The Port of Baltimore has its own names and the trade has its own words. This glossary defines the terms a logistics manager meets on a Baltimore move, in plain language, grouped by where they come up. For how the terms fit together in practice, see the terminals map, the drayage guide and the FTZ 74 guide.
Baltimore places
Seagirt Marine Terminal. The Port of Baltimore container terminal, owned by the Maryland Port Administration and operated by Ports America Chesapeake. It has 50 ft berths, 12 ship-to-shore cranes and an on-dock CSX rail yard.
Dundalk Marine Terminal. The MPA terminal next to Seagirt for autos, ro-ro, farm and construction machinery, breakbulk and forest products. It covers 570 acres with 13 berths and Norfolk Southern direct rail.
Fairfield and Masonville. The MPA auto terminals on the south side of the harbor, next to the private Amports Chesapeake and Atlantic terminals.
Locust Point. The peninsula on the city side of the harbor holding the MPA breakbulk terminal at North Locust Point, the Cruise Maryland Terminal at South Locust Point and the Domino Sugar refinery.
Tradepoint Atlantic. The 3,300-acre private port and logistics site at Sparrows Point on the former Bethlehem Steel property. All of it sits inside FTZ No. 74.
Sparrows Point Container Terminal (SPCT). The 168-acre container terminal under construction at Tradepoint Atlantic by Tradepoint and TiL, the MSC-affiliated operator. First berth 2028, full build 2030.
Key Bridge. The Francis Scott Key Bridge carried I-695 across the Patapsco River until it collapsed on March 26, 2024. The rebuild opens in late 2030.
Harbor tunnels. The I-95 Fort McHenry Tunnel and the I-895 Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, the only cross-harbor highway routes until the bridge reopens. Hazmat and loads over 14 ft 6 in high or 11 ft wide may not use them.
Howard Street Tunnel. The CSX freight tunnel under downtown Baltimore, raised 18 inches in a project completed in 2025 so double-stack trains can run from Seagirt to the Midwest.
MPA. The Maryland Port Administration, the state agency that owns the public terminals of the Port of Baltimore.
Cargo types and equipment
TEU. Twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measure of container volume. A 40 ft container counts as two TEU.
Ro-ro. Roll-on, roll-off. Cargo that drives or is towed on and off a vessel over a ramp: cars, trucks, tractors, excavators and anything on a roll trailer.
High and heavy. Ro-ro cargo that is not a passenger car: farm and construction machinery, trucks and oversize wheeled units. Baltimore is the No. 1 US port for it.
Breakbulk. Cargo lifted on and off a vessel piece by piece rather than in containers: steel coils, rolled paper, wood pulp, machinery and project pieces.
Project cargo. Large, heavy or high-value pieces that need engineered lifting and routing, such as transformers, generators and press frames.
Forest products. Rolled paper, wood pulp and lumber. Baltimore is the No. 1 US port for them, with covered sheds at Dundalk.
Neo-Panamax. A ship or crane sized for the expanded Panama Canal locks. Seagirt has four Neo-Panamax cranes reaching 18 containers wide and eight Super Neo-Panamax cranes reaching 22 and 24 wide.
Chassis. The wheeled trailer frame a container rides on behind a tractor. A tri-axle chassis carries overweight boxes and a genset chassis powers a reefer on the road.
Reefer. A refrigerated container. Seagirt has 350 reefer plugs for powered storage on terminal.
RTG. Rubber-tired gantry crane, the yard crane that stacks containers. Seagirt runs 22 diesel RTGs and 15 hybrid electric units.
Moving the freight
Drayage. The truck move between a marine terminal and the first inland point: a warehouse, transload dock, rail ramp or customer.
Free time. The days a container may stay on the terminal, or out of it, before charges begin. Set by the ocean carrier.
Demurrage. The charge for a container that stays on the terminal past its free time.
Detention. The charge for a container kept outside the terminal past its free time. Also called per diem.
Per diem. Daily detention charged by the ocean carrier for a container not yet returned empty.
Transload. Moving freight from one container or trailer to another, usually from a 40 ft import container into a 53 ft domestic trailer at a dock near the port.
Cross-dock. Receiving freight on one dock and shipping it out on another with little or no storage in between.
Intermodal. Freight that moves in the same container on more than one mode, typically ship to rail to truck.
Double-stack. A rail car carrying two containers one on top of the other. Live from Seagirt to the Midwest since June 2026.
On-dock rail. A rail yard inside the terminal, so a container moves from vessel to train without a street truck. Seagirt has an on-dock CSX yard within 1,000 ft of the berth.
Over-dimensional. A load that exceeds legal height, width, length or weight for the highway. In Baltimore, over 14 ft 6 in high or 11 ft wide also means no harbor tunnel.
Hazmat. Hazardous materials as classified for transport. Lithium-ion battery storage units are Class 9 (UN3536), and placarded hazmat may not use the Baltimore harbor tunnels.
TWIC. Transportation Worker Identification Credential, the federal card a driver needs for unescorted access to secure areas of a port terminal.
Customs and trade
FTZ. Foreign trade zone, a site treated as outside US customs territory for duty purposes. Goods pay duty when they leave for US consumption and never when re-exported. Baltimore’s zone is FTZ No. 74.
ASF. Alternative Site Framework, the FTZ Board procedure that lets a grantee designate a usage-driven site for one operator anywhere in its service area with a minor boundary modification. FTZ 74 uses it.
Bonded warehouse. A CBP-licensed warehouse where imported goods are stored under bond with duty paid at withdrawal, for storage only, within a fixed period.
Drawback. A refund of duty paid on imported goods that are later exported or destroyed under CBP supervision.
TIB. Temporary Importation under Bond, duty-free entry for a limited period for goods that will be exported, such as repair items or demonstration units.
HTS. Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, the classification that decides the duty rate and which tariff programs apply.
ISF. Importer Security Filing, the data an importer or its agent files with CBP before an ocean shipment is loaded abroad.
Customs broker. A person or company licensed by CBP to file entries on behalf of importers. Baltimore 3PL is not a customs broker. Clearance is coordinated through our licensed customs broker partners.
How Baltimore 3PL uses this
Every term above is a step the desk coordinates for you: drayage partners for the terminal move, intermodal rail for the double-stack lane, and FTZ and bonded warehouse partners for the customs side. One desk, every building.
What to send for a quote
- What the cargo is, in your words, and the desk translates it
- Container count or piece count with dimensions and weights
- Pickup terminal if known, or the ocean carrier and vessel
- Delivery address and any hazmat or over-dimensional detail
- The term on this page you need explained for your specific move
Send it to the quote desk and you get a plain answer within one business day.
Questions shippers ask
01What is a TEU?
A twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measure of container volume. A 20 ft container is one TEU and a 40 ft container is two. Seagirt handled 1,113,309 TEU in 2025.
02What is the difference between ro-ro and breakbulk?
Ro-ro cargo drives or rolls on and off the ship on its own wheels or a trailer. Breakbulk is lifted on and off piece by piece by crane. Dundalk Marine Terminal handles both.
03What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
Demurrage is charged while a container sits on the terminal past its free days. Detention, or per diem, is charged while it is outside the terminal past its free days.