Glossary of Terms

for Third Party Logistics, Supply Chain Management & Fulfillment Operations

Many of the terms used in the world of third-party logistics do not appear in a standard dictionary, nor is there a dictionary of fulfillment or warehouse management definitions. We offer this glossary to help you better understand our business. If you have a term you would like defined, or have a definition that you would like to share with us, please send us an e-mail.

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Jump to terms:

- tag
- tally
- tare
- telemarketing service bureau
- teu
- third party distribution
- third party fulfilment (3PF)
- third party logistics (3PL)
- third party warehouse (3PW)
- throughput
- TI-HI, Ti-Hi, or Ti by Hi
- towmotor
- tractor
- trailer
- trans-shipment
- transaction set
- truckload
- 24/7
- 2D bar code

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T

tag
a label or other device for identifying a particular product, component, or shipment.

tally
a count of an inbound shipment of product to record their quality and quantity.

tare
the difference between the gross and net weight of a product for shipment. Tare can be accounted for in the packaging, filler, pallets, wrapping, and the shipping container.

telemarketing service bureau (TSB)
a company specializing in managing a telemarketing call center for calls from customers on behalf of a third party (client), or calls placed on behalf of the client to the customer. A telemarketing service bureau can handle calls to and from businesses (B2B) or to and from consumers (B2C). Inbound telemarketing is the management of inbound calls from customers, usually for orders, information or customer service. Outbound telemarketing calls are to the customer, often to inform the customer of a change in shipping status or service, to gather information, or to solicit new orders. Telemarketing service bureaus vary widely in their size and services offered. Some are staffed 24/7, some excel at technical support, some specialize in foreign languages, some have highly trained sales people, others are staffed with operators (service representatives) who can answer 1,000 simultaneous calls from a television commercial, while others can capture tens of thousands of orders without operators (though data gathered from the customer’s Caller ID number, data input by the customer into a touchtone phone, and through transcription of recorded voice information. Direct marketing companies often depend on telemarketing service bureaus to handle orders, to sell customers additional products, and to handle customer service.

TEU
abbreviation for twenty-foot-equivalent unit. A TEU is a standardized unit for describing the size of a shipping container and the capacity of a ship. A 40-foot container would be the equivalent of two TEUs.

third party distribution
see third party fulfillment, third party logistics

third party fulfillment (3PF)
the activity of warehousing and processing customer shipments on behalf of a client to serve his end-user customers. Third party fulfillment (3PL) can be used to for business-to-business (B2B) transactions for products such as for machinery, replacement parts, and components, or for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions generated from such sources as websites, e-mail, direct mail, catalogs, television, and telemarketing. Though many manufacturers and marketer choose to do their own fulfillment, outsourcing to a specialist in third party fulfillment can result in greater efficiencies, cost savings, and allow manufacturers and marketing to focus on growing their core business. (See third party logistics, fulfillment).

third party logistics (3PL)
the business of providing one or many of a variety of logistics-related services to product manufacturers. Types of services would include warehousing, just-in-time (JIT) inventory management, order processing, including order picking and packing, and distribution management including freight consolidation. Since 3PL companies specialize in such operations, they often can deliver higher quality service at a lower cost to manufacturers than if the manufacturers performed such services themselves.

third party warehouse (3PW)
operated by a party other than the buyer or the seller of the products. Because 3PWs are specialists in picking, packing, shipping, and logistics, they often manage their clients' inventory much more efficiently.

3PF
see third party fulfillment

3PL
see third party logistics

3PW
see third party warehouse

throughput
the amount of product or orders processed within a given time period.

TI-HI, Ti-Hi, or Ti by Hi
Prounounced "tie by high." The determination of how many cartons or cases can be stacked on a pallet. The "Ti" is how many cases can be in a layer (tier) and the "Hi" (heigh) is many tiers can be stacked. Thus, if 12 cartons make up a tier on a pallet and they can be stacked 4 cartons high, it is a 12 Ti by 4 Hi, to make 48 cartons total.

towmotor
See forklift.

tractor
a truck that pulls a semi-trailer, in Europe called a truck.

trailer
(semi trailer, tractor trailer) In third party logistics, the Generally and enclosed trailer of standard lengths, used to ship materials between locations. Standard lengths for trailers are 45, 48, and 53 feet, with standard internal width of 98 to to 99 inches, with an internal height of ranging from 105 to 110 inches. (See container)

trans-shipment
the movement of goods from one vehicle to another for delivery. Often LTL shipments across country will be staged at various warehouses for trans-shipment. Expedited orders will have fewer, or even no trans-shipments.

transaction set
the EDI equivalent of a paper document, contaning all the data necessary for the transaction. Transaction sets can include invoices, purchase orders and other "documents".

truck load
a quantity product or orders equal to one standard full trailer filled with the product or orders.

24/7
Operations that run continuously 24-hours per day, 7-days per week. Most e-commerce operations take orders 24/7 though the orders themselves may only be processed daily or on each business day.

twenty-four-seven
see 24/7

2D bar code
(also 2-D bar code and 2-D barcode) a bar code that uses small geometric shapes to represent data. 2D codes stack the shapes or use a matrix so that more information can be stored in the same space as a 1D bar code. A 1D bar code can only be scanned in a single narrow band across the bar code, while a 2D bar code requires the scanner to read the code in two dimensions, horizontally and vertically.