Maximum weight of a vessel including the vessel, cargo and ballast.

When a truck returning from a delivery has no return freight on the back haul, it is said to be in deadhead.

Transports heavy or oversize cargoes mounted to its top deck instead of inside a hold. Machinery, appliances, project cargoes and even recreational vehicles move on deck barges.

A penalty fee assessed when cargo isn’t moved off a wharf before the free time allowance ends.

(verb) - To bring in a vessel to tie up at a wharf berth. (One parks a car, but docks a ship.) (noun) - A dock is a structure built along, or at an angle from, a navigable waterway so that vessels may lie alongside to receive or discharge cargo. Sometimes, the whole wharf is informally called a dock.

A charge by a port authority for the length of water frontage used by a vessel tied up at a wharf.

The depth of a loaded vessel in the water taken from the level of the waterline to the lowest point of the hull of the vessel; depth of water, or distance between the bottom of the ship and waterline.

Transport by truck for short distances; e.g. from wharf to warehouse..

(noun) A waterborne machine that removes unwanted silt accumulations from the bottom of a waterway. (verb) The process of removing sediment from harbor or river bottoms for safety purposes and to allow for deeper vessels.

Minerals or grains stored in loose piles moving without mark or count. Examples are potash, industrial sands, wheat, soybeans and peanuts.

Wood or other material used in stowing ship cargo to prevent its movement.

A government tax on imported merchandise.