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Eight words worth knowing
The terms that come up first when you rent a chassis, haul from the port or buy a truck.
- Chassis and containersContainer chassisA wheeled steel frame built to carry a shipping container on the road. The container locks onto it at the corners, and a truck tractor pulls the pair like a semi-trailer.Full entry
- Chassis and containersTridemA group of three axles set close together at the rear of a trailer or chassis. A tridem spreads a heavy load over more tires than a two-axle tandem.Full entry
- Chassis and containersExtendable chassisA container chassis whose rear section slides out so one frame can carry longer containers, such as 53 ft boxes, then close up again for shorter ones.Full entry
- Chassis and containersGooseneck chassisA 40 ft container chassis with a raised front section that fits into the tunnel under a 40 ft container’s floor, so the box rides lower on the frame.Full entry
- Chassis and containersTwist lockThe rotating lock at a corner of a chassis that fits into a container’s corner casting. Turning its handle swings the head crosswise so the container can’t lift off.Full entry
- Rules and complianceCVICommercial Vehicle Inspection: BC’s periodic safety inspection for commercial trucks, trailers and buses, done at a designated inspection facility. A passed unit gets a decal showing when it expires.Full entry
- Port and drayagePer diemA daily charge for keeping a shipping line’s container or a provider’s chassis after the free time runs out, until it is returned.Full entry
- Buying and financeLease-to-ownA lease that builds toward ownership: you make regular payments for a set term, and at the end the equipment becomes yours or you can buy it for a set amount.Full entry
See it
Know the parts
Three drawings that explain more than a paragraph can. Pick a part, a size or a layout.
Chassis anatomy
Thirteen parts of a container chassis, from the kingpin to the rear impact guard.
Schematic drawing of a 40′ tridem container chassis carrying a 40′ container; not to scale. Pick a number to see the part. Swipe the drawing sideways to see the rear.
1 / 13
Corner casting
The reinforced steel block at each corner of a shipping container, with oval holes that cranes, stacking cones and twist locks grip.
Read the full entryCorner casting
The reinforced steel block at each corner of a shipping container, with oval holes that cranes, stacking cones and twist locks grip.
Full entry Corner castingBolster
The cross beam at the front or rear of a container chassis that carries the container’s corners and holds its pins or twist locks.
Full entry BolsterContainer
A steel shipping box built to the International Organization for Standardization’s standard sizes, so ships, cranes, trains and chassis anywhere can handle it.
Full entry ISO containerMain rails
The two long steel beams that run the length of a chassis or trailer frame and carry the load between the kingpin and the axles.
Full entry Main railsTwist lock
The rotating lock at a corner of a chassis that fits into a container’s corner casting. Turning its handle swings the head crosswise so the container can’t lift off.
Full entry Twist lockLights
The lamps, reflectors and red-and-white reflective tape a trailer or chassis carries so other drivers can see it. They’re on the daily trip inspection list.
Full entry Lights and reflectorsGlad hands
The pair of coupling heads that connect a tractor’s air lines to a trailer or chassis: one for the emergency (supply) line and one for the service (control) line.
Full entry Glad handsKingpin
The steel pin under the front of a trailer or chassis that locks into the truck tractor’s fifth wheel. The trailer pivots on it and is pulled through it.
Full entry KingpinLanding gear
The pair of crank-down legs near the front of a trailer or chassis that hold it up when no tractor is under it.
Full entry Landing gearSuspension
The springs or air bags, hangers and arms that connect the axles to the frame. Chassis and trailers ride on steel leaf springs or on air bags (air ride).
Full entry SuspensionTridem axles
A group of three axles set close together at the rear of a trailer or chassis. A tridem spreads a heavy load over more tires than a two-axle tandem.
Full entry TridemMud flap
The rubber flap behind a set of wheels that stops the tires throwing water, mud and stones at the vehicles behind.
Full entry Mud flapRear impact guard
The steel bar low across the back of a trailer that stops a car from sliding under it in a rear-end crash.
Full entry Rear impact guard
Container sizes
The four container lengths you meet around the port, to scale, and the chassis that take each one.
Lengths drawn to scale against each other; heights exaggerated so the high-cube step shows.
20′ container
The unit ports count in: one twenty-foot equivalent unit.
- Type
- ISO marine container
- Outside length
- about 6.1 m (20 ft)
- Outside width
- 2.438 m (8 ft)
- Counts as
- 1 TEU
Our rental chassis that take it
40′ container
Two TEUs in one box, in standard and high-cube heights.
- Type
- ISO marine container
- Outside length
- 12.192 m (40 ft)
- Outside width
- 2.438 m (8 ft)
- High-cube height
- about 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
- Counts as
- 2 TEU (1 FEU)
Our rental chassis that take it
45′ container
Longer than a 40′, so it needs a chassis built or extended for 45 ft.
- Type
- ISO marine container
- Outside length
- 13.716 m (45 ft)
Our rental chassis that take it
53′ container
A domestic box for rail and road in North America, not an ocean container.
- Type
- North American domestic container
Our rental chassis that take it
In the glossary
Sources: US Customs and Border Protection container codes · Statistics Canada · TERMIUM Plus, checked 5 Oct 2026.
Axle layouts
What 4×2, 6×4 and 6×2 mean on a truck’s spec sheet.
Driven Not driven
4×2 Four wheel positions, two of them driven: a steer axle and one drive axle.
6×4 Six wheel positions, four of them driven: a steer axle and two drive axles side by side (a tandem drive).
6×2 Six wheel positions, two of them driven: one drive axle, with a tag or pusher axle beside it that carries weight but isn’t driven.
The first number counts wheel positions (each end of each axle; a pair of dual tires counts once). The second counts the positions the engine drives.
Read the full entryA to Z
Every term, explained
153 plain definitions, each with the guides and pages that use it.
No term matches that yet.
Show every term, or ask us: 604-501-2233
#Numbers and symbols
Also: $1 buyout · $1 out lease · one-dollar buyout · dollar buyout lease
A lease where you own the equipment at the end for a nominal $1. You pay off its whole cost over the term, so it works much like a loan written as a lease.
Where to next about $1 buyout lease
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ALetter A
Also: A train · A-trains
A truck tractor pulling a semi-trailer and then a second semi-trailer on an A dolly (or a full trailer), hitched to the first trailer at a single point.
Source: BC Commercial Transport Regulations, checked
Read more about A-train
The dolly adds a pivot between the two trailers that a B-train doesn’t have.
Also: air brake ticket · air brake certificate · air brakes endorsement
The addition to a BC driver’s licence that you need to drive a vehicle with air brakes on a highway.
Source: ICBC, checked
Read more about Air brake endorsement
To get one you complete an air brake course and pass a knowledge test and a pre-trip test. Class 1 MELT includes air brake training.
Also: air brake system · air brake · spring brakes
The braking system on heavy trucks, trailers and chassis: compressed air applies the service brakes, and strong springs apply the brakes if the air is lost.
Read more about Air brakes
A compressor on the engine fills the tanks, and the pedal sends air to a brake chamber at each wheel. The spring brakes double as the parking brake. In BC you need an air brake endorsement to drive a vehicle with air brakes.
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Also: amortization period · amortize · amortized · amortization schedule
Paying off a loan in regular instalments that cover the interest and part of the balance, so the balance reaches zero at the end. The schedule shows how each payment splits.
Where to next about Amortization
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Also: automated manual transmission · automated manual · automated transmission
Automated manual transmission: a manual gearbox with a computer and actuators doing the clutch work and the shifting. The driver picks drive, neutral or reverse.
Read more about AMT
An AMT makes a truck easier to drive and shifts consistently. Some drivers still prefer a manual for heavy-haul and off-road work.
