The Relocation Ecosystem Initiative
The Relocation Dictionary
Shared language. Clearer decisions.
A growing reference for the language of moving and relocation, with clear, practical definitions and related terms.
Find a term in the A–Z index, then follow its related links for practical guidance and context.
A–Z Dictionary
A
Access · Accessorial Service · Agent · Amended Order for Service
B
Bill of Lading · Binding Estimate · Broker
C
Capacity · Carrier · Carrier Liability · Certified Weight Ticket · Change of Scope · Claim · Condition Report · Crating · Cube — see Volume · Cubic Feet · CWT (Hundredweight)
D
D Container · Day-Certain Service · Delivery Spread · Delivery Window · Density — see Shipment Density · Destination Service
E
E Container · Elevator · Estimate · Exclusive Use · Expedited Service
F
Final Mile · Fuel Surcharge · Full Service · Full Value Protection · Full-Service Packing
G
Gondola Box — see Speed-Pack / Gondola Box · Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) and GVWR · Gross Weight
H
High-Value Item · Household Goods · Hundredweight — see CWT
I
Insurance and valuation — understand the difference · Interstate Move · Intrastate Move · Inventory
L
LDN Container · Lift Van · Linehaul · Load Planning · Load Spread — see Pickup Window · Local Move · Long Carry · Lump Sum Move · Lump Sum Relocation — see Lump Sum Move
M
Managed Lump Sum — see Lump Sum Move · Miscellaneous Relocation Allowance — see Relocation Allowance · Move Ready
N
Net Weight · Non-Binding Estimate · Not to Exceed Estimate (NTE)
O
Order for Service · Origin Service
P
Pack-Back · Pack-Out · Packing · PBO · Permanent Storage · Pickup Spread — see Pickup Window · Pickup Window
R
Released Value · Relocation Allowance · Relocation Expense Reimbursement · Revised Estimate · RMC
S
Self-Haul · Service Management Fee · Shipment Cube — see Volume · Shipment Density · Shuttle · Specialty Item · Speed-Pack / Gondola Box · Stairs · Storage · Storage-in-Transit · Storage Vault · Survey
T
Tariff · Tare Weight · Third-Party Service · Tier · Trailer Space — see Capacity · Transferee · Transit Time · Travel Fee — see Trip Fee and Travel Fee · Trip Fee and Travel Fee
U
V
Valuation · Van Line · Virtual Survey · Volume
W
Moving and relocation involve customers, crews, sales teams, operations, carriers, brokers, RMCs, technology platforms, warehouses, and other service providers. When those participants use the same word to mean different things, the result can be pricing disputes, scope changes, missed handoffs, service failures, and unclear accountability.
The Dictionary is the first practical expression of The Relocation Ecosystem's shared-language work.
More Than a Definition
A useful definition should explain what happens when the word enters a real move: who uses it, what each person expects, where it belongs in the process, and what information must reach the next person.
As entries develop, TRE connects each term to stakeholder perspectives, move stages, responsibilities and handoffs, common misunderstandings, practical consequences, related concepts, and supporting evidence.
For example, a survey gathers information; an inventory records what is moving; an estimate translates the agreed scope into pricing. An access detail missed early can become a change of scope for operations and the crew.
Where legal or contractual meanings differ, the entry should identify the relevant jurisdiction and service model. An interstate household-goods rule should not be presented as the rule for every local or intrastate move.
How Each Entry Works
Entries are designed to be useful to both industry professionals and people planning a move. Where relevant, each term includes a plain-English explanation, operating context, related terminology, source or evidence context, and a proposed TRE common-language definition.
The objective is not to force every company to use identical language. It is to make differences visible enough that information can travel more clearly from survey to estimate to operations to transportation to delivery.
Read TRE's Sources & Evidence standards →
Browse the newest Dictionary entries →
Move type, service scope and state requirements
Compare local, intrastate, interstate, long-distance and labor-only service in the move jurisdiction and service guide. Long-distance and labor-only are explained there alongside the existing Dictionary entries, so you can distinguish distance, responsibility and applicable rules.
For official verification routes and consumer checks, use the six-state intrastate pilot.
Built in Public
The Dictionary will continue to grow. If there is a word, phrase, service, data point, or process that people in relocation use differently, we want to know where the language breaks.
Tell us the term, what it means in your part of the industry, where people interpret it differently, and why that difference matters.
Evidence & Use
Where a term has a regulatory or formal industry meaning, The Relocation Ecosystem seeks to ground it in primary sources and clearly distinguish formal requirements from operating practice or interpretation. See the full Sources & Evidence standards for how TRE handles regulation, research, operating practice, contributor experience, and proposed common-language definitions.
Dictionary content is educational information, not legal advice. Laws, regulations, tariffs, contracts, and service definitions can change and should be verified for the specific move and jurisdiction.
One move. One language. One source of truth.