EDI guide: document 214
The 214 is how a carrier tells a shipper where a shipment is. Picked up, in transit, delayed, delivered: each event is one 214, and the codes inside it are what your 3PL's tracking page and exception alerts are built from.
What it is
An EDI 214 is the transportation carrier shipment status message. LTL and truckload carriers send one to the shipper (or the 3PL managing the freight) each time something happens to a shipment: the driver arrives for pickup, the freight departs, it passes through a terminal, it is out for delivery, it is delivered, or it is delayed. Each 214 identifies the shipment by PRO number, bill of lading and purchase order, and carries a status code, a reason code, a date, a time and a location.
Brands see the 214 indirectly. When a 3PL's portal shows a B2B order as 'in transit, ETA Thursday', or when an exception email says a retail delivery was refused at the dock, a 214 from the carrier is usually the source. Retailers also consume 214s from their inbound carriers to plan appointments, which is why a load that the carrier reports as delayed can shift a delivery window the brand is fined against.
For a 3PL that manages outbound freight, the 214 is the difference between answering 'where is my order' from a screen and answering it by phoning the carrier. The value depends on the carrier sending every milestone promptly with consistent codes, and on the 3PL's TMS or WMS mapping those codes to statuses a customer understands.
Sample layout
Illustrative values. Each retailer or carrier publishes an implementation guide with the exact subset of segments and codes it accepts.
| Segment | What it carries | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ST | Start of the transaction set | ST*214*0001 |
| B10 | Beginning: carrier reference (PRO number), shipment ID from the shipper, carrier SCAC | B10*PRO88120*SHP0092811*RBTW |
| L11 | Reference numbers: BM bill of lading, PO purchase order, CN carrier PRO, others per partner | L11*BOL-55810*BM |
| N1 / N3 / N4 | Parties: SH shipper, CN consignee, with addresses | N1*CN*DC 6021*92*6021 |
| LX | Assigned number that starts each status loop | LX*1 |
| AT7 | Shipment status: status code (X3 arrived at pickup, AF departed pickup, X6 en route, X1 arrived at delivery, D1 delivered, SD delayed, A3 returned, CA cancelled), reason code (NS normal, AH holiday, BC weather, A1 missed delivery, AM shipper related), date, time, time code | AT7*D1*NS***20260925*1032*ET |
| MS1 | Location of the event: city, state, country | MS1*Columbus*OH*US |
| MS2 | Equipment: SCAC and trailer number | MS2*RBTW*T48812 |
| AT8 | Weight and piece count for the shipment | AT8*G*L*1820*4 |
| SE | End of the transaction set | SE*11*0001 |
How it flows
Common rejection reasons
The failures that show up in 997s, exception queues and retailer chargebacks.
Before you sign
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Questions
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