Reference
Import operations glossary: shipment, document, ETA, customs and cost terms
Plain definitions of the shipment, document, date, duty and cost terms used across Tyllus guides. Carrier, broker, contract and government definitions may carry additional legal or commercial meaning.
By Ayhan Karaca, Co-Founder · Updated: September 29, 2026
Partners and identifiers
The parties and references that appear on almost every ocean import.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Importer | The company bringing goods into the country and coordinating the inbound operation. In Tyllus, the team that owns the shipment record. |
| Supplier | The party that provides the goods, their readiness date and the commercial documents. |
| Freight forwarder | The transport coordinator asked for booking, stuffing and freight documents. A forwarder acting as an NVOCC can issue its own house bill of lading. |
| Customs broker | The licensed customs professional who handles the customs work agreed with the importer, such as preparing and filing entries. |
| Container number | A four-letter owner prefix plus seven digits that identifies a shipping container, for example MSCU 1234567. |
| Master bill of lading (MBL) | The bill of lading issued at the ocean-carrier level. Its number often supports carrier tracking. |
| House bill of lading (HBL) | The bill of lading a forwarder or NVOCC issues to its customer. It stays a separate reference from the master bill. |
| SCAC | Standard Carrier Alpha Code: a two-to-four-letter carrier code administered by NMFTA. Ocean bills often start with it, for example MEDU for MSC. |
Dates and milestones
Tyllus milestones include Created, Booked, Sailing, Arriving Soon, Arrived, and Completed. Detailed operating statuses explain what response or evidence is still waiting inside those milestones.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Readiness date | When the supplier expects cargo to be ready for pickup or loading. |
| ETD | Estimated time of departure: the expected sailing date, which can change. |
| ETA | Estimated time of arrival at the destination port. Carriers update it as the voyage progresses, so it is an estimate, not a promise. |
| ATD and ATA | Actual time of departure and actual time of arrival, recorded once a reliable source confirms the event. |
| Free time | The days a carrier or terminal allows before demurrage or detention charges start. Terms vary by contract, carrier and port. |
| Last free day (LFD) | The final day to pick up a container, or return the empty, before charges start. |
Documents and filings
The records an import team collects, checks and hands to the responsible filer.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Commercial invoice | The seller's invoice describing the goods, their value and the terms of sale. |
| Packing list | The document listing the packages, contents, quantities and weights in a shipment. |
| Arrival notice | The carrier's or forwarder's notice that cargo is arriving, with charges, pickup details and free time. |
| ISF (10+2) | Importer Security Filing: data about US-bound ocean cargo that must reach CBP before the goods are loaded at the foreign port. |
| CBP Form 7501 | The Entry Summary that records an entry's classification, value and duties. |
| Customs bond | A financial guarantee CBP requires for formal entries, securing payment of duties, taxes and fees and compliance with import rules. |
| ACE | Automated Commercial Environment: the CBP system through which the trade files, and CBP processes, import and export data. |
| General Order (GO) | CBP's process for merchandise not entered within 15 calendar days of arrival: it moves to a General Order warehouse at the importer's risk and expense. |
Duties, fees and charges
The cost terms that decide what a shipment finally costs.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| HTS code | The 10-digit classification number from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, published by USITC, that sets the duty rate for imported goods. |
| Section 301 duties | Additional tariffs imposed by the US Trade Representative under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, notably on many goods from China. |
| Section 232 duties | Additional tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on national-security grounds, for example on steel and aluminum. |
| De minimis (Section 321) | Duty-free treatment for low-value shipments under 19 U.S.C. 1321. It is suspended for covered US shipments ahead of its statutory repeal on 1 July 2027. |
| Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) | An ad valorem CBP user fee on most formal entries, with a minimum and maximum that CBP adjusts each fiscal year. |
| Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) | A fee of 0.125% of the value of commercial cargo unloaded at covered US ports. |
| Demurrage | A charge for a container or cargo that stays at the terminal beyond the allowed free time. |
| Detention | A charge for keeping the carrier's container outside the terminal beyond the allowed free time, usually until the empty is returned. |
| Incoterms | International Chamber of Commerce trade terms, such as FOB, CIF and DDP, that set which party arranges and pays for each delivery step and where risk passes. |
| Landed cost | The combined cost of bringing goods to the chosen destination under an organization's accounting method. Tyllus organizes the cost records but does not make tariff or tax determinations. |
What Tyllus workflow states mean
Needs attention is an operational state indicating a missing response, document, review, or manual action. It is not itself a legal status or carrier event.
| Term | Operational meaning | Accountable source | Does not mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accepted value | A reviewed value selected for the workflow | Authorized human or approved deterministic rule | Every AI extraction was correct |
| Landed cost | Cost layers assembled for a stated decision and method | Finance policy and source records | A universal tariff, tax, or accounting result |
| Needs attention | A response, document, review, or action remains unresolved | Current workflow evidence | A legal status or carrier event |
Use one operational language across the team.
Align the term, source, owner, and next decision before a status moves through the workflow.