HHGFAA - Household Goods Forwarders Association of America, Inc. Now the International Association of Movers (IAM).

Hague Rules, The - Adopted in 1921 in The Hague, Netherlands, it is a multilateral maritime treaty which standardized liability limits of an international carrier under the Ocean Bill of Lading.  It also established a legal floor for B/L. Also see COGSA.

Harbor Master - An officer who attends to the berthing, etc., of ships in the harbor.

Hard Currency - A currency which is sound enough to be accepted internationally and which is usually full convertible.

Harmonized System - An international commodity classification system, developed under the auspices of Customs Cooperation Council, adopted by the United States in 1989 and increasingly the most widely accepted import/export methodology. Replaces SCHEDULE B export codes and TARIFF SCHEDULE OF THE U.S. import codes.

Harmonized Code - An internationally accepted and uniform description system for classifying goods for customs, statistical, as well as other purposes.

Hatch - The opening in the deck of a vessel. The hatch is designed to give access to the cargo hold of the vessel.

Hazardous Cargo - Cargo that poses hazards to those handling it, or to other cargo, or to the public and that therefore, requires special handling.

HAZMAT - A widely used abbreviation for Hazardous Materials.

Heavy-Lift Charge - Charges that are made for lifting cargo too heavy to be lifted by tackle aboard a ship.

High Cube - Any container that exceeds 8'6" (102 inches) in height.

High Density Compression - Compression of a flat or standard bale of cotton to approximately 32 pounds per cubic foot. Usually applies to cotton exported or shipped coastwise.

Highway Carriers - Divided into following classes: regular route (line haul) long haul/transcontinental carriers regular route (line haul) short haul carriers, irregular route carriers, specific commodity carriers, intrastate carriers, interstate carriers and local cartage/pickup/distribution  carriers.

Hitchment - The combining of two or more parts of one shipment that originated at different locations, moving under one bill of lading, from one shipper to one consignee. Authority for this service must be granted by tariff publication. Also see Bill of Lading.

Hopper Barge - A barge that loads cargo dumped into it by a dredger and unloads the cargo through the bottom.

House-to-House - Refer to Door-to-Door.

House-to-Pier- Cargo loaded into a container by the shipper under shipper's supervision. Once the cargo is exported, it is unloaded at the foreign pier destination.

Household Goods (HHG) - Property, unless specifically excluded, associated with the home and all personal effects belonging to an employee and immediate family members on the effective date of the employee's change of official station orders that legally may be accepted and transported by a commercial HHG carrier. Examples of items included are professional books, papers, and equipment (PBP&E), spare parts of a POV, consumable goods where the Department of State has declared that they are necessary, vehicles other than POVs, and ultra light vehicles for recreation or sport. Not included are personal baggage when carried on a ticket, automobiles, trucks, vans, etc., live animals and other similar articles.

Hub - A central location to which traffic from many cities is directed and from which traffic is fed into other areas.

Humping - The process by which moving rail cars get connected with motionless rail cars within a rail classification yard in order to make up a train. The cars move via gravity from an incline or hump onto the appropriate track.

Hundred Weight (CWT) - The pricing unit used in transportation; a hundredweight is equal to 100 pounds.