Freight and customs terms, explained
The words that appear on quotes, bills of lading and customs declarations for cargo moving into Uzbekistan — each defined in one or two sentences, with the practical consequence for your shipment.
FBL — FIATA Bill of Lading
A negotiable transport document issued by a FIATA member forwarder. Banks accept it as a document of title, which is what makes a letter of credit workable. Buraq issues the FBL under licence CH-TAS-2018-912.
LCL — less than container load
Your cargo shares a container with other consignments and is charged by volume or weight. Best under roughly 15 m³. Send goods to our Yiwu or Zhongshan warehouse and we consolidate them.
FTL — full truck load
You take the whole vehicle or container, so nothing is reloaded en route. Faster and safer for fragile or high-value cargo; cheaper per m³ once volume is large.
Customs regime
The legal treatment declared for goods at the border — import for free circulation, temporary import, transit, or bonded warehousing. The regime sets which duties and documents apply.
Saryagach
The rail crossing between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan where cargo enters the country and is handed to O‘zbekiston Temir Yo‘llari. One of the two points where shipments most often wait.
Dostyk
The Kazakh border station opposite Alashankou where the track gauge changes from 1,435 mm to 1,520 mm, so containers transfer to Kazakh rolling stock. Covered by our KTZ transit partnership.
Khorgos
The China–Kazakhstan road and rail hub with a bonded warehouse zone. Cargo can be picked up from our Khorgos border warehouse instead of inland China, which shortens the Chinese leg.
Altynkol
The Kazakh rail station at Khorgos, used as the alternative to Dostyk when it is congested. Our KTZ partnership covers both.
Block train
A train that runs as one unit from origin to destination without being re-marshalled, which is why it holds a 15–18 day schedule from China to Tashkent.
TEU
Twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard way to count container volume. A 40ft container is 2 TEU; the automotive welding line we moved was 112 TEU.
GDP cold chain
Good Distribution Practice for medicines: the temperature range, usually +2…+8 °C, must be held and recorded for the whole journey. Records are handed over with the cargo.
Chargeable weight
Freight is billed on whichever is greater: actual weight or volumetric weight. It is why a light, bulky pallet can cost the same as a dense one.
A term missing here?
Ask us and we will add it — and answer your shipment question at the same time.