Short answerA quick glossary of the terms you will hear when moving merchandise between Mexico and the USA, from ASN and BOL to pedimento, in-bond and USMCA.
As a quick reference, here is a list of words frequently used in logistics between Mexico and the USA.
- ASN (Advance Shipping Notice)
- A notice sent to the warehouse before freight arrives, listing SKUs, quantities and pallets. It lets the warehouse receive faster and catch differences on arrival.
- BOL (Bill of Lading)
- The document that travels with a shipment and lists shipper, consignee, freight and carrier. It works as the receipt for the goods and the contract of carriage. You can fill one out with our free bilingual BOL generator.
- Continuous Bond
- A customs bond purchased by the importer of record. It covers all of the importer's entries for one year from the date of purchase.
- Crossdocking
- Products are unloaded from a truck, sorted, and reloaded directly onto outbound trucks to continue their journey, with little or no storage time. Crossdock in Laredo, Texas.
- eCommerce Distribution
- Fulfillment services for B2B and B2C shipments: storage, pick and pack, labeling and shipping of each order.
- FTL (Full Truckload)
- Shipments large enough to fill an entire semi-truck trailer. Unlike LTL, FTL freight is contracted to one carrier and rides alone, so there are no extra stops along the way.
- Importer of Record (IOR)
- The party responsible for an import into the USA: filing the entry, paying duties and making sure the goods comply with U.S. regulations.
- In-bond
- Merchandise that moves under a customs bond before it is formally entered. The in-bond must be closed (cancelled) when the goods reach their destination or are exported.
- LTL (Less Than Truckload)
- Transportation of goods that do not need a full trailer. Several separate shipments ride on the same truck, and each customer pays for the space it uses.
- NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana)
- Mexican official standards. Many products need NOM-compliant labeling or certification to be imported into Mexico.
- Pedimento
- The Mexican customs declaration that covers goods entering or leaving Mexico. It lists the tariff classification, value, taxes and the customs broker who files it.
- Pick and Pack
- A service that consists of selecting (picking) items from inventory and placing them in a box or on a pallet for shipment.
- Prepping
- Getting products ready to meet a buyer's or marketplace's requirements, such as Amazon FBA labels, bagging and box labels.
- Single Entry Bond
- A bond paid by the importer of record that covers only one shipment. It has a fixed cost plus a variable cost based on the value and type of merchandise.
- Transfer
- The truck that moves a trailer across the border between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. It is how the border-crossing carrier is commonly called on the Mexico–USA border.
- USMCA (T-MEC)
- The trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Qualifying goods can enter with preferential duties when they have a valid certification of origin.