You might also need
Also: auxiliary power unit
Auxiliary power unit: a small engine or battery system on a sleeper truck that heats, cools and powers the cab while the main engine is off.
Also: 4×2 · 6×4 · 6×2 · 8×4 · axle layout · drive configuration
Shorthand like 6×4 for how many wheel positions a truck has and how many of them the engine drives. A 6×4 has six wheel positions, four of them driven.
Read more about Axle configuration
Count each end of each axle once, whether it carries one tire or a pair of duals. A tractor with a steer axle and two drive axles is a 6×4; with one drive axle it’s a 4×2. A 6×2 has two rear axles but drives only one; the other is a tag or pusher axle that carries weight. See the layouts drawn.
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Also: rear axle ratio · rear-end ratio · diff ratio · final drive ratio
How many times the driveshaft turns for each turn of the wheels. A lower ratio favours fuel economy at highway speed; a higher one gives more pulling power.
Read more about Axle ratio
Matching it to the work matters on BC routes: long mountain grades reward pulling power, long flat runs reward a lower ratio. You’ll find it on a truck’s spec sheet.
You might also need
Also: axle spacing
The distance between the centres of the first and last axles in an axle group. Legal weight limits for an axle group depend on it.
Source: BC Commercial Transport Regulations, checked
Read more about Axle spread
BC’s Commercial Transport Regulations define it that way, and use it to define axle groups: a tandem axle has an axle spread of 1.0 to 1.85 m, and a tridem axle 2.4 to 3.7 m on semi-trailers and trailers built to the national (TAC) dimensions.
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BLetter B
Also: B train · B-trains · B-double · super B · Super B
A truck tractor pulling two semi-trailers, where the second is coupled to a fifth wheel mounted on the back of the first, with no dolly in between.
Source: BC Commercial Transport Regulations, checked
Read more about B-train
BC’s Commercial Transport Regulations define it that way, with the second fifth wheel within the first trailer’s axle spread or no more than 0.3 m behind its last axle. With no dolly, a B-train has one pivot fewer than an A-train. Container B-trains pair a lead and a rear chassis built to work together.
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Also: balloon · balloon payments
A large final payment that leaves part of a loan or lease unpaid until the end. It lowers the regular payments, but has to be paid, refinanced or settled when the term ends.
Where to next about Balloon payment
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Also: empty chassis · bare chassis move
A chassis with no container on it. Drivers pull bare chassis to a terminal to pick up an import, or back to a yard after dropping a box.
Also: battery electric truck · electric truck · BEV · battery-electric vehicle · e-truck · electric trucks
A truck driven by electric motors that draw on rechargeable batteries on board. It has no tailpipe emissions and is charged from the grid.
Source: Natural Resources Canada, checked
Read more about Battery-electric truck
Transport Canada’s iMHZEV purchase incentive for medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles closed on 31 March 2026. Electric and hybrid trucks in BC covers what they suit today.
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Also: beaver tail · beaver-tail
The short, sloped section at the back of some step decks and lowboys. With ramps, it lets wheeled or tracked equipment drive on.
Also: BOL · B/L · bills of lading · waybill
The document a carrier issues when it takes freight: a receipt for the goods and the terms they travel on, naming the shipper, the consignee, the origin and destination and what is being moved.
Source: BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, Division 37, checked
Read more about Bill of lading
In BC, the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations require a carrier to issue a bill of lading when it accepts freight, showing the shipper, the consignee, the date, the origin and destination, and the goods’ weight and description, signed by both the shipper and the carrier.
Also: bobtailing · bobtail tractor
A truck tractor running with no trailer or chassis behind it.
Read more about Bobtail
With little weight over the drive axles, a bobtail grips and brakes differently from a loaded combination, so drivers take extra care on wet roads.
Also: front bolster · rear bolster · bolsters
The cross beam at the front or rear of a container chassis that carries the container’s corners and holds its pins or twist locks.
Read more about Bolster
A chassis has a bolster at each end. Their spacing matches the container length the chassis is built for; multi-length chassis add lock positions so shorter boxes also land on locks.
Also: in-bond · in bond · bonded · bonded freight
A carrier approved by CBSA to move goods that haven’t been released by customs beyond the first port of arrival, between points in Canada.
Source: Canada Border Services Agency, checked
Read more about Bonded carrier
A carrier that isn’t bonded must have every shipment released at the first port of arrival. Bonded highway carriers post security with CBSA to move in-bond goods inland.
CLetter C
Also: CCN · cargo control document · CCD
The number that identifies a shipment in CBSA’s records: the carrier’s code followed by the carrier’s own unique reference.
Source: Canada Border Services Agency, Memorandum D3-1-1, checked
Read more about Cargo control number
It is printed, often as a bar-coded label, on the cargo control document that travels with the shipment, and it ties the carrier and the shipment together when goods are reported and released at the border.
Also: safety rating · carrier safety rating
BC’s record of a carrier’s on-road safety performance, built from its accidents, contraventions and inspections and its NSC audit results. It drives the carrier’s safety rating.
Source: BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, Division 37, checked
Read more about Carrier Profile
After an audit, BC rates a carrier excellent, satisfactory or conditional; without one, satisfactory–unaudited, conditional–unaudited or unsatisfactory–unaudited. Carriers can check their own profile online.
Also: Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency: the federal agency that controls goods and people entering Canada, including containers arriving at the port and trucks at the border.
Source: Canada Border Services Agency, checked
Also: capital cost allowance · CCA class · Class 16 · Class 10
Capital cost allowance: the yearly tax deduction Canada allows for the wear and tear on business equipment, claimed a share at a time from each class’s balance.
Source: Canada Revenue Agency, checked
Read more about CCA
Freight trucks and tractors rated above 11,788 kg and used mainly to haul freight are Class 16 (40%); other trucks and tractors, and trailers, are Class 10 (30%). Usually only half the normal amount can be claimed in the year you buy (the half-year rule), though accelerated rules can change that. Ask your accountant how they apply to you, then try our CCA calculator.
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Also: DP World Centerm · DPW Centerm
A container terminal on the south shore of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, operated by DP World Vancouver.
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, checked
Read more about Centerm
It has six ship-to-shore gantry cranes on two berths and on-dock rail. Trucks work to reservation windows there; the port authority’s notices say a truck that arrives outside its window must leave port property.
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Also: COI · proof of insurance · insurance certificate
A document from your insurer showing your coverage, its limits and its dates. Rental companies and customers ask for one before you take equipment or a load.
Where to next about Certificate of insurance
You might also need
Also: chain up · chain-up area · chain-up route · tire chains · chain requirements
BC’s winter rule that commercial trucks on many highways must carry tire chains (or approved traction devices) and put them on where signs say so.
Source: Government of British Columbia, checked
Read more about Chain-up
Drivers must obey the winter tire and chain signs from 1 October to 30 April (to 31 March on some routes that aren’t mountain passes or high-snowfall areas). Trucks of 11,794 kg or more must carry steel chains on most major highways; lighter trucks from 5,000 kg can carry chains or traction devices unless they have qualifying winter tires. Live chain-up status is on DriveBC.
You might also need
Also: gray pool · grey pool · gray chassis pool · chassis pools
A shared fleet of chassis that several shipping lines or providers put together so any container can go out on any chassis, instead of each line supplying its own.
Source: US Federal Maritime Commission, Docket 20-14 (2024), checked
Read more about Chassis pool
The US Federal Maritime Commission describes the ways chassis are supplied: a single provider’s own chassis, a “gray” pool where several providers’ chassis are mixed and one manager maintains them, cooperating pools, and chassis owned or leased by the trucking company itself. When a trucker owns or leases its chassis, there is no pool chassis to fetch first.
