Call
Call turns up in 2 fields: railroad, maritime. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Call in railroad
The notice telling a crew member when and where to report for duty.
Road crews do not work fixed shifts; a crew caller or automated system calls them, commonly two hours before their on-duty time, with the train, the report location and the time. Missing a call can cost a job, so railroaders sleep with the phone by the bed and check the board before planning anything. Being on call is the permanent state of a pool or extra board railroader.
"Got the call at three in the morning for a 0500 on-duty, coal train to the mine, and it's sleeting."
Call in maritime
A scheduled stop made by a commercial vessel at a port.
A call is a vessel's visit to a port to load or discharge cargo, take on bunkers, or embark passengers. The itinerary of a merchant ship is built around its port calls. Shipping lines measure route efficiency by calculating the time and fees associated with each port call against the freight revenue generated there.
"We've a scheduled port call in Rotterdam to offload three hundred containers before heading to Hamburg."