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Glossary
Rail has its own terminology that you may have never heard before if you’ve only dealt with trucks or ships. Below is a glossary of some terms you might see on the portal, or hear when talking to our staff.
Term | Definition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Booker / Booking Party | The customer that has created the booking. These are set up in your company account. | ACME Transport Auckland |
Booking ID | A unique identifier for a transportation request with KiwiRail. | “000BAB9874”, “000DND6969” |
CT Site | An intermodal rail terminal for container drop-off or uplift. KiwiRail has 17 CT sites across New Zealand. | Christchurch CT, Auckland CT |
Demurrage | Charges applied if a container remains at a CT site longer than allowed by their contract. | Uncollected container past 48 hours |
Destination | The rail terminal where freight is made available to the receiver. | Wellington |
DIFOT | Delivered In Full On Time: a metric for on-time freight delivery. | Freight arrival at 14:45 for 15:00 req |
Equipment ID | A unique identifier for containers, generators, or wagons. | Container - KRLU1234567, Wagon - ZHC1234 |
ET. Arrival | The estimated time of freight arrival at the rail destination. | 07:45 PM 04/05 |
ET. Departure | The estimated time of freight departure from the rail origin. | 11:30 AM 20/04 |
Freight Available at Origin | The time when the customer indicates that the equipment will be ready for transit. Used in DIFOT measurement. | 06:30 AM 18/04 |
Freight Required at Destination | The latest time for freight delivery at the destination, used in DIFOT measurement. | 03:07 PM 19/04 |
Hazardous Goods (Haz) or Dangerous Goods (DG) | Dangerous goods as defined by The Land Transport Rule: Dangerous Goods 2005. | LPG Tanks - UN 1075 Class 2.1 |
IMEX | Beef to America, Kmart stock from Australia | |
Origin | The originating rail terminal where freight is presented for transport. | Auckland |
Payer / Freight Payer | The customer responsible for the booking’s invoice. | ACME Group Limited |
PO / Note | Purchase Order or Special Notes added to the booking, shown on the invoice. | PO001 |
Preadvise | Sending us your manifest electronically by EDI or by using our preadvise website (Not currently part of the portal, but watch this space) | An electronic transaction telling us the equipment details for your booking. |
Rail Cut Off | The deadline for presenting freight at the rail origin for loading. | 03:15 PM 01/04 |
Receiver / Receiving Customer | The customer collecting freight at the rail destination. | ACME Transport Wellington |
Reefer (RF) | Refrigerated freight requiring power to maintain a set temperature. | 40' Reefer at -24°C |
Reference / Customer Reference | A customer-provided reference used for consignment traceability and invoicing. | ACME123-45A |
Release | The release number or carrier booking reference used by container parks and ports. | LINEREF001 |
Sender / Sending Customer | The customer presenting freight at the rail origin. | ACME Transport Auckland |
Shipping Line | The shipping line responsible for export or import containers. | ANL, Maersk, MSC, ONE, ZIM. |
Siding | A private rail site operated by a third party, often at ports or large customer sites. | Napier Port, Centreport, Mainfreight Christchurch, TGE Auckland |
Status | Defines the status of a booking or equipment in relation to its journey with KiwiRail. | Booking Status - Checked Out |
UN Class | A number identifying the class to which dangerous goods belong. | Class 3 - Flammable Liquids |
UN Number | A four-digit number identifying dangerous goods. | UN 1987 - Alcohols |
Waybill Number | The invoice number generated by KiwiRail for your booking. | X1234567 |
Understanding Equipment and Booking Status
Equipment Status
Firstly, the equipment status, listed in the stage sequence of their rail journey:
Booking Status
The booking status will represent the equipment at a higher level:
Booking status example
A booking could have several equipment at different stages of their journey. The booking status will reflect the furthermost progressed equipment.
You created a booking 000ABC1234 for 2 equipment to travel with KiwiRail:
Container #1 KRLU1230001 is in the equipment status Booked (1) and is yet to be checked in to KiwiRail.
Container #2 KRLU1230002 is in the equipment status Checked In (3) and is ready to commence rail transit.
The booking these equipment are in will show the Checked In (3) booking status as that represents the equipment that has progressed most.
If there’s a term you think should be covered in this glossary, please use the feedback button and let us know.