SLOT
Ocean freightSlot (vessel space)
A single container position on a vessel that a carrier or forwarder has the right to fill.
In practice
Carriers in an alliance exchange slots on each other's vessels. Forwarders and NVOCCs may hold slot contracts guaranteeing space at a fixed rate. When space is tight, having a slot is the difference between sailing and rolling.
Seen in the wild
We have 20 slots per week on the Asia to Europe loop under our contract.