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What does "FOB" stand for?


Guest quadfins

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Guest quadfins

In regards to manufacture or transportation of new cars.

I've seen and heard this term for years, but don't know what it actually stands for.

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Both terms are standard and correct. The bigest differences to note and be careful of:

FOB factory or place of manufacture: Freight becomes your property as soon as it is loaded on the truck. Any damage resulting in freight claims, etc. are your responsibility.

FOB your location: freight becomes your property when delivered and signed for. Freight claims to be handled by the factory or manufacturer.

This can be a huge difference when trying to settle freight damage. Usually

the factories have more leverage to settle due to their volume of business

with the freight company.

Dennis

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Guest quadfins

Thanks for the info. Most interesting.

I've often heard the term "FOB Detroit", so now I know what it means.

I knew you guys would come through.

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Guest Robin Coleman

keiser31...Forgive me, but your photo of the pocket watch is of a watch chain, not a fob. As a kid the most popular watch fob was a Caterpillar crawler tractor...As a career RR engineer, during the first few years of my job I carried a Hamilton 992 pocket watch because the few RR approved wrist watches were very expensive. My first RR approved wrist watch was a Bulova Accutron. We used to have to carry a "watch card" with us while on duty that showed the watch had been cleaned and inspected. This had to be done every two years. BTW..RR watches had to have what was called a Montgomery dial and be certified to have been adjusted to keep time in six positions, as well as saying "Railroad Approved" on the dial. The engineer and conductor had to compare their watches at the beginning of every trip, and if they were off by more than thirty seconds from a "Standard Clock" had to be reset. None of this applies any more...You can now wear a five dollar Timex.

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a fob (watch/key/whatever) is a word, FOB/F.O.B. is an acronym

and I had no idea that Bell labs "created" the word acronym:

" In 1943, Bell Laboratories coined the term acronym as the name for a word (such as SONAR) created from the first letters of each word in a series of words (such as SOund Navigation And Ranging).[1] The terms initialism and alphabetism are neither widely used nor widely known. The term acronym is widely used to describe any abbreviation formed from initial letters"

^ From Wikipedia

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Guest Robin Coleman

Mr. Keiser...Even today Big Smith overalls have a watch pocket in the middle top part of the bib, and have a button hole to attach the clasping end of the chain. I do not know if they still have it, but Levi jeans had a watch pocket just abouve the left pants pocket... I used to envy the old men as a kid wanting a "Cat" fob....They are now collector's items. Mr. Rohn...That is fascinating about Bell Labs coining the term acronym...I had never heard that. Just like RADAR...RAdio Detection And Ranging. BTW..My first pocket watch was a two dollar Westclox Scotty I bought when I was in the seventh grade. I have a large collection of pocket watches, but no fobs...My favorite is an Elgin 23 jewel with an "up and down" indicator..Like another second hand it told you how long it had been since the watch was wound. Still looking for that Cat fob.

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