Plant

1) Items of equipment/machinery used in construction/engineering/ industry/factory processes, etc.

P/L

1) (1) Partial loss. Referring to shipping claims where only part of the cargo vehicle or vessel is lost or damaged. (2) Profit and loss account. Accountancy term referring to the account which compares total sales with total outgoings (ie expenditure). The balance shows gross profit or loss. (3) Part load.

PIRA

1) Packaging Industry Research Association. Trade association for firms in packaging industry.

Pipeline

1) A mode of transport used for moving large volumes of crude oil, petroleum gases. Typically over long distances as in Saudi Arabia and the trans-Alaska pipelines.

PIKE

1) Police Intelligence Commercial Enquiry system, new since mid-1999. Infringement information is fed in from police forces in the UK and abroad for dissemination to all forces.

Piggyback (or Piggy-back)

1) System whereby purpose-built lorry semitrailers are carried on specially-built rail wagons (pocket, swing-bed or spine wagons) for the trunk leg of long-haul rail journeys.