H

Hague Rules
International convention for the unification of certain rules, relating to Bills of Lading (1924). These Rules include the description of responsibilities of ocean carriers.

Hague-Visby Rules
Set of rules, published in 1968, amending the Hague Rules.

Half Height
Identical to the open top, but with 4'3" ends and not the standard 8'6". Suitable for the carriage of heavy cargo as the box weight is considerably less. 20' only

Hamburg Rules
United Nations Convention on the carriage of goods by sea of 1978 adopted in 1992.

Handling Instructions
Indication how cargo is to be handled.

Handling Service
Service concerning the physical handling of cargo.

Harbour
Place of shelter for vessels. Most of the time used as an indication for the geographical location.

Harmonized System
Abbreviation: HS
A numeric multi purpose system, developed by the Customs Cooperation Council, for the classification of goods with its six digits it covers about 5000 descriptions of the products or groups of products most commonly produced and traded. It is designed for customs services, but can also be used for statistics, transport purposes, export, import and manufacturing.

Hatch Cover
Watertight means of closing the hatchway of a vessel.

Hatch Way
Opening in the deck of a vessel through which cargo is loaded into, or discharged from the hold and which is closed by means of a hatch cover.

Haulage
The inland carriage of cargo or containers between named locations/points.
Synonym: Cartage.

Haulier
Road carrier.

H/C-High Cube
Identical to the GP, but with 9'6" sides and not the standard 8'6". 40' only

Header Board
See Bulkhead (roadcargo).

Heated Container
Thermal container served by a heat producing appliance.

Heavy Lift
Single commodity exceeding the capacity of normal loading equipment and requiring special equipment and rigging methods for handling.

Heavy Lift Vessel
A vessel specially designed and equipped for the carriage of heavy cargo.

Hedging
Buying or selling earlier and more than really needed in order to protect the company against price increases or shortages of commodities or components to realize profits when prices fluctuate.

Heuristic
The process of solving problems by evaluating each step in the progress, searching for satisfactory solutions rather than optimal solutions. It comprises a form of problem solving where the results are determined by experience or intuition instead of by optimization.

Hinterland
The inland area served by a certain port.

Hitchment Cargo
An amount of goods which is added to an original consignment as the owner and the destination are the same as those of the original consignment.

Hogged
Loading condition of a vessel in such a way that the centre of the vessel is slightly raized (arch-wise in the centre).

Hold
The space below the deck of a vessel, used to carry cargo.

Home Port
The port of registration of a vessel.

House Address
Place of receipt respectively delivery (name and address) in case of carrier haulage.

House to House Transport
The transport of cargo from the premises of the consignor to the premises of the consignee.
Synonym: Door to Door Transport, Point to Point Transport.
Note: In the United States the term 'Point to Point Transport' is used instead of the term 'Door to Door Transport', because the term 'house' may mean 'customs house' or 'brokers house', which are usually located in the port.

HS
See Harmonized System.

Hub
The central transhipment point in a transport structure, serving a number of consignees and/or consignors by means of spokes. The stretches between hubs mutually are referred to as trunks.

Huckepack Carriage
See Piggyback.

Hull
Outer shell of a vessel, made of steel plates or other suitable material to keep water outside the vessel.

Husbanding
Taking care of a vessel's non cargo related operations as instructed the by the master or owner of such vessel.