lighterage

plural lighterages

1. countableuncountableThe fee paid for conveyance of goods on a lighter (flat-bottomed boat for carrying heavy loads across short distances).
2. countableuncountableThe act of unloading into a lighter, or of conveying by a lighter.

   1904, Joseph Conrad, Nostromo, New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Part 3, Chapter 1, p. 355, He has certainly organized the lighterage service of the harbor for the O.S.N. Company with great ability.

   2 more examples

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

   1738, William Markham, A General Introduction to Trade and Business

   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.

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