You might also need
Also: split move · chassis splits
When the container and a chassis to carry it are in different places, so the driver has to fetch a chassis before picking up the box. Splits add time and kilometres to a move.
Where to next about Chassis split
You might also need
Also: Class 1 · Class 1 driver’s licence
BC’s top driver’s licence class: it lets you drive any motor vehicle or combination of vehicles, such as a tractor and semi-trailer (motorcycles aside).
Source: BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, Division 30, checked
Read more about Class 1 licence
New Class 1 drivers must finish an approved Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) course before the road test, and need an air brake endorsement to drive vehicles with air brakes.
Also: class 8 truck · class 8 trucks · heavy-duty truck · Class 8s
The heaviest US weight class for trucks: a gross vehicle weight rating over 33,000 lb (about 15,000 kg). Most highway tractors are Class 8.
Source: US Department of Energy (FHWA weight classes), checked
Read more about Class 8
The weight classes come from the US Federal Highway Administration.
You might also need
Also: commercial vehicle registration · commercial plates · registration papers
Before a commercial truck, trailer or semi-trailer is used on a BC highway, its owner must register it with ICBC, licence it and insure it.
Source: BC Commercial Transport Act, section 6, checked
Read more about Commercial registration
ICBC then issues the registration certificate, the licence and the plates, through Autoplan brokers. Rental customers find a unit’s papers on our driver documents page.
You might also need
Also: intermodal chassis · container trailer · chassis trailer
A wheeled steel frame built to carry a shipping container on the road. The container locks onto it at the corners, and a truck tractor pulls the pair like a semi-trailer.
Read more about Container chassis
A chassis is a trailer without a deck or a box: two main rails, cross members, axles, landing gear, lights and a kingpin, with twist locks or pins where the container’s corner castings sit. With a container locked on, the two travel as one unit; without one, the chassis is “bare”.
Chassis come in lengths and axle layouts to suit the box: 40′ tandems and tridems, multi-length chassis that take 20, 40 and 45 ft containers, extendables that stretch for longer boxes, and goosenecks that let a 40 ft container ride lower.
You might also need
Also: bolt seal · seal number · container seals
A numbered, single-use lock put through a container’s door handles after loading. An intact seal with the right number shows the box wasn’t opened on the way.
Read more about Container seal
The seal number goes on the shipping documents. Drivers check it matches before leaving with a loaded box, and report any seal that is broken, missing or different.
Also: marine terminal · container terminals · marine terminals
The part of a port where ships load and unload containers. Cranes work the ships; trucks and trains drop off and pick up boxes at the gates and on the rail tracks.
Where to next about Container terminal
You might also need
Also: OBCCTC · BC Container Trucking Commissioner · Office of the BC Container Trucking Commissioner · CTS licence · container trucking services licence
The BC office that licenses container trucking companies serving the Lower Mainland’s marine terminals and enforces the minimum rates they must pay, under the Container Trucking Act.
Source: Office of the BC Container Trucking Commissioner, checked
Read more about Container Trucking Commissioner
Anyone providing container trucking that needs access to a Lower Mainland marine terminal must hold a licence, and licensees must pay at least the regulated minimum rates. The office also audits licensees and runs a confidential complaint line.
You might also need
Also: trailer converter dolly · converter dollies · A-dolly · A dolly · C-dolly · C dolly
A short trailer unit with one or more axles, a fifth wheel and a drawbar, used to turn a semi-trailer into a full trailer so it can be towed behind another trailer.
Source: BC Commercial Transport Regulations, checked
Read more about Converter dolly
BC’s Commercial Transport Regulations call it a trailer converter dolly. An A dolly is towed from a single hitch on the centre line of the vehicle in front; any other converter dolly is a C dolly. An A dolly between two semi-trailers makes an A-train.
You might also need
Also: corner fitting · corner castings · corner fittings
The reinforced steel block at each corner of a shipping container, with oval holes that cranes, stacking cones and twist locks grip.
Read more about Corner casting
A container has eight, four on top and four on the bottom. The bottom four sit on the chassis’s locks or pins; the top four take the crane’s spreader when the box is lifted. They carry the whole container’s weight in a lift, so they’re built far stronger than the walls around them.
Also: CPM · cost per kilometre · cost per km · operating cost per mile
What it costs to run a truck for each mile or kilometre: fuel, payments, insurance, repairs, tires and wages divided by the distance. It tells you what a load has to pay.
Where to next about Cost per mile
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Also: curtainside · curtain side · curtain-sider · curtain van
A van-type trailer whose sides are heavy sliding curtains instead of walls, so it loads from the side by forklift like a flat deck but keeps the load covered.
Also: Commercial Vehicle Inspection · commercial vehicle inspection · CVIP · Commercial Vehicle Inspection Program · CVI decal
Commercial Vehicle Inspection: BC’s periodic safety inspection for commercial trucks, trailers and buses, done at a designated inspection facility. A passed unit gets a decal showing when it expires.
Source: BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, Division 25, checked
Read more about CVI
Under BC’s Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, it applies to commercial vehicles over 8,200 kg licensed gross vehicle weight, to commercial trailers and semi-trailers, and to buses and some other vehicles. By default a certificate runs about six months (to the last day of the sixth month after it’s issued). It runs twelve months for trucks over 8,200 kg up to 17,300 kg (except logging trucks) and for trailers other than logging and dump trailers.
On a trailer, the decal goes on the lower front corner. Owners keep inspection and repair records for the last three years they own the unit, and for six months after they sell it. Book a CVI at our yard.
Also: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance · CVSA decal
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance: a nonprofit of commercial vehicle safety officials and industry from across North America that sets the standard roadside inspection and out-of-service rules.
Source: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, checked
Read more about CVSA
A vehicle that passes a full (Level I or Level V) inspection with no critical violations may get a CVSA decal, valid for up to three months.
Also: Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement
Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement: the branch of BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit that enforces commercial vehicle rules, from the National Safety Code to permits, inspections and weigh scales.
Source: Government of British Columbia, checked
Read more about CVSE
Its peace officers work at inspection stations and weigh scales, in mobile patrols and at road checks year-round. It also runs the vehicle inspection program, the Premium Carrier program and Weigh2GoBC.
You might also need
DLetter D
Also: daycab · day cab tractor · day cabs
A truck tractor with no sleeping berth behind the seats. Shorter and lighter than a sleeper, it suits drayage and local work where drivers are home each night.
Where to next about Day cab
You might also need
Also: deadheading · empty miles · empty kilometres
Driving with no paying load: back from a delivery, to a pickup or to the yard. Deadhead kilometres cost fuel and time but earn nothing.
Where to next about Deadhead
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Also: diesel exhaust fluid · AdBlue
Diesel exhaust fluid: a water-based solution of urea (nominally 32.5 percent) that a diesel’s SCR system sprays into the exhaust to cut NOx.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency, checked
Read more about DEF
Since 2010 nearly all on-road diesel trucks have used it. If the tank runs dry or a DEF sensor fails, the engine is designed to warn the driver and then derate. EPA asked engine makers in 2025 to ease those derates, and has proposed replacing them with warnings.
Also: GCT Deltaport
Canada’s largest container terminal, at Roberts Bank in Delta, operated by GCT Canada Limited Partnership.
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, checked
Read more about Deltaport
It has three berths and on-dock rail. Trucks reach it along the Roberts Bank causeway; the port authority’s truck staging facility gives trucks that arrive early somewhere to wait, where they once queued along the causeway.
You might also need
Also: demurrage charges · storage charges
A charge for leaving a container at the terminal past its free time. It keeps running until the box is picked up.
Source: US Federal Maritime Commission, checked
Read more about Demurrage
Demurrage is about terminal space; detention and per diem are about the equipment once it’s out of the gate. US rules (the Federal Maritime Commission’s) require a demurrage or detention invoice to show the free time and its start and end dates.
