Walmart’s Shipping and Routing Transportation Guide Glossary

In Walmart's shipping and routing transportation Guide, they have a glossary of some of the most basic and some more retailer-specific logistics terms. Some of these have been duplicated here to help both Walmart suppliers and others in logistics.

• ASN: Advanced Ship Notice; an ASN is part of an integrated receiving system, where the supplier sends an EDI transaction when the product ships.

• Assembly: a method by which stores replenish basic merchandise. Normally, replenishment is reviewed once each week. The stores and quantities are consolidated by warehouse, and a Type 33 purchase order is generated automatically by the system and sent to the supplier. 

• Backhaul: a process where merchandise is transported from a vendor to a DC via a Walmart truck. 

• Bill Of Lading: a document received and sent with merchandise to prove shipping and/or receiving. 

• Carrier Due Date (CDD): the date generated at load-level by the Walmart Transportation Department to set carrier delivery expectations. It will not necessarily match up with the MABD. 

• Carrier Pickup Date (CPU): the date provided to a supplier after the PO has run through Walmart's Load Builder optimization system. As a result of this optimization, there are times when the Carrier Pickup Date is different from the original Ship On Date. The supplier should follow the Carrier Pickup Date, not the Ship On Date. 

• Collect Load Template (CLT): the TAB (tabular; see TAB) load sheet is an Excel document located in your PVT (see Purchase Order Validation Template) and on separate tabs by ship point origin. This is to be used as Routing Instructions, as it contains the Walmart load number (which is an 8-digit number to be utilized when communicating with the carriers and TAB Transportation), the POs that are supposed to ship on each load with case counts, and the carrier for that load. 

• Consolidation Facility (Center Point): a central location that processes full trailer loads of LTL-sized POs. The POs are cross-docked and reloaded on outbound trailers destined to Walmart and Sam's Distribution Centers. 

• Corporate Traffic: an area responsible for Collect shipments.

• Cube: the amount of space an item of merchandise takes up. 

• DC Pooling: a type of Two-Tier where product needed for multiple DCs, fulfilled from the same supplier ship point, is evaluated. A Truckload Order is generated and routed to a specified Consolidation Facility when the need for multiple DCs rises to the level that a full truckload can be ordered. 

• Direct to Store (DTS): merchandise that travels directly from the vendor to a retail store. 

• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): the process of sending orders and invoices electronically from computer to computer versus mailing paper copies. 

• Free on Board or Freight on Board (FOB Domestic): the point at which the ownership of merchandise passes to the purchaser. Indicates that the seller provides transportation from the factory to trucks, railcars, or consolidators, after which the buyer pays all the carrier charges. 

• Import Distribution Center (IDC): a facility designated to hold import merchandise until closer to a particular selling season. The facilities are located across the nation. 

• Imports: merchandise brought in from another country. 

• Item Number: a number assigned to an item of merchandise. This is the Walmart Identification Number (WIN) for the items carried in the store and throughout their replenishment system. 

• Lead Time (LT): the number of days between order creation and when the product is available to ship to the stores. 

• Less than Truckload (LTL): a PO that is too small to be economically transported by itself on a truck, but rather is combined with other POs for transportation. 

• Load P/U Window Start: in Routing Status, this is the start date for the PO being optimized (assigned) to a load.

• Load P/U Window End: in Routing Status, this is the End date for the PO being optimized (assigned) to a load. The Load ID and Carrier Pick Up Date will typically be populated 48 hours prior to the Load P/U Window End date.

• Manifest: a list of all materials included in a shipment, provided by the seller. 

• Minimum/Maximum: the minimum constraint that must be met for a vendor to ship product. The maximum constraint defining how much of the vendor's product can legally fit on a truck for the vendor to ship the truck. 

• Must Arrive By Date (MABD): the date by which a vendor's merchandise must arrive at the destination DC. The date is generated at the PO level and represents the date established through replenishment systems in order for the product(s) to remain in stock at the stores served by that DC. 

• Must Arrive By Date Window: it is acceptable for the shipment to arrive at the DC, which extends from the Must Arrive By Date back 3 calendar days. For example, if the MABD is the 20th, then the window is calendar days 17 through 20. 

• Overflow: a process where, if a trailer to be shipped is filled before all of the merchandise has been loaded, the remaining merchandise is loaded on another trailer. 

• Pallet: a movable platform used to stack cases or boxes. Also called a skid. 

• Pallet Pull: an item that is shipped to stores where the entire pallet is considered one case. 

• Planned Ship Date (used only with TAB POs): the ready date on the load that the supplier can see on the CLT under the Planned Ship Date column. This date is only a suggestion for any load going directly to a Walmart DC. 

• PO: Purchase Order

• PO Type: a two-digit code that describes the types of purchase orders that may be written. These codes are the third and fourth digit of the purchase order number. 

• Purchase Order Validation Template (PVT): the PVT is an Excel document that will contain the following PO information: Event Code for the POs, PO number, item numbers, item description, Replenishment contact, Department Number, DC number, case count the PO was written for, total number of POs for that event, totals for all POs case counts, MABD for the event. 

• Routing Status: Routing Status within TSCP 2.0 provides shipping instructions after POs are Confirmed into Routing. See p. 46-57 of the Shipping and Routing Transportation Guide.

• Ship On Date: the Ship-On date displayed in Confirm Shipment is an estimate based on either LTL or TL transit and the MABD. This will not necessarily be the Carrier Pickup Date (CPD). After confirming POs Walmart's TMS will assign the CPD based on multiple factors, including transit, mode, cost, PO feasibility, and capacity.

• Ship Point: a ship point is any point in the supplier's supply chain from which they will directly ship product to Walmart (typically, factories and warehouses). Collect suppliers must create/request ship points before they can confirm orders via TSCP 2.0. Walmart's systems use the ship point information to determine how much freight they can put on the trailer. Incorrect information on a ship point profile can cause suppliers to receive too many trucks, not enough trucks or space, and can cause them to have a higher Freight Factor.

• Shortage: when less than the amount of freight, or items, noted on the freight bill arrives at the distribution center. 

• SCM: Supply Chain Management; assist with AutoReady/MTLO program. WMUSFTLO@walmart.com

• SSM: Supplier Solutions Manager; assist with lead time audit, OTIF, Supplier Closings

• Consumables SSM Team - ConsumSSMailbox@walmart.com

• General Merch SSM Team - SSMailbox@walmart.com

• Food SSM team - FoodSSMailbox@walmart.com

• SCO: Supply Chain Optimization; assist with optimal ship point alignment. SCO2.0@wal-mart.com

• Supplier Closing Template: suppliers must notify Walmart in advance of any shipping facility closing dates by completing the Supplier Closing Template. This process takes place quarterly. The template and detailed instructions are provided in Retail Link Academy: Retail Link > Academy > Quick Learning Articles > Ordering & Replenishment > Setup & Maintenance > Supplier Closings

• TAB: short for "Tabular," meaning Circular Ad Merchandise. 

• TMS: Transportation Management System - Walmart's system for optimizing POs to loads and completing carrier assignments.

• Transcore: "Transcore" (Industry SCAC -- ITNL) is a code for a software company called Intellitrans, which helps Walmart find carriers for their loads. Due to Walmart's process, the load is initially assigned to ITNL (Transcore). After the load is assigned to a real carrier, it will automatically be updated in the Walmart system, and suppliers can find the Carrier Name listed in Routing Status.

• Two-Tier: automated replenishment systematic ordering without the need to enter Request for Routing. 

• VICS (Voluntary Inter-Industry Commerce Standard): an EDI and BOL standard primarily used by the Retail Industry. Walmart supports these standards.

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