Shipping Glossary

Shipping Glossary: What Each Term Costs You

Plain-English definitions for the 32 USPS and UPS terms that show up on an invoice, with what each one changes about the price.

Most shipping jargon is not decoration: each term names a rule that decides what a label costs or when a parcel arrives. Dimensional weight, cubic pricing, residential surcharges and postage-due adjustments all change the number on the invoice. These 32 definitions say what the term means and when it applies to you.

Each definition is deliberately short and links out to the page that answers the money question, because the rate table, not the definition, is where the decision gets made.

Pricing by box size rather than scale weight, using a divisor of 139 across all three carriers

A USPS commercial rate tier that prices Priority Mail by volume instead of weight

Commercial Plus Pricing

The deepest USPS discount tier, reached through volume or through a platform that aggregates it

Ground Advantage

USPS's standard ground service: up to 70 lbs, 2-5 business days, $100 insurance included

Flat Rate Shipping

A fixed box price that ignores weight and zone, which helps on heavy far parcels and hurts on light ones

Zone-Based Pricing

The rate structure where cost rises with the distance between origin and destination ZIP codes

Shipping Insurance

Coverage that reimburses the declared value of a package lost, stolen, or damaged in transit

Tracking Number

The unique code assigned when a label is created, used to confirm delivery and file claims

USPS Media Mail

A discounted USPS service restricted to books, recorded media, and educational materials

Signature Confirmation

An add-on that requires someone at the address to sign before the carrier releases the package

A prepaid label that lets a recipient send a package back without paying postage at drop-off

The printed document a carrier reads to route, bill, and track a package at machine speed

The declaration attached to an international shipment stating contents, value, and origin

HAZMAT Shipping

The regulated transport of dangerous goods such as lithium batteries, aerosols, and perfume

Package Tracking

The scan trail that tells you whether a shipment is fine, stalled, or already a claim

One master barcode that accepts an entire batch of USPS packages into the network at once

Seasonal holiday fees carriers stack on top of base rates and existing accessorials from October to mid-January

Residential Surcharge

A UPS and FedEx fee for delivering to a home address, applied on the carrier's own classification

The customs classification number that sets the duty rate and import rules for a product

Standard trade terms that define who pays shipping and duty and where risk transfers

Two delivery terms that decide whether you prepay import duties or your buyer pays at the door

Billable Weight

The greater of a package's scale weight and its dimensional weight, which is what carriers charge

The distance around a package's two smaller sides, added to length to test oversize limits

A USPS service that creates a mailing receipt and a delivery record for important documents

Registered Mail

USPS's most secure service, with signed chain-of-custody handling for valuables

Informed Delivery

A free USPS service that emails recipients grayscale previews of incoming mail and packages

USPS Package Intercept

A paid USPS request to redirect, return, or hold a package after it ships but before delivery

A USPS charge for the difference when a reweighed package needed more postage than you paid

USPS Regional Rate Boxes

A retired USPS Priority Mail box line that priced heavy, compact parcels by zone instead of weight

Automated Package Verification (APV)

The USPS system that reweighs and remeasures parcels in transit and corrects the postage

A weekly-resetting percentage UPS and FedEx add to the base transportation charge

Additional Handling Surcharge

A UPS and FedEx fee for parcels that resist automated sorting by length, shape, weight, or packaging

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