You might also need
Also: engine derate · limp mode · derate mode
When the engine’s computer deliberately cuts power or speed, usually because an emissions fault such as low DEF, a blocked DPF or a failed sensor needs fixing.
Read more about Derate
A derate usually starts with a warning and steps up if the fault isn’t fixed. Clearing the code without fixing the cause rarely helps for long.
You might also need
Also: DIF · designated inspection facilities · inspection facility
A shop designated by BC’s director of Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement to do commercial vehicle inspections (CVIs) and issue the decal.
Source: BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, Division 25, checked
Read more about Designated Inspection Facility
The inspections themselves are done by authorized inspectors, qualified mechanics approved by the director. CVSE’s area vehicle inspectors audit the facilities.
You might also need
Also: container detention · detention charges
A charge for keeping a shipping line’s container or other equipment outside the terminal longer than the free time allows. Truckers also use the word for waiting time at a customer.
Source: US Federal Maritime Commission, checked
Read more about Detention
The US Federal Maritime Commission describes detention as charged for extended use of intermodal equipment, and treats per diem as the same kind of charge. Its rules say detention charged when empty containers can’t be returned is likely to be found unreasonable.
Also: 53-foot container · 53 ft container · 53′ container · 53-foot domestic container · domestic containers
A 53 ft container built for North American rail and road freight rather than for ships. It is longer and holds more than an ISO marine box.
Read more about Domestic container
Railways and intermodal carriers move domestic containers between inland terminals and customers. On the road, a 53 ft box needs a chassis long enough for it, such as an extendable opened out to 53 ft.
You might also need
Also: downpayment · down payments
The part of the price you pay up front. A bigger down payment lowers the amount financed, the payments and the total interest.
Where to next about Down payment
You might also need
Also: diesel particulate filter · particulate filter
Diesel particulate filter: a ceramic or metal filter in the exhaust that traps soot. The soot is burned off in regeneration, and the leftover ash has to be cleaned out from time to time.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency, Technical Bulletin, checked
Where to next about DPF
You might also need
Also: dray · port drayage · container drayage · drayage trucking
Short-distance trucking that moves containers between a port terminal, a rail yard and nearby warehouses, depots and customers.
Read more about Drayage
Around the Port of Vancouver, drayage carriers pull containers on chassis between terminals such as Deltaport and Centerm, transload warehouses, empty depots and customers across the Lower Mainland.
Trucks that serve the container terminals need the port authority’s Truck Licensing System approval, and the companies need a licence from the Container Trucking Commissioner.
Also: drive axles · drive tandem · rear drive axle
An axle the engine turns through the driveline. Truck tractors have one drive axle (4×2) or two (6×4) under the rear of the frame.
Also: Driver Inc · Driver Incorporated
A trucking business model in which drivers who are really employees are pressed to incorporate and are paid as independent contractors, losing employee rights and protections.
Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, checked
Read more about Driver Inc.
The federal government describes it as worker misclassification: employers avoid overtime, vacation pay, Employment Insurance and CPP contributions. Since June 2024 the Canada Labour Code presumes workers are employees unless the employer proves otherwise.
You might also need
Also: drop and hook · drop-and-hook · drop and pick up
Leaving a container or trailer at a customer to load or unload in their own time, and taking another one away on the same visit.
Also: dry van trailer · van trailer · box trailer · enclosed trailer · dry vans
An enclosed, unrefrigerated box trailer for general freight that has to stay dry, such as pallets, boxes and packaged goods.
Read more about Dry van
Dry vans load from the back through swing doors or a roll-up door, and logistics track (E-track) on the walls holds straps and load bars. On a used van, check the floor, the roof for leaks, the doors and seals, and the sliding tandem.
ELetter E
Also: logistics track · etrack · e track
Rows of slotted steel track along a van’s walls or floor. Straps, load bars and shoring beams clip into the slots to hold freight in place.
Also: engine control module · ECU · engine control unit · ECM report
Engine control module: the engine’s computer. It runs the fuel and emissions systems and records data such as engine hours, idle time, fault codes and fuel use.
Read more about ECM
On a used truck, an ECM report (a download of that data) shows how the engine has been run in a way the odometer can’t. Ask for one before you buy.
You might also need
Also: exhaust gas recirculation · EGR valve · EGR cooler
Exhaust gas recirculation: a valve that sends some exhaust back into the engine’s intake, lowering combustion temperature and so the NOx the engine makes.
Source: California Air Resources Board, checked
Also: electronic logging device · electronic logging devices · e-log · ELDs
Electronic logging device: a certified device connected to the truck’s engine that records a driver’s hours of service automatically.
Source: Transport Canada, checked
Read more about ELD
Transport Canada made ELDs mandatory for federally regulated carriers (those that cross provincial or national borders) from 12 June 2021, with penalties from 1 January 2023. BC carriers that stay in the province have needed them since 1 August 2023. A device must be certified by a third party accredited by Transport Canada; some drivers and vehicles are exempt, such as short-haul drivers who return to their home terminal each day.
You might also need
Also: e-manifest · ACI · advance commercial information
The CBSA system carriers use to send cargo and conveyance information electronically before goods arrive in Canada.
Source: Canada Border Services Agency, Memorandum D3-4-2, checked
Read more about eManifest
The data set is called advance commercial information (ACI). Highway carriers must have it received and validated no later than one hour before arriving at the first port of arrival; for marine containers it is due 24 hours before loading at the foreign port.
Also: empty depot · empty container depot · empty return location · returning empties
Taking an empty container back to the place the shipping line names, a terminal or an off-dock empty depot. Until it’s returned, per diem can keep running.
Also: jake brake · Jake brake · compression brake · engine retarder
A device that turns a diesel engine into an air compressor to slow the truck, saving the wheel brakes on long downgrades.
Read more about Engine brake
Engine brakes are loud, so some towns post signs asking drivers not to use them in town. Many drivers call it a “Jake brake”, after one maker’s brand name.
Also: EPA27 · EPA 2027 rule · 2027 emissions · 2027 NOx rule
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s tougher standards for new heavy-duty highway engines from model year 2027, led by much lower NOx limits.
Source: US Federal Register, 88 FR 4296, checked
Read more about EPA 2027
The final rule (88 FR 4296, 24 January 2023) cuts the NOx limit for heavy-duty diesel engines to 35 mg/hp·hr on the standard test cycles, from 200, adds a 50 mg/hp·hr limit on a new low-load cycle, and lengthens emission warranties and useful lives; for the heaviest engines the warranty becomes 450,000 miles or 10 years.
In July 2026 EPA proposed amendments that keep those NOx limits but would roll the warranty back, delay the longer useful lives to model year 2030 and replace DEF-fault speed limits with warnings. As of 5 October 2026 no final version had been published. Canada’s emission regulations are written to align with EPA’s.
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Also: EIR · TIR · equipment interchange receipt · interchange receipt · interchange agreement · UIIA
Handing a container or chassis from one party to another, such as from a terminal to a trucker. The equipment interchange receipt (EIR) records the hand-off and the equipment’s condition.
Source: Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement (IANA), checked
Read more about Equipment interchange
Many intermodal truckers sign the Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement (UIIA), a standard industry contract with shipping lines, railways and leasing companies that sets who is liable for interchanged equipment. Check damage at pick-up and make sure it’s noted, because the condition recorded at interchange is what you’ll be held to.
Also: extendable · expandable chassis · extendable container chassis · stretch chassis
A container chassis whose rear section slides out so one frame can carry longer containers, such as 53 ft boxes, then close up again for shorter ones.
