Legal Definitions - freight

The term freight has two primary meanings in legal and commercial contexts, both related to the transportation of goods:

• First, freight refers to the goods or cargo themselves that are being transported from one location to another by a commercial carrier. This can include items moved by land (truck, train), water (ship), or air (plane).

• Second, freight also refers to the payment or compensation charged by a carrier for the service of transporting these goods.

Here are some examples illustrating these meanings:

• Example 1 (Goods): A large electronics manufacturer ships several pallets of newly produced smartphones from its assembly plant in Vietnam to a major distribution hub in Germany via a cargo ship. In this scenario, the pallets of smartphones are considered the freight being moved across international waters.

  Explanation: This example demonstrates the first meaning of freight, where the term refers to the physical items—the smartphones—that are being commercially transported.

• Example 2 (Payment): A small artisanal bakery needs to send a bulk order of specialty flours from a supplier in Kansas to its facility in Oregon. The invoice from the railway company includes a charge of $800 labeled "freight cost" for the train transport.

  Explanation: Here, "freight" refers to the $800 payment made to the railway company for the service of shipping the flours, illustrating the second meaning of the term.

• Example 3 (Combined): An art gallery arranges for a delicate, oversized sculpture to be flown from Paris to New York for an exhibition. The gallery pays a premium fee to the air cargo company, which covers the specialized handling, secure crating, and rapid transit of the artwork. Both the sculpture itself and the fee paid for its transportation are referred to as freight in different aspects of this transaction.

  Explanation: This example highlights how "freight" can encompass both the valuable item being shipped (the sculpture) and the cost associated with its specialized and expedited transportation.