contrast to Truckload , which is only one shipment from one shipper that is loaded on a tractor-trailer.

Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) Carriers
Trucking companies that consolidate and transport smaller (less than truckload) shipments of freight by utilizing a network of terminals and relay points.

Let Down
Handling a unitized load from its position in the stack or storage rack down to a location where partial withdrawals can be made.

Letter of credit
An international business document that assures the seller that payment will be made by the bank issuing the letter of credit upon fulfillment of the sales agreement.

Letter of Credit
Letter of agreement issued by a bank stating a foreign purchaser has established a line of credit in a seller’s favour, and confirming that payment for goods will be made upon presentation of certain documents which are in agreement with terms on the letter of credit. 2. A letter addressed by a banker to a correspondent certifying that a person named therein is entitled to draw on him or his credit up to a certain sum. 3. A letter addressed by a banker to a person, to whom credit is given, authorising him to draw on the issuing bank or on a bank in his country up to a certain sum and guaranteeing to accept the drafts if duly made, also called commercial letter of credit, confirmed credit or confirmed letter of credit. 4. Letters of credit may take various forms, represent various undertakings for various purposes and be subject to different conditions.

Leverage
Taking something small and exploding it. Can be financial or technological.

Liability
Maximum amount for which a carrier is normally responsible in connection with loss or damage of cargo while in transit or storage.

Liability and Fire Insurance
Actual cost of insurance coverage for the warehouse and warehouse functions.

License
A permission granted by government to a person or to business owners to participate in a particular type of enterprise. Such enterprises which would be regulated by law.

License Plate
A bar code identifying a pallet or quantity of product.

Life Cycle Cost
In cost accounting, a product’s life cycle is the period that starts with the initial product conceptualization and ends with the withdrawal of the product from the marketplace and final disposition. A product life cycle is characterized by certain defined stages, including research, development, introduction, maturity, decline, and abandonment. Life cycle cost is the accumulated costs incurred by a product during these stages.

Life Cycle Costing
The total cost of owning a property for a designated period of time. The time period is usually based upon need or the expected life of the property. This is a purchasing method that takes into account all expenses of ownership such as: Purchase price, maintenance, operating costs and remaining value at the end of ownership.

LIFO
see Last In, First Out

Lift truck
Vehicles used to lift, move, stack, rack, or otherwise manipulate loads. Material handling people use a lot of terms to describe lift trucks, some terms describe specific types of vehicles, others are slang terms or trade names that people often mistakenly use to describe trucks. Terms include industrial truck, forklift, reach truck, motorized pallet trucks, turret trucks, counterbalanced forklift, walkie, rider, walkie rider, walkie stacker, straddle lift, side loader, order pickers, high lift, cherry picker, Jeep, Towmotor, Yale, Crown, Hyster, Raymond, Clark, Drexel.

Lift Van
A wooden or plywood container used mainly on overseas removals. Built specifically to transport household goods.

Lift-Gate
Power lift on the rear of a trailer or straight van used to move heavy objects to or from a trailer’s level floor.

Lighter
A flat-bottomed boat designed for cross-harbor or inland waterway freight transfer.

Line
(1) A specific physical space for the manufacture of a product that in a flow shop layout is represented by a straight line. In actuality, this may be a series of pieces of equipment connected by piping or conveyor systems.(2) A type of manufacturing process used to produce a narrow range of standard items with identical or highly similar designs. Production volumes are high, production and material handling equipment is specialized, and all products typically pass through the same sequence of operations. Also see: Assembly Line

Line functions
The decision-making areas associated with daily operations. Logistics line functions include traffic management, inventory control, order processing, warehousing, and packaging.

Line Haul
Marine portion of a vessel’s route covering the greatest distance, usually across an ocean (e.g. Singapore-Los Angeles).

Line Item
A listing of items in a bid for which a bidder may be expected to provide separate pricing. When such itemization is required individual or separate awards may be made on certain items.

Line Scrap
Value of raw materials and work-in-process inventory scrapped as a result of improper processing or assembly, as a percentage of total value of production at standard cost.

Line-Haul
‘Basic transportation charges for moving freight. Excludes ”accessorial”, pickup and delivery charges. ‘

Line-haul shipment
A shipment that moves between cities and distances over 100 to 150 miles.

Liner Service
International water carriers that provide service on fixed routes on published schedules.

Link
The transportation method used to connect the nodes (plants, warehouses) in a logistics system.

Linked Distributed Systems
Independent computer systems, owned by independent organizations, linked in a manner to allow direct updates to be made to one system by another. For example, a customer’s computer system is linked to a supplier’s system, and the customer can create orders or releases directly in the supplier’s system.