Read more about Extendable chassis
Locking pins hold the sliding section at set lengths. The driver releases the pins, uses the tractor to slide the frame in or out, and locks it again. That flexibility suits fleets that see mixed container lengths, at the cost of more weight and moving parts than a fixed frame.
Which lengths a chassis takes depends on its design. Our 40–53 extendable rental chassis takes 20, 40 and 53 ft containers.
You might also need
FLetter F
Also: forty-foot equivalent unit · forty-foot equivalent units
Forty-foot equivalent unit: one 40 ft container, used to count containers or as the unit freight is charged on.
Source: TERMIUM Plus, Government of Canada, checked
Also: fifth wheel coupler · 5th wheel · fifth-wheel
The coupling on the back of a truck tractor (or a converter dolly) that a trailer’s kingpin locks into: a flat skid plate with a latch underneath.
Source: BC Commercial Transport Regulations, checked
Read more about Fifth wheel
BC’s Commercial Transport Regulations describe a fifth wheel coupler as a skid plate, its mounting brackets and a latching mechanism that couples to a kingpin on the other vehicle. On many tractors it slides forward or back to shift weight between the steer and drive axles. It needs grease and regular checks of its locking jaws.
Also: flatbed · flat deck trailer · flatdeck · flatbed trailer · flat decks
An open trailer with a flat, level deck and no sides or roof, loaded from the sides, back or top by forklift or crane.
Read more about Flat deck
Flat decks carry lumber, steel, machinery and building materials that won’t fit through van doors, held with straps, chains and binders and often tarped. In Canada “flat deck” and “flatbed” mean the same thing.
Also: fair market value lease · fair-market-value lease
A lease with options at the end to buy the equipment at its fair market value then, return it, or renew. Payments are usually lower than with a $1 buyout because you aren’t paying off the whole value.
Where to next about FMV lease
You might also need
Also: DP World Fraser Surrey
A multi-purpose terminal on the Fraser River in Surrey that handles containers as well as bulk and breakbulk cargo. The port authority now lists it as DP World Fraser Surrey.
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, checked
Read more about Fraser Surrey Docks
Besides containers, it handles general cargo such as logs, steel, machinery and project cargo. BC’s Container Trucking Regulation still names it Fraser Surrey Docks in its list of marine terminals.
You might also need
Also: free days · free period
The days a terminal or shipping line allows before demurrage, detention or per diem charges start. It is set in the carrier’s or terminal’s terms and differs from one to the next.
GLetter G
Also: truck reservation · terminal reservation · reservation window · appointment window · truck appointment
A booked time window for a truck to drop off or pick up a container at a terminal. Arrive outside it and you can be turned away.
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, checked
Read more about Gate appointment
The terminal operator sets the windows. At Centerm, the port authority’s notices say trucks that arrive outside their reservation window must leave port property, and that the carrier is responsible for its trucks arriving on time.
You might also need
Also: gross axle weight rating
Gross axle weight rating: the load the manufacturer rates one axle system to carry, measured where the tires meet the ground.
Source: Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Canada), checked
Also: gross combination weight rating
Gross combination weight rating: the loaded weight the manufacturer rates a truck and its trailers for, together.
Source: US Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR 571.3, checked
Read more about GCWR
It tells you how much the truck is built to pull, which can be more than any one trailer’s rating. The legal limit on the road is a separate question, set by the axles and the route.
Also: generator set · reefer genset · clip-on genset · underslung genset
A diesel generator that powers a refrigerated container while it is on the road, away from plug-in power. It clips onto the container or mounts under the chassis.
Read more about Genset
At the terminal and on the ship, a reefer container plugs into electrical power. Once it leaves on a chassis, a genset keeps its refrigeration unit running. Clip-on gensets hang on the front of the container; underslung ones bolt to the chassis frame.
Also: gladhands · gladhand · glad hand · air couplers
The pair of coupling heads that connect a tractor’s air lines to a trailer or chassis: one for the emergency (supply) line and one for the service (control) line.
Read more about Glad hands
Each glad hand twists onto its mate and seals with a rubber gasket. Crossed lines or a torn seal can leave the trailer’s brakes dragging or unable to apply, so drivers check them at every trip inspection. The emergency line is usually marked red and the service line blue.
Also: gooseneck · gooseneck container chassis
A 40 ft container chassis with a raised front section that fits into the tunnel under a 40 ft container’s floor, so the box rides lower on the frame.
Read more about Gooseneck chassis
Many 40 ft containers have a recess, called the gooseneck tunnel, at the front of the floor. A gooseneck chassis rises at the front to slot into it, which lowers the container’s height on the road: useful with high-cube boxes.
On heavy-haul trailers the word means something else: a removable gooseneck (RGN) lowboy detaches at the front so equipment can drive on.
You might also need
Also: GVW · gross weight · gross combination weight · GCW
What a vehicle or combination actually weighs at a given moment, loaded: its tare plus cargo, fuel and driver. Scales check it against the legal limits.
Also: gross vehicle weight rating · GVW rating
Gross vehicle weight rating: the loaded weight the manufacturer rates a single vehicle or trailer for, shown on its compliance label.
Source: Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Canada), checked
Read more about GVWR
It is a rating, not what the vehicle weighs today (that is its gross vehicle weight), and it isn’t the legal limit for the road either: the road’s limits depend on the axles and the route. A chassis’s GVWR is on its spec sheet and its label.
You might also need
HLetter H
Also: high-cube · high cube container · high-cube container · hi-cube
A container with standard ISO length and width that stands taller than a standard box: about 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) outside.
Source: TERMIUM Plus, Government of Canada, checked
Read more about High cube
The extra height gives more space for light, bulky cargo. It also raises the loaded height on the road, which is one reason high cubes are often hauled on gooseneck chassis that let the box sit lower. See the sizes side by side.
You might also need
Also: HOS · hours-of-service · logbook · log book · daily log
The rules that cap how long a commercial driver may drive and be on duty before resting, and how the time is recorded.
Source: Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (SOR/2005-313), checked
Read more about Hours of service
South of 60°N, the federal regulations (and BC’s, which match them) say a driver may not drive after 13 hours of driving or 14 hours on duty in a day, or once 16 hours have passed since their last 8 consecutive hours off; drivers need at least 10 hours off each day. Over a cycle the cap is 70 hours on duty in 7 days (cycle 1) or 120 hours in 14 days (cycle 2), reset by 36 or 72 consecutive hours off.
Most drivers record their hours on an electronic logging device.
You might also need
Also: fuel cell truck · hydrogen truck · FCEV · fuel cell electric vehicle · hydrogen fuel cell vehicle
An electric truck whose power comes from a fuel cell that turns compressed hydrogen into electricity. Its only exhaust is water vapour and warm air.
Source: Natural Resources Canada, checked
Where to next about Hydrogen fuel cell truck
You might also need
ILetter I
Also: International Fuel Tax Agreement · IFTA decal · IFTA licence · IFTA return
The International Fuel Tax Agreement: one fuel-tax licence and one quarterly return for trucks that run in more than one province or state, with the tax shared by where the fuel was used.
Source: Government of British Columbia, checked
Read more about IFTA
In BC it is run by the Ministry of Finance. It covers vehicles with two axles over 11,800 kg, three or more axles at any weight, or a combination over 11,800 kg. Each vehicle carries a pair of decals, valid for the calendar year, and a return is due every quarter even when nothing was travelled.
Also: intermodal freight · intermodal transport · intermodal shipping
Moving freight in the same container by more than one mode, such as ship, rail and truck, without unloading the cargo in between.
Where to next about Intermodal
You might also need
Also: International Registration Plan · prorate plates · prorate licensing · cab card
The International Registration Plan: one registration for trucks that regularly travel in two or more provinces or states, with the fees shared among them. ICBC runs it in BC as Prorate Licensing.
