Exercise 3 Read about the services logistics firms may provide with their short definitions

Transsipment is loading goods from one means of carriage onto another. Break-bulk is packing goods in small, separable units. Cross-docking is direct flow of goods from receipt at warehouse to shipping, bypassing storage. Order picking is selecting and assembling items from stock for shipments. Reverse logistics is collecting and handling of used or damaged goods or of reusable transit equipment. Tracking and tracing is locating items in transit. Warehousing is receiving and storing goods. Collection is picking up goods at a named place.

b) Describe your company’s logistics services to the customer using the information from a) and the following expressions:

We can offer you a wide range of …

We can provide you with tailor-made logistics solutions for …

We specialize in …

As a specialist for/in … we can …

We have experience and expertise in providing …

Our team will be happy to handle/assist you …

With our dedicated team of logistics experts we can …

Exercise 4 Logistics uses lots of acronyms. How many do you know? Find the right variants.

FCL ▪ 3PL ▪ HGV ▪ DC ▪ LCL ▪ EDI ▪ RFID ▪ ISO ▪ GPS ▪ VAS

a less than container load; b global positioning system; c full container load; d radio frequency identification; e third-party logistics; f international standard organization; g electronic data interchange; h value-added service; i heavy goods vehicle; j distribution centre.