lighterage

English

Etymology

lighter +‎ -age

Noun

lighterage (countable and uncountable, plural lighterages)

1. The fee paid for conveyance of goods on a lighter (flat-bottomed boat for carrying heavy loads across short distances).
2. The act of unloading into a lighter, or of conveying by a lighter.
   • 1738, William Markham, A General Introduction to Trade and Business:

     If Goods are to be brought Home to your own House, there are Charges for Weighage, Cranage, Porterage, Wharfage, Cartage, Lighterage, &c.

   • 1904, Joseph Conrad, Nostromo, New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Part 3, Chapter 1, p. 355,^[1]

     He has certainly organized the lighterage service of the harbor for the O.S.N. Company with great ability.

   • 1952 July, “New Terminus for New York?”, in Railway Magazine, page 434:

     Moreover, as the traffic would be mainly morning and evening rush-hour services, at other times of the day much lighterage across the river could be saved by using part of the new terminus for freight trafic.

References

• “lighterage”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.