From the French fret , freight is linked to the rental of a means of transportation . The term can refer to the rental price, the load being transported or the vehicle used.
The concept has different uses depending on the country. In Spain , freight is the price stipulated for renting a boat. In Argentina , freight can be the transport of goods, the vehicle that transports packages or a riding horse. In Venezuela , Costa Rica and Guatemala , the value of the transfer of goods in a transport is known as freight.
For example: “I have been waiting for the arrival of the freight for three hours and I still have no news” , “We are going to have to hire a freight to make the move” , “The North American company lost thousands of dollars since the freight used did not have insurance ” , “I need a little help with the freight, I can't carry that much weight” .
From a maritime commercial point of view, it is established that the freight will have to be paid by the person who receives the merchandise, the recipient, when he takes charge of it in what would be the area of the discharge port. In this sense, it should be noted that in countries and cities that have a large maritime activity, freight becomes one of the most important commercial actions that exist.
Hence, it must be emphasized that also, in other places, the term freight is established to refer to a clause that is established in the documents of what would be the shipment of goods. In it, what is ruled and recorded is that they will be paid at the time of receipt.
In addition to all this, we would have to make clear the existence of what has been called freight insurance. It is used in the aforementioned maritime commercial field and refers to the insurance that is signed to cover damages and losses that cargo may suffer during the ship journey that they make by sea until they reach their destination.
A false freight is an amount of money that is paid when the ship in question or the part of it that has been rented is not used.
In most Latin American countries, on the other hand, the freighter is the person who is dedicated to transporting or moving goods or people in his vehicle: “My father is a freighter and drives a truck” , “This freighter is not serious: I had to carry eight baskets and he only gave me seven.”
However, we must not forget that in other places in the American geography, as is the case of the nation of Uruguay, there is another meaning for the term freight that concerns us now. Specifically, it is used to refer to a riding horse that is identified because it has very good qualities.
In Cuba , on the other hand, a fletera is a prostitute who walks the streets with the aim of finding clients. The notion of freight, therefore, refers to the client of the freight companies.