Source: ICBC, checked
Read more about IRP
Each vehicle gets prorate plates and a cab card, so the carrier doesn’t need trip permits. You need an NSC certificate first, and a BC IFTA number for vehicles that qualify.
Also: shipping container · intermodal container · marine container · ocean container · sea can · sea container
A steel shipping box built to the International Organization for Standardization’s standard sizes, so ships, cranes, trains and chassis anywhere can handle it.
Source: ISO 668 (International Organization for Standardization), checked
Read more about ISO container
ISO 668 sets the series of container sizes. The lengths you meet most around a port are 20 and 40 ft, with 45 ft boxes too, in standard and high-cube heights. Their corner castings let them be lifted, stacked and locked down the same way everywhere.
In Canada people often call one a “sea can”. A 53 ft box is a different thing: a North American domestic container. Compare the sizes.
You might also need
KLetter K
Also: king pin · kingpins
The steel pin under the front of a trailer or chassis that locks into the truck tractor’s fifth wheel. The trailer pivots on it and is pulled through it.
Read more about Kingpin
The kingpin hangs from a plate under the front of the frame. When a tractor backs under, the fifth wheel’s jaws close around it; a gentle tug forward against the trailer brakes confirms the lock before the truck moves off. Kingpin wear and plate damage are inspection items.
You might also need
LLetter L
Also: landing legs · dolly legs · trailer legs
The pair of crank-down legs near the front of a trailer or chassis that hold it up when no tractor is under it.
Read more about Landing gear
Drivers crank the legs down before dropping a trailer and raise them fully before driving away. Most landing gear has two speeds: a low gear for lifting a loaded trailer and a fast gear for moving the legs.
On a used trailer or chassis, look for bent legs, damaged foot pads and a stiff or slipping gearbox.
You might also need
Also: lease to own · rent-to-own · rent to own · lease-purchase
A lease that builds toward ownership: you make regular payments for a set term, and at the end the equipment becomes yours or you can buy it for a set amount.
Read more about Lease-to-own
It sits between renting and buying: the unit works for you from the first day while you pay toward owning it. The term, any buyout, and who maintains and insures the unit are all in the agreement, so read them before you sign.
Also: PPR search · lien check · personal property registry · PPSA search · lien searches
Checking BC’s Personal Property Registry, by the vehicle’s serial number (VIN), for any loan or lien registered against a truck or trailer before you buy it.
Source: BC Personal Property Security Act, checked
Read more about Lien search
Under BC’s Personal Property Security Act, a lender’s claim on serial-numbered equipment generally has to be registered with the serial number to bind a buyer who didn’t know of it, which is why the search is done by VIN. The registry is run by BC Registries and Online Services.
You might also need
Also: pusher axle · tag axle · liftable axle · drop axle
An extra axle that can be lowered to share the load and raised when the truck runs light. A pusher sits ahead of the drive axles; a tag sits behind them.
Also: trailer lights · tail lights · marker lights · clearance lamps · reflective tape · conspicuity tape · DOT tape · retroreflective sheeting
The lamps, reflectors and red-and-white reflective tape a trailer or chassis carries so other drivers can see it. They’re on the daily trip inspection list.
Source: Transport Canada, Technical Standards Document 108, checked
Read more about Lights and reflectors
Canada’s lighting standard requires trailers 2032 mm or more wide with a GVWR over 4,536 kg to carry red-and-white retroreflective markings along the sides and across the rear, including on the rear impact guard. Container chassis are exempt from the white strips at the upper rear corners.
Also: live load · live loading · live unloading
Loading or unloading a container while the driver and truck wait, instead of dropping it and coming back later.
Also: lowbed · low-bed · low boy · RGN · removable gooseneck · lowboys
A heavy-haul trailer whose deck drops very low between the gooseneck and the rear axles, for tall, heavy machinery such as excavators.
Read more about Lowboy
On a removable-gooseneck (RGN) lowboy, the front detaches and lowers to the ground so equipment can drive on from the front. Lowboys often run with extra axles and under oversize or overweight permits. They’re also called lowbeds.
You might also need
MLetter M
Also: frame rails · main beams · main rail
The two long steel beams that run the length of a chassis or trailer frame and carry the load between the kingpin and the axles.
Read more about Main rails
Cross members tie the rails together. Cracks, bends and poor weld repairs on the rails are serious defects, which is why inspectors and buyers look along them closely, especially around the landing gear and the suspension mounts.
You might also need
Also: Mandatory Entry-Level Training · mandatory entry-level training
Mandatory Entry-Level Training: the ICBC-approved course every new Class 1 applicant in BC has had to finish before the road test since 18 October 2021.
Source: Government of British Columbia, checked
Read more about MELT
The course is 140 hours, including on-highway driving, yard and vehicle time, and air brake training. Drivers who already held a Class 1 were exempt.
Also: mud flaps · splash guard · splash guards · mud guard
The rubber flap behind a set of wheels that stops the tires throwing water, mud and stones at the vehicles behind.
NLetter N
Also: nitrogen oxides · oxides of nitrogen
Nitrogen oxides: reactive gases that come mainly from burning fuel, diesel engines included. They help form ground-level ozone (smog) and fine particles, and are what SCR and EGR systems cut.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency, checked
Also: National Safety Code · NSC certificate · NSC number · safety certificate · safety fitness certificate
The National Safety Code: Canada’s set of minimum safety standards for commercial carriers. In BC, a carrier needs an NSC safety certificate to run trucks over 5,000 kg licensed gross vehicle weight.
Source: BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, Division 37, checked
Read more about NSC
The code is 16 standards written by the provinces, territories and Ottawa through CCMTA, covering things like hours of service, trip inspections, periodic inspections and carrier safety ratings. BC’s Motor Vehicle Act Regulations make it law here: a carrier must not let a driver drive a truck or tractor (plus any trailer) with a licensed gross vehicle weight of more than 5,000 kg unless it holds a valid safety certificate.
BC calls it a safety certificate; the federal rules for carriers that cross borders call it a safety fitness certificate.
You might also need
OLetter O
Also: on approved credit · O.A.C.
On approved credit: a rate, payment or offer that applies only once the lender has approved your credit application.
Read more about OAC
Every payment estimate on this site is OAC. Financing is subject to credit approval (OAC) through our sister company Blue Capital Equipment Finance Ltd., an affiliated broker, at the same Surrey yard. Your actual rate and payment depend on your business and credit profile.
You might also need
Also: on-board diagnostics · HD-OBD · OBD system
On-board diagnostics: the engine computer’s self-checks of the emission controls. It detects faults, stores trouble codes and warns the driver.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency, checked
Read more about OBD
US rules have required it on heavy-duty highway engines since model year 2010, and the 2023 EPA rule adds new requirements from model year 2027.
Also: off-dock yard · off-dock trip · off-dock facility
Anywhere outside the terminal gates, such as a container yard, empty depot or warehouse. BC’s Container Trucking Regulation calls a container move between two such places in the Lower Mainland an off-dock trip.
Source: BC Container Trucking Regulation, checked
Also: OOS · out-of-service criteria · out-of-service orders
An order at a roadside inspection that stops a driver, a vehicle or its cargo from moving until a critical problem is fixed.
Source: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, checked
Read more about Out-of-service order
Inspectors use the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, the pass-fail rules published by CVSA and updated every 1 April. In BC, inspection results go on the carrier’s Carrier Profile.
Also: outrigger
Steel arms that slide or swing out from the sides of a flat deck, step deck or lowboy to support a load wider than the deck.
Also: oversize permit · overweight permit · oversize/overweight permits · permit load · onRouteBC
A permit from BC’s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement that lets a load or vehicle travel above the normal size or weight limits on an approved route.