Little Inch
A federally built pipeline constructed during World War II that connected Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas.

Live
A situation in which the equipment operator stays with the trailer or boxcar while it is being loaded or unloaded.

LLP
see Lead Logistics Partner

LLP
see Lead Logistics Provider

LNG Carrier
Liquified Natural Gas Carrier.

Load Date Spread
Agreed-upon period within which pickup of a shipment is to take place.

Load factor
A measure of operating efficiency used by air carriers to determine the percentage of a plane’s capacity that is utilized, or the number of passengers divided by the total number of seats.

Load Tender (Pick-Up Request)
The offering of cargo to be loaded by a carrier.

Load Tendering
The practice of providing a carrier with detailed information and negotiated pricing (the tender) prior to scheduling pickup. This practice can help assure contract compliance and facilitate automated payments (self billing).

Loading allowance
A reduced rate offered to shippers and/or consignees who load and/or unload LTL or AQ shipments.

Loading Area
The surface or plane on which a course is laid. The surface may be the floor or a pallet. When the loading area used is a pallet or platform, the plane may be larger than the pallet or platform surface. For example, a pallet surface measuring 48 x 40 inches may carry a load measuring 49 x 41 inches. In this case, the loading area is considered to be the plane.

Loading Area Efficiency
The percentage of the prescribed loading area occupied by the containers in the first course.

Local Area Network
A data communications network spanning a limited geographical area, usually a few miles at most, providing communications between computers and peripheral devices.

Local Delivery
Movement of product from warehouse facility to the final destination.

Local Pick-Up
Movement of product from origin to a warehouse facility.

Local Rate
A rate published between two locations served by one carrier.

Local service carriers
An air carrier classification of carriers that operate between areas of lesser and major population centers. These carriers feed passengers into the major cities to

Locational determinant
The factors that determine the location of a facility. For industrial facilities, the determinants include logistics.

Locator System
A record which shows the exact location of supplies within a storage activity.

Logbook
A daily record of the hours an interstate driver spends driving, off, duty, sleeping in the berth, or on duty but not driving.

Logistic Straps
Nylon straps used to tie off tiers in a trailer.

Logistic Track
Metal track inside a trailer onto which logistic straps are hooked.

Logistics
The management of freight and information throughout the total supply chain from the original raw material source to the ultimate consumer of the finished product, encompasing factories, assembly and packing plants, warehouses, distribution centres and retail outlets.

Logistics Channel
The network of supply chain participants engaged in storage, handling, transfer, transportation, and communications functions that contribute to the efficient flow of goods.

Logistics Data Interchange
An integrated computerized system that electronically transmits logistics information computer to computer.

Logistics Management
‘As defined by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP): ”Logistics management is that part of supply chain management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements. Logistics management activities typically include inbound and outbound transportation management, fleet management, warehousing, materials handling, order fulfillment, logistics network design, inventory management, supply/demand planning, and management of third party logistics services providers. To varying degrees, the logistics function also includes sourcing and procurement, production planning and scheduling, packaging and assembly, and customer service. It is involved in all levels of planning and execution–strategic, operational, and tactical. Logistics management is an integrating function which coordinates and optimizes all logistics activities, as well as integrates logistics activities with other functions, including marketing, sales, manufacturing, finance, and information technology.”’

Long ton
Equals 2,240 pounds.

Longshoreman
Worker who loads and unloads a ship. Terminal operator who is designed to facilitate the operation of loading and discharging vessels, as well as other terminal activities.

Lot
A stock keeping unit that must be stored apart from other like stock keeping units. Multiple lots of the same stock keeping unit produce excessive honeycombing of the storage space unless the lots are large. One of the hidden costs of warehousing.

Lot Control
A set of procedures (e.g., assigning unique batch numbers and tracking each batch) used to maintain lot integrity from raw materials, from the supplier through manufacturing to consumers.

Lot Number
See Batch Number

Lot size
The quantity of goods purchased or produced in anticipation of use or sale in the future.

Lot Sized System
See Fixed Reorder Quantity Inventory Model

Lot-for-Lot
A lot-sizing technique that generates planned orders in quantities equal to the net requirements in each period. Also see: Discrete Order Quantity

LT
Long Ton.1 Long Ton = 2,240 lbs

LTL
see Less-Than-Trailer Load

LTL
see Less-Than-Truck Load

Lumping
A term applied to a person who assists a motor carrier owner-operator in the loading and unloading of property: quite commonly used in the food industry

Lumpy demand
See Discontinuous Demand