Trade Resources & Shipping Glossary
Free reference guides for importers, exporters, freight forwarders and trade researchers — everything you need to read a bill of lading and understand global shipping.
EXW, FOB, CIF, DDP and all 11 international commercial terms explained.
Read guide →Bill of Lading, TEU, FCL/LCL, demurrage and 30+ key trade terms A–Z.
Read guide →How the Harmonized System works, with all 21 sections and 99 chapters.
Read guide →Sizes, capacity and weight limits for every standard shipping container.
Read guide →Major global ports with their UN/LOCODE identifiers.
Read guide →How to use these guides
Global trade runs on a shared vocabulary of documents, codes and terms. These free reference guides explain the ones you meet most often when reading trade data or arranging a shipment — so you can interpret a Bill of Lading record, quote the right Incoterm, look up a product's HS code, size a container load or decode a port identifier.
If you are working with our Bill of Lading data or customs data, start with the shipping & trade glossary to understand each field, then use the HS code guide to find your product and the Incoterms guide to understand who bears cost and risk at each stage.
Who these are for
Importers and exporters, freight forwarders and customs brokers, sales and procurement teams, and trade researchers — anyone who needs a quick, reliable reference while working with international shipments.