Source: onRouteBC, Government of British Columbia, checked
Read more about Oversize/overweight permit
BC issues term and single-trip oversize and overweight permits, among others, through its onRouteBC system; other permits come from the Provincial Permit Centre.
Also: owner operator · owner-operators · owner operators
A driver who owns or leases their own truck and runs it as a business, hauling under their own authority or for a carrier.
Where to next about Owner-operator
You might also need
PLetter P
Also: cargo weight · payload capacity
The weight of the cargo itself: the gross weight minus the tare weight of the truck, the trailer or chassis, and the container.
Where to next about Payload
You might also need
Also: per-diem · per diem charges · container per diem
A daily charge for keeping a shipping line’s container or a provider’s chassis after the free time runs out, until it is returned.
Source: Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement (IANA), checked
Read more about Per diem
The industry’s standard interchange agreement (the UIIA) defines per diem as the charge when equipment is not returned by the end of the allowed free time, whatever the invoice calls it. Free time and the daily rate come from the provider’s terms, so check them before you take the box.
You might also need
Also: perimeter frame trailer · perimeter frame · perimeter trailers
A heavy-haul equipment trailer built on an outer frame that runs around the edges of the deck, with its axles on a sub-frame underneath. It suits several pieces of equipment, or one or two big ones.
Read more about Perimeter trailer
Long multi-axle perimeter trailers carry heavy and oversize loads, usually under permit.
You might also need
Also: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority · port authority
The port on Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River and Roberts Bank, managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. Its container terminals are Centerm, Deltaport, DP World Fraser Surrey and Vanterm.
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, checked
Read more about Port of Vancouver
The port authority lists 29 major marine terminals; independent companies operate them. For truckers, the authority runs the Truck Licensing System that container trucks need to reach the terminals.
You might also need
Also: pre-trip · trip inspection · daily trip inspection · circle check · walk-around inspection · post-trip inspection
The check a driver (or someone the carrier names) must do before the first trip of the day, recorded in a trip inspection report, with defects fixed before the vehicle goes.
Source: BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, Division 37, checked
Read more about Pre-trip inspection
BC’s regulations list twelve items: service brakes (including trailer brake connections and adjustment), parking brake, steering, lights and reflectors, tires, horn, wipers, mirrors, coupling devices, wheels and rims, emergency equipment and load securement devices. The vehicle is checked again after the last trip of the day, and the driver carries the current report.
Also: power take-off · power takeoff · wet kit
Power take-off: a drive taken from the truck’s engine or transmission to run other equipment, such as the hydraulic pump for a dump body, crane or walking floor.
Read more about PTO
A tractor fitted with a PTO-driven pump and a hydraulic tank to power a trailer’s equipment is said to have a wet kit.
Also: pup · pups · pup trailers
A short trailer, often pulled behind a straight truck or another trailer. A truck and pup is a common pairing for gravel and dump work.
RLetter R
Also: underride guard · rear underride guard · ICC bumper · ICC bar
The steel bar low across the back of a trailer that stops a car from sliding under it in a rear-end crash.
Source: Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Canada), standard 223, checked
Read more about Rear impact guard
Canada’s motor vehicle safety standard 223 requires one on most trailers with a GVWR of 4,536 kg or more and sets its height, width and strength; the standard says the guard limits how far the striking vehicle slides under the trailer. Bent or cracked guards are a repair item.
You might also need
Also: reefer trailer · refrigerated trailer · reefer container · refrigerated container · reefers
A refrigerated trailer or container with its own cooling unit, for food, flowers, medicine and anything else that has to stay cold or frozen.
Read more about Reefer
A reefer trailer runs its refrigeration unit on its own diesel engine or on electric power. A reefer container plugs into power at the terminal and on the ship, and needs a genset on the road. A used reefer has hours on the reefer unit as well as kilometres on the trailer.
Also: regen · DPF regen · active regen · parked regen · forced regen
Burning off the soot trapped in a diesel particulate filter. It happens by itself at highway temperatures, or the engine raises the exhaust heat to do it; some regens need the truck parked.
Also: residual value · buyout value
The value a lease assumes the equipment will still have at the end of the term. A higher residual lowers the payments but leaves more to pay or settle at the end.
Where to next about Residual
You might also need
Also: International Roadcheck · CVSA Roadcheck
CVSA’s yearly 72-hour inspection and enforcement event across North America, made up mostly of full (Level I) roadside inspections.
Source: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, checked
Read more about Roadcheck
Each year has focus areas. In 2026 it ran 12–14 May, with drivers’ ELDs (tampering and falsification) and cargo securement as the focus.
You might also need
SLetter S
Also: selective catalytic reduction
Selective catalytic reduction: the exhaust system that sprays a reductant (DEF, a urea solution) ahead of a catalyst that turns NOx into nitrogen and water.
Source: California Air Resources Board, checked
Read more about SCR
It only works with DEF in the tank and the exhaust hot enough, which is why a DEF or SCR fault can lead to a derate.
Also: semitrailer · semi trailer · semi-trailers
A trailer with axles only at the back. Its front rests on a truck tractor’s fifth wheel when moving and on its landing gear when parked.
Where to next about Semi-trailer
You might also need
Also: slack adjusters · brake adjuster · brake adjustment
The lever between a brake chamber’s pushrod and the brake camshaft. It takes up the slack as the linings wear, so the brake still applies fully.
Read more about Slack adjuster
Even automatic slack adjusters need checking: brake adjustment is part of the daily trip inspection and something inspectors measure at roadside checks.
You might also need
Also: sleeper cab · sleeper truck · sleeper berth · sleepers
A truck tractor with a sleeping compartment behind the cab, for drivers who rest on the road on long runs.
Read more about Sleeper
Sleepers range from compact flat-tops to tall raised-roof models. The berth adds length and weight compared with a day cab.
You might also need
Also: slider chassis · sliding chassis · sliding tandem · sliders
Two things that slide. A slider chassis takes more than one container length, such as 20, 40 and 45 ft, by sliding part of its frame. On a van or reefer trailer, the slider is the sliding tandem: axles you move along the frame to shift weight.
Read more about Slider
Some chassis makers also call an extendable chassis a slider, so check which lengths a given chassis takes before you book it.
On a trailer, sliding the tandem forward or back moves weight between the trailer’s axles and the tractor’s drive axles, and changes how the trailer turns. Drivers set it before loading and check that the locking pins are fully in afterwards.
You might also need
Also: spread axle trailer · spread tandem · spread-axle
A trailer whose two rear axles are set farther apart than a standard tandem, so the load spreads over a longer stretch of road.
Read more about Spread axle
Legal weights depend on the spacing and on the rules for the route, so check both before loading a spread-axle trailer heavy. See axle spread.
Also: seasonal load restrictions · load restrictions · road bans · spring thaw restrictions
Temporary weight limits that BC puts on roads weakened by the spring thaw, lifted once the road base firms up again.
Source: BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit, checked
Read more about Spring load restrictions
The Ministry of Transportation and Transit sets them only where and when a road needs them, under section 66 of the Transportation Act, and posts them in district reports. Check the current restrictions before routing a heavy load in spring.
You might also need
Also: steering axle · front axle
A truck’s front axle, the one that turns with the steering wheel. It usually carries single tires and much of the engine’s weight.
Also: drop deck · stepdeck · step-deck trailer · drop deck trailer · step decks
A flat trailer with a short upper deck over the kingpin and a longer, lower deck behind it, so taller loads ride lower and stay under height limits.
Where to next about Step deck
Also: storage van · storage trailers · storage vans
A trailer, usually an older dry van, used to store goods on site rather than to haul them: instant, lockable space at a business, farm or job site.
