Removals has more jargon than it needs, and some of it is used to make quotations harder to compare. Here is all of it in plain English, with what each term means for your move and, where it matters, for your bill.
Last reviewed:
60 terms
The removals company at the other end that clears your goods through customs, collects them from the port and delivers them into your new home. Almost no mover owns crews in every country, so an agent is normal — what matters is which one, and whether anybody will tell you its name.
Watch out: Ask for the agent’s company name before your goods sail. “Our trusted partner” is not an answer.
The air freight equivalent of a bill of lading: the contract between you and the airline, and the document the goods travel under. Unlike a bill of lading it is not a document of title, so it cannot be traded or held as security.
The notification from the shipping line or agent that your vessel has berthed and your container is available. It usually starts the clock on free days at the port.
Watch out: This is the moment the expensive clock starts. If you are not ready, say so before it arrives, not after.
The central document in sea freight. It is three things at once: a receipt for the goods, the contract of carriage, and a document of title — meaning whoever holds the original can claim the cargo. Most household moves now use an express or ‘telex’ release, which removes the need to courier originals around the world.
The regime of inspections and treatments a country uses to stop pests, seeds, soil and plant disease arriving with imported goods. Australia and New Zealand run the strictest versions.
Watch out: Biosecurity charges are almost never included in freight. Budget for them separately. See what your quote doesn’t include.
A pest that Australia and several other countries guard against seasonally, from 1 September to 30 April. Goods from some countries must be fumigated as a condition of entry.
Watch out: Australia classes the UK as an emerging risk country rather than a target risk country, so UK shipments face random inspection rather than mandatory fumigation. A lot of UK websites get this wrong.
A customs-controlled warehouse where imported goods can sit before duty and tax have been paid or relief granted. Useful when a visa or residence permit has not come through yet, because the customs clock does not run while the goods are in bond.
Watch out: Charged by the day. It is a bridge, not a plan. See storage.
Cargo shipped loose rather than in a container — on pallets, in crates, or as individual items lifted aboard. Rare for household goods now, but still used for boats, vehicles and anything that will not fit in a box.
The standard unit of volume in international removals. One cubic metre is about 35 cubic feet. Volume, not weight, is what you are charged for on almost every household move, because a container fills up long before it gets heavy.
Watch out: A quotation without a stated volume cannot be compared with another quotation. Always get the number.
On air freight, the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric weight — a formula that converts the space something occupies into a notional weight. Light bulky things are charged on volume, dense things on weight.
Watch out: This is why a duvet costs more to fly than its weight suggests. See air freight.
The person the goods are being shipped to — normally you, at your new address. Named on the bill of lading.
The steel box your goods travel in. A 20ft holds roughly 33 cubic metres and suits a two to three bedroom house; a 40ft holds roughly 67 and suits a four bedroom or larger. A high cube is a 40ft with about a foot of extra height.
Watch out: Height restrictions at some destinations make a high cube impractical for road delivery. Your agent will know.
Building a custom wooden case around something fragile or valuable — a marble top, a large mirror, artwork, a chandelier. Charged per item and worth it for the things you would be distraught to lose.
The process of declaring your goods to the destination country’s customs authority and obtaining release. For a genuine household move this usually means claiming relief from duty and tax rather than paying it, which is why the paperwork matters so much.
Customs opening or scanning your container. A scan is quick and cheap. A full examination means the container is taken away, completely unloaded, inspected and repacked by people who are not your crew.
Watch out: The authority does not usually charge for the examination. The terminal, the examination station and the haulier do, and demurrage runs while you wait. See the costs page.
A daily charge for leaving your container inside the port beyond the free days you were allowed. Rates step up the longer it sits.
Watch out: The single largest avoidable cost on most international moves. If your keys are going to be late, move the goods to storage before the free days expire.
Everything payable at the far end: terminal handling, customs entry, quarantine inspection, delivery to your door, and the agent’s handling. They are a real and substantial part of the cost of any move.
Watch out: “Destination charges payable on arrival” is not a quotation. Ask for a figure.
A daily charge for keeping the container itself beyond the agreed free period once it has left the terminal — it is the line’s box, and they want it back. Different from demurrage, which is charged while it is still inside the port.
Unloading a container. The word turns up most often in ‘devanning examination’, which is customs emptying your container completely to inspect it.
A service that runs from your old home to your new one, including collection, shipping, customs clearance and delivery. Contrast with door to port, where the price stops when the vessel arrives and everything after that is yours to arrange and pay for.
Watch out: Cheap quotes are often door to port. Check which you are being offered before comparing prices.
The packing, bracing and strapping used to stop a load moving inside a container at sea. Good dunnage is most of the difference between goods that arrive intact and goods that do not.
Estimated time of arrival and estimated time of departure. Both are estimates, and on ocean freight they move. A week either side is routine; longer is not unusual.
A surcharge recovering the cost of emissions allowances under the UK and EU emissions trading schemes, which now cover shipping. The UK scheme began applying to maritime on 1 July 2026.
Watch out: Ask whether it is inside your quoted freight or passed through at cost.
Packing to a standard built for sea transit rather than a move across town: everything wrapped, corrugated and boxed, furniture blanket-wrapped and sealed, nothing loose. It takes longer than domestic packing, and that is the point.
You have a container to yourself. It is sealed at your home and not opened again until it reaches you, which is faster and lower risk than sharing.
The number of days after arrival before port storage and demurrage start. Typically a handful, and shorter than people expect.
Watch out: Find out your number before the vessel sails, not after it lands.
A company that arranges transport without owning the ships. Most international removers act as forwarders for the sea leg while doing the packing and delivery themselves.
Chemical treatment of goods or a container to kill pests, ordered by a biosecurity authority either as a routine requirement or after an inspection finds something.
