Glossary of Terms
Commercial friction: Any process, data, action, and/or organization that slows the flow of goods through trade lanes.
Cooperative governance model: A “Policy Governance” model which separates issues of organizational purpose (ends) from all other organizational issues (means); the governing board will place primary importance on those ends; while the staff or utility company provides the means to accomplish the outcome desired by the governing board. The board exists on the members’ behalf and is accountable to the members to assure that the organization works.
Customs and Border Patrol (CBP): Component of the Department of Homeland Security responsible for securing and facilitating trade and travel while enforcing U.S. regulations, including terrorism, immigration, weapons, and drug laws.
Electronic Freight Management (EFM): A United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)-sponsored project that applies Web technologies to improve data and message transmissions between supply chain partners.
Independent rate-setting entity: An entity which oversees the rates charged by the for-profit utility to the members for various repeatable services.
Neutral exchange: A data exchange that protects each member’s data while sharing the data with those that already have access to that data.
Nodal peers: Members that have a common region and a common need.
Nodal silos: A region that is bound by their inability to work together.
Reducing friction between nodal peers and nodal silos: Regions and members working together through improved data flows, processes, advocacy, and visibility to improve the timing and predictability of logistics and product flows across trade lanes, both domestic and global.
Return on equity (ROE) from cooperative: Return on equity (ROE, Return on average common equity, return on net worth) measures the rate of return on the ownership interest (shareholders' equity) of the common stock owners of the cooperative.
Service level agreements (SLA): The part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined. In practice, the term SLA is sometimes used to refer to the contracted delivery time (of the service) or performance.
Standardized: Using common repeatable processes across a cooperative community to generate benefits to members.
Supply chain visibility: The ability to access or view relevant data or information as it relates to logistics and the supply chain.
Trade Data Exchange (TDE): A global automated logistics data clearinghouse that is industry lead, self-governing, and self-sustaining.