Where to next about Storage trailer
You might also need
Also: box truck · cube van · single-unit truck · cube truck
A truck with its cargo box or body on the same frame as the cab, rather than a tractor pulling a trailer.
Also: street-turn · street turns
Reusing an empty import container for an export load instead of returning it empty first, turning one empty trip into a loaded one.
Source: US Federal Maritime Commission, Docket 1992(I) (2025), checked
Read more about Street turn
The shipping line has to approve a street turn, and some charge a fee for it. The US Federal Maritime Commission has ruled that a street-turn fee is not a demurrage or detention charge.
Also: spring suspension · air ride · air suspension · air-ride suspension · leaf springs
The springs or air bags, hangers and arms that connect the axles to the frame. Chassis and trailers ride on steel leaf springs or on air bags (air ride).
Read more about Suspension
Air ride gives the cargo and the frame a smoother ride and lets the ride height be adjusted; spring suspensions are simpler and need less upkeep. Worn bushings, cracked springs and leaking air bags are what an inspection looks for.
You might also need
TLetter T
Also: tandem axle · tandem axles · tandem chassis
Two axles set close together and working as a pair. On a chassis or trailer it is the standard two-axle group; on a truck, a tandem drive means two driven rear axles.
Read more about Tandem
A tandem is lighter and simpler to run than a tridem and turns more easily, but it carries less weight than three axles, so the heaviest containers and heavy-haul loads move to more axles.
On a used truck’s spec sheet, “tandem” or “6×4” tells you both rear axles are driven. See axle configuration.
You might also need
Also: tare · tare mass · empty weight · unladen weight
What a vehicle, trailer, chassis or container weighs empty. Take the tare away from the gross weight and what’s left is the payload.
Read more about Tare weight
In container trucking, tare counts three times: the container’s tare is marked on its doors, and the chassis and the tractor have their own. Together they decide how much cargo fits under the legal gross weight, so a lighter chassis means more payload.
Also: Transportation of Dangerous Goods · dangerous goods · TDG certificate · placard · placards
Transportation of Dangerous Goods: Canada’s federal law and regulations for moving hazardous materials, with training certificates, shipping documents and safety marks such as placards.
Source: Transport Canada, checked
Read more about TDG
Anyone who handles, offers or transports dangerous goods must be trained and hold a training certificate (valid three years for road) or work under the direct supervision of someone who does. Safety marks such as labels and placards show the hazard on the container or vehicle.
Also: GPS tracking · fleet telematics · vehicle tracking
Equipment that reports a vehicle’s position and data over the cellular network, such as GPS location, speed and engine readings, for dispatch, safety and maintenance.
Read more about Telematics
At Mainland Truck & Trailer Sales: GPS on every rental unit. Our telematics notice explains how we use it.
You might also need
Also: twenty-foot equivalent unit · twenty-foot equivalent units
Twenty-foot equivalent unit: the standard way to count containers. One 20 ft container is one TEU, so a 40 ft box counts as two.
Source: Statistics Canada, checked
Read more about TEU
Ports report their volumes in TEUs and ships are rated by how many they carry. Statistics Canada defines one TEU as a standard 20 by 8 ft (6.10 by 2.44 m) container.
Also: TCO
Everything a truck, trailer or chassis costs over the years you own it: the purchase or payments, financing, fuel, maintenance, insurance and repairs, less what it’s worth when you sell.
Where to next about Total cost of ownership
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Also: terminal rental adjustment clause · TRAC
A lease with a terminal rental adjustment clause: a residual value is set at the start, and at the end the equipment’s actual value is compared with it, so you share any gain or cover any shortfall.
Read more about TRAC lease
Ask how the residual is set, because it drives both the payment and your risk at the end of the term.
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Also: trade in · trade-in value · trading in
Selling your current truck or trailer to the dealer as part of buying another, with its value taken off the price of the next unit.
Where to next about Trade-in
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Also: transloading · transload warehouse · transload facility
Moving cargo from one container or vehicle into another, such as from a 40 ft ocean container into a 53 ft trailer or domestic container, usually at a warehouse near the port.
Also: tri-axle · triaxle · tridem chassis · tri-axle chassis · tridem axle
A group of three axles set close together at the rear of a trailer or chassis. A tridem spreads a heavy load over more tires than a two-axle tandem.
Read more about Tridem
The third axle lets the same frame carry a heavier container, which is why heavy boxes often go on tridems. How much weight a tridem may legally carry depends on its axle spread and on the rules for the road it travels; in BC those limits are in the Commercial Transport Regulations.
The trade-offs are more tare weight, more tires and brakes to maintain, and more tire scrub in tight turns.
Also: TLS · TLS licence · truck licensing
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s program that sets the requirements a trucking company and its trucks must meet to reach the port’s container terminals.
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, checked
Read more about Truck Licensing System
The port lists three requirements: a GPS unit on every truck (used to work out terminal turn and wait times), a minimum truck age, and common data links to the terminals. From 1 January 2025, any truck added to or returning to a TLS fleet must be a 2018 model or newer.
Companies sign an access agreement under the TLS, and drivers need a valid Port Pass.
Also: semi truck · semi-truck · tractor unit · power unit · highway tractor
A truck built to pull trailers rather than carry cargo itself. It couples to a trailer or chassis through the fifth wheel on its frame.
Where to next about Truck tractor
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Also: twistlock · twist-lock · twist locks · container lock
The rotating lock at a corner of a chassis that fits into a container’s corner casting. Turning its handle swings the head crosswise so the container can’t lift off.
Read more about Twist lock
The lock’s head drops into the oval hole in the corner casting; a quarter turn of the handle rotates it so it can’t pull out. Drivers check that every lock is fully closed before leaving a terminal, because a lock that isn’t engaged lets the box shift or lift.
Some chassis use fixed pins at the front bolster and twist locks at the rear.
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VLetter V
Also: GCT Vanterm
A container terminal on the south shore of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, operated by GCT Canada Limited Partnership.
Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, checked
Read more about Vanterm
It has six gantry cranes and on-dock rail. Vanterm and Centerm are the port’s two Burrard Inlet container terminals.
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Also: verified gross mass · verified gross mass of containers
Verified gross mass: the weighed total of a packed container, which the shipper must supply before the box can be loaded onto a ship.
Source: Transport Canada, TP 15330, checked
Read more about VGM
The requirement comes from the SOLAS convention and has applied in Canada since 1 July 2016. The shipper gets the figure either by weighing the packed, sealed container, or by weighing everything packed in it and adding the container’s tare. Transport Canada says a packed container won’t be loaded until the ship and the terminal have its VGM.
Also: vehicle identification number · serial number · VINs
Vehicle identification number: the 17-character code that identifies one truck or trailer, with its maker, type, model year and plant built in.
Source: Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Canada), checked
Read more about VIN
Canada’s Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations require every vehicle to carry one, made of 17 letters and numbers; character 10 shows the model year and character 11 the plant. Use it for the lien search, the registration and the CVI history before you buy.
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WLetter W
Also: weigh scales · inspection station · weigh station · Weigh2GoBC
A CVSE inspection station where commercial vehicles are weighed and checked by peace officers. Hours vary; self-weigh scales are always open.
Source: Government of British Columbia, checked
Read more about Weigh scale
Carriers enrolled in Weigh2GoBC can bypass participating stations on a green light. The Lower Mainland stations include Pacific in Surrey, Nordel in Delta and Deas in Richmond.
Also: wheel base
The distance from the centre of the steer axle to the centre of the rear axle group. It affects turning, ride and how weight is shared between the axles.
YLetter Y
Also: terminal tractor · hostler · yard truck · yard dog · shunt truck · spotter truck
A short, single-seat tractor that moves trailers and containers around a terminal, rail yard or distribution centre at low speed.
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