Watch out: Cleaning outdoor items properly before packing is the cheapest insurance against this there is.
Sharing a container with other people’s shipments, each taking the space it needs. Cheaper than a container to yourself, slower because the container waits to fill and is unpacked at a depot at the other end.
Watch out: If an examination is ordered, the cost is normally split between everybody in the box.
A container of standard length but roughly a foot taller, giving useful extra volume. See Container.
The trade’s term for your furniture and personal effects as a category of cargo. Worth knowing because customs regimes and duty reliefs are written around it.
The numbered list of everything shipped, made as it is packed. It is the basis of your insurance claim, your customs declaration and any dispute about what arrived.
Watch out: Vague entries like ‘box of miscellaneous’ raise the odds of a customs examination. Insist on detail.
A data filing required by United States customs, lodged at least 24 hours before your container is loaded at the UK port. Also called ‘10+2’.
Watch out: Late or inaccurate filings carry penalties of up to US$5,000. Your agent files it; make sure they have your details in time.
The shipping term for a shipment too small to fill a container, consolidated with others. In household removals this is usually called groupage.
A wooden case, typically around five or six cubic metres, used to consolidate household goods inside a shared container. Common on moves to the United States.
Carrying goods further between the vehicle and the door than the quotation allowed for. Charged because it is crew time, and crew time is most of the cost of a removal.
The list of everything aboard a vessel or in a container, lodged with customs. Your packing list feeds into it.
Cover for your goods while they are in transit, priced as a percentage of the value you declare. Carrier liability is not the same thing and is not a substitute: it is a limited sum per unit of weight, set by convention.
Watch out: Ask whether cover is on a valued inventory, item by item, or a single total — and what the excess is.
The mirror of destination charges: terminal handling, documentation and customs formalities at the UK end. Usually inside a quoted price, but confirm it.
The box-by-box breakdown of your shipment, keyed to your inventory numbers. Several countries require it in a specific format and will not clear goods without it.
A road freight term for sharing a lorry with other consignments, mostly used on European moves. The road equivalent of groupage.
Watch out: Cheaper than a dedicated vehicle, and the delivery date is a window rather than a date. See European moves.
Where your container is put aboard and where it comes off. Not necessarily the ports nearest to either address, and the inland legs at each end are a real part of the cost.
The visit or video call where somebody measures what you are shipping and establishes the volume. Everything downstream — the price, the vehicle, the container size, the crew — comes from this number.
Watch out: A quote given without any survey is a guess. If the volume is wrong, the price will change later.
Holding or treating goods on arrival to protect agriculture and the environment. Used interchangeably with biosecurity in everyday speech.
A vessel vehicles are driven on and off, used for cars, vans and plant. Usually cheaper than putting a vehicle in a container, but nothing can be packed inside the vehicle.
Watch out: See shipping a vehicle, including the part about whether you should.
The numbered bolt locking your container, recorded on the bill of lading. If it arrives intact with the right number, nobody has been inside.
The person sending the goods — you, at the UK end. Also called the consignor.
A smaller van used to ferry goods between your door and a removal lorry that cannot reach it, because of a narrow lane, a weight limit, a gate or a tree.
Watch out: Flag access problems at survey. A smaller vehicle for the whole job is often cheaper than shuttling.
Carrying goods up or down stairs beyond what the quotation assumed, usually because there is no lift or the lift will not take furniture.
Storage of your goods as part of the move rather than as a separate arrangement — at origin before shipping, or at destination before delivery.
Watch out: Storage at destination is almost always cheaper than demurrage at the port. See storage.
Loading and unloading a container. ‘Stuffed at residence’ means the container was loaded at your home rather than at a depot, which means your goods are handled once instead of twice.
The port’s charge for lifting your container on or off the vessel and moving it around the terminal. Levied at both ends, in local currency, on a published tariff.
Watch out: Commonly left out of headline quotes at the destination end. Ask whether yours includes both.
The application that relieves duty and tax on belongings brought into the UK when you move here. You must have lived abroad for at least twelve consecutive months, owned the goods for at least six months, and import them within twelve months of moving.
Watch out: HMRC publishes no processing time, so any figure you see quoted is a guess. Apply as early as you can.
The time from vessel departure to vessel arrival. It is not the time from your front door to your new one, which also includes collection, consolidation, clearance and delivery — commonly three to five weeks more.
Watch out: Compare door-to-door timings, not sailing times, or you will be comparing different things.
Moving your container from one vessel to another at an intermediate port. Normal on routes without a direct service, and a common reason for delay.
Goods shipped separately from you rather than carried as baggage. The category most household shipments fall into, and the one customs reliefs are usually written around.
An inventory with a replacement value against each item or group, used as the basis for insurance cover. Tedious to complete and the thing that decides whether a claim is paid properly.
Watch out: Do it honestly. Under-declaring to save premium is how people end up part-compensated.
The older unit still common in UK removals. Multiply cubic metres by 35.3 to get cubic feet, or divide the other way.
Watch out: Make sure you are comparing quotes in the same unit. 1,000 cubic feet and 1,000 cubic metres are not remotely the same move.
Crew and vehicle time lost while something outside the mover’s control is resolved — keys not released, a completion running late, a lift not booked.
The charge for receiving goods into store and for taking them out again, separate from the storage itself. Quoted as handling in, storage per week, handling out.
Watch out: Ask for all three figures. A low weekly rate with high handling charges is not a cheap deal on a short store.
Nothing matches that. Try a shorter word, or clear the search — and if it is a term somebody has used on you and it is not here, tell us and we will add it.
Send us the quotation or the email you do not understand and we will translate it, including when the answer is that it is a perfectly good quote. Working out what you are being charged for should not require a trade dictionary.