Glossary

The terms you meet most often around loading units in transport and logistics.

Term	Meaning
Combined transport	Transport in a loading unit with the main leg by rail, inland waterway or sea and short road legs at either end.
Loading unit	Container, swap body or semi-trailer that holds the cargo across all modes.
Swap body	Interchangeable load carrier for truck and rail, pallet-wide, standardised under EN 284.
Class C	Swap body class under EN 284, e.g. C 745 and C 782 with 7.45 and 7.82 m length. Non-stackable, with landing legs.
ISO container	Container built to ISO standards, 2,438 mm wide, stackable and approved under the CSC.
High cube	Container with 2,896 mm external height.
Craneable semi-trailer	Semi-trailer with grappler pockets that can be transferred by crane or reach stacker onto a pocket wagon.
P400	Profile code for 4 m high semi-trailers on rail.
Pocket wagon	Freight wagon with a lowered pocket in which the semi-trailer stands on its wheels, e.g. T3000e.
Container wagon	Flat freight wagon for containers and swap bodies, e.g. Sgns or Sggrss.
Pre- and on-carriage	Road leg between customer and terminal in combined transport.
Main leg	Longest leg in combined transport, by rail, inland waterway or sea.
TEN-T	Trans-European Transport Network under Regulation (EU) 2024/1679, with core, extended core and comprehensive network.
740 m	Target freight train length on the TEN-T network.
22.5 t	Target axle load on the TEN-T comprehensive network by 2050.
CSC	International Convention for Safe Containers: approval, plate, examination.
ACEP	Approved continuous examination programme for containers.
44 t rule	Permitted gross weight for articulated vehicles carrying containers or swap bodies up to 45' in intermodal transport (StVZO § 34(6) no. 6).
SVIKG	German act on the Special Fund for Infrastructure and Climate Neutrality, up to €500 billion.
LuKIFG	German act financing infrastructure investment of the Länder and municipalities, €100 billion.
Mobile asset	Real asset that can change where it works: container, swap body, freight wagon, locomotive.
Picks and shovels	Investment idea from the gold rush: invest in the equipment everyone needs instead of betting on single strikes.
Dual-mode locomotive	Locomotive with electric and diesel traction, e.g. Vectron Dual Mode.
General renewal	Bundling of maintenance and replacement on a high-performance corridor in a closure lasting several months (BSWAG § 11c).