Major Carrier - A for-hire certificate air carrier with annual operating revenues of $1 billion or more, these carriers usually operates between major traffic centers.

Malpractice - A carrier that will provide a customer with preferential treatment to attract cargo. This special treatment can take the form of rebates, using inaccurate and lower numbers for the assessment of freight charges (undercubing); misdeclaration of the commodity being shipped to allow for the assessment of a lower tariff; waiving published tariff charges for demurrage, CFS handling or equalization; providing specialized equipment to a shipper to the detriment of other shippers, plus providing a number of other services not generally provided to other shippers.

Mandamus - Writ issued by court requiring specific actions to be taken.

Manifest - An itemized list by Bill of Lading number of the kind and quantity of all cargoes loaded aboard a vessel, prepared by the vessel's master.

Marine Insurance - Insurance, which compensates the owner of goods, transported overseas in the event of loss that cannot be legally recovered from the carrier. Also covers air shipments. Compare with "Credit Risk Insurance".

Maritime - Business pertaining to commerce or navigation transacted upon the sea or in seaports in such matters as the court of admiralty has justified.

Maritime Administration (MarAd) -A United States government agency, while  not actively involved in vessel operation, administers  laws for maintenance of a merchant marine for the purpose of defense and commerce.

Marking (or Marks) - Letters, numbers, and other symbols placed on cargo packages to facilitate identification.

Marlinespike - A pointed metal spike, which is used to separate strands of rope in splicing.

Master lnbond - The U.S. Customs' automated program under AMS.  It allows for electronic reporting of inbond (foreign) cargoes in the U.S.

Material Contract Terms - Terms which are necessary to the agreement.  Clauses that describe the goods, fix the price, and set the delivery date for example.

Material Handling Equipment (MHE) - Mechanical devices for handling of supplies with greater ease and economy.

Mate's Receipt - An outdated practice in which an acknowledgement of cargo receipt signed by a mate of the vessel can be exchanged for a bill of lading by the person in possession of said receipt.

MBM - 1,000 board feet.  One MBM equals 2,265 C.M.

MCFS -Abbreviation for Master Container Freight Station. Also see CFS.

Measurement Cargo - Cargo for which transportation charges are calculated on the basis of the volume measurement of the shipment.

Measurement Ton - 40 cubic feet.

Mechanically Ventilated Container - A container fitted with a means of forced-air ventilation.

Memorandum Bill of Lading - An in-house bill of lading.

Memorandum Freight Bill - See Multiple Containerload Shipment.

Merchant's Credit - A letter of credit issued by the buyer himself. Contains no commitment whatsoever on the part of a bank.

Meter - Approximately 39.37 inches, a little more than three feet.

Metric Ton - Weight of 2,205 pounds or 1,000 kilograms.

Microbridge - Provides for inter-modal transport of freight from inland city to seaport with through movement transfer of container freight onto overseas ship.

Mitigation Strategy - Ways that the port or terminal has developed to address vulnerabilities that were found in a security assessment.

Mile - 5,280 feet.

Military Impedimenta (MI) - All equipment controlled and owned by a unit and carried on the Unit Property Books (Table of Organization and Equipemment) and moving simultaneously or in conjunction with troops. Ml consists of materials such as weapons, vehicles, tools, housekeeping equipment, records, training aids, and limited quanities of spare parts and other consumables normally in possession of the unit. It may also be refered to as TAT or equipment to accompany troops.

Military Sealift Command (MSC) - A Navy major command and the USTRANSCOM sea component with primary responsibility for providing sealift transportation service.

Military Services - Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy.

Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) - An army major command and the USTRANSCOM land component that provides cargo, passenger, and personal property traffic management services to all DOD Components.

Mini Landbridge - An intermodal system for the transportation of containers by ocean and then by rail or road to a port previously served as an all- ocean transport (e.g., Singapore to Philadelphia by going through San Francisco.

Minimum Bill of Lading - A Bill of Lading Clause that specifies the smallest charge that the carrier will make for issuing a lading. The charge may be a definite sum or the charge per ton for any speci­ fied quantity.

Minimum Charge - The lowest charge that can be assessed to transport a shipment.

Mitigation of Damages - A legal doctrine that charges a party who suffers contract damages with a duty to use reasonable diligence and ordinary care in attempting to minimize damages or avoid aggra­ vating the injury.

Mixed Container Load - A container load containing a variety of articles in a single consignment.

MLB - Abbreviation for Mini Landbridge.

M.M.F.B. - Middlewest Motor Freight Bureau.

Modified Atmosphere - A mixture of gases that is designed to modify or replace the regular atmosphere inside a container.

Monetary Allowance in Lieu of Transportation (MALT) - This is the amount paid for mileage when a service or family member drives to the new duty station. It is based on the Official Military Table of Distances.

Mortgage - Conveyance of property, real or personal, to person called mortgagee to secure performance of some act such as payment of money by mortgagor, becomes void upon performance of acts.

Most Favored Nation (MFN) - The policy of non-discrimination in trade policy that provides to all trading partners the same customs and tariff treatment given to the so-called "most favored nation."

Motor Carrier Act of 1935 - Act of congress effective October1, 1935; Part II of the Interstate Commerce Act brought motor common and contract carriers under jurisdiction  of Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) incorporated into Revised Interstate Commerce Act of 1978.

Motor Carrier Act or 1980 - Act of Congress that initiated deregulation of for-hire trucking.

Motor Common Carrier - Entity holding itself out to general public to provide motor vehicle transportation for compensation over regular or irregular routes or both.

Move-In Housing Allowance (MIHA) - MIHA is designed to reimburse overseas costs associated with living in privately-owned or privately-leased quarters. It addresses three specific needs: one-time rent-related expenses, modification of homes for security protection, and the initial cost of making a home habitable. This is available outside of the continental United States (OCONUS) only. MIHA rates change with currency rates and location. 

MRP II -  Manufacturing Resource Planning System of manufacturing controls using computers; as in Kanban systems affect purchasing, materials management, inventory control and production management- as well as peripheral manufacturing activities (older meaning of MRP is "materials requirements planning" Roman numeral II was added to flag change.

MT - Abbreviation of Metric Ton or cubic meter, depending on which produces the greater revenue. Generally, this term is used in reference to shipping charges.

Mule - 1) Small vehicle used for moving two-axle dollies; 2) yard tractor or hostler.

Multilateral Agreement - An international contract involving three or more parties.

Multimodal - Using more than one mode of transportation to move load of goods e.g. truck, train, ship, usually for imported/exported goods.

MultiTank Container - A container frame that is fitted so that it can accommodate two or more separate tanks that contain gas or liquids.