EDI 210 Motor Carrier Freight Invoice: Complete Guide

The EDI 210 is the carrier's freight bill as data. After a truckload or LTL carrier delivers, it sends a 210 to whoever pays the freight: the shipper on prepaid freight, the consignee on collect, or a third party. Each charge is a separate line with its rate, basis and code, so the payer can check it against the rate it agreed to before paying. The 210 is also where a wrong weight, class or accessorial on the bill of lading finally costs money.

This guide covers what the 210 bills, the segments you will map, two live examples (an LTL invoice and a multi-stop truckload invoice), how the 210 compares with the 810 and the ocean 310, and the checks that catch billing errors.

What Is an EDI 210?

An EDI 210 is the Motor Carrier Freight Details and Invoice transaction set defined by ASC X12, used to provide the detail of charges for services rendered by a motor carrier. The standard says it can be used both as a motor carrier invoice requesting payment and as the details of the charges on one or more motor freight shipments. It travels in functional group IM (the GS01 value) and most carriers use X12 004010.

Authoritative references for 210 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog defines the 210 and its segment order, and Stedi's X12 004010 reference for the 210 shows every loop, segment and element by position
• The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) issues the SCAC that identifies the billing carrier in B311, and publishes the NMFC classes that LTL charges are rated on
• Each payer publishes a 210 guide that sets the references it needs to approve an invoice and the charge codes it accepts

Who sends it? The motor carrier, or a freight payment provider on the carrier's behalf.

Who receives it? The party that pays the freight: the shipper on prepaid shipments, the consignee on collect, or a third party such as a 3PL or the payer's freight audit and payment provider.

When is it sent? Usually after delivery. The standard's note on B309 allows an invoice before delivery, in which case the delivery date is an estimate.

Why does it matter? Freight is billed from what the carrier recorded, not from what you planned. The 210 is where differences in weight, class, stops and accessorials show up as money.

What the 210 Bills

• Line haul. The base charge for the move: per hundredweight or after discount on LTL, per mile or flat on truckload.
• Fuel surcharge. A percentage of line haul, a rate per mile, or a flat amount, depending on the carrier's fuel schedule and your contract.
• Accessorials. Stop-off charges, detention, liftgate, appointment and other services, each with its own code.
• Adjustments. Discounts, minimum charges, and corrections after a reweigh or reclass.
• References. The carrier's PRO or invoice number, the shipper's BOL or load number, and PO numbers, which the payer needs to match the bill to a shipment.
• Proof of delivery. The date, time and name of the person who signed, when the payer's guide asks for it.

Interactive Example: 210 for an LTL Shipment, Freight Collect

This continues the shipment from our 211 bill of lading guide. LTL carrier QLTX picked up Lakeshore Home Goods' 316 cartons in Grand Rapids and delivered them to the retailer's DC 6021, which it had announced on a 212 delivery trailer manifest. The freight is collect, so the carrier bills the retailer.

B3 uses the PRO as the invoice number, echoes the shipper's BOL number, sets collect terms, dates the invoice and gives the net amount due and the delivery date. N9 carries the retailer's load number and POs. In the LX loops, POD records who signed for the freight, L0 the billed weight and cartons, and L1 the charges: line haul at 38.42 per hundredweight on 5,710 lb (2,193.78) and a 24% fuel surcharge (526.51). L3 totals them at 2,720.29. The sample uses X12 004010. All names, IDs, SCACs and rates are fictional.

Use the Plain English tab for a readable summary, or click any segment to break it down element by element.

Interactive Example: 210 for a Multi-Stop Truckload

The second invoice bills the three-stop truckload from our 204 load tender guide. The S5 loops list the stops the carrier ran, and three LX loops carry a flat line haul (1,450.00), a fuel surcharge of 0.58 per mile on 415 miles (240.70), and a stop-off charge for the extra delivery (75.00). The lines add up to the 1,765.70 in L3 and B307.

210 Structure at a Glance

The table follows X12 004010.

References in the 210 use N9, not the L11 used in the 204, 211 and 214.

Key Segments Explained

B3: Beginning Segment for Carrier's Invoice

B3**QLTX20481557*LHG-BOL-77120*CC*L*20261113*272029**20261112*035*QLTX~

B307 is a numeric field with two implied decimal places, so 272029 is 2,720.29, not 272,029. The same rule applies to the charge fields in L1 and L3. Reading them as whole dollars is one of the most common 210 mapping bugs.

N9: Reference Identification

N9*LO*LD6021-88412~
N9*PO*4500781234~

Payers approve invoices by matching references to a shipment they know about. Ask for the references your own system keys on, typically the BOL number or the load number you sent in the 204.

LX, L0 and L5: The Invoice Lines

LX*1~
POD*20261112*0940*J ORTEGA~
L5*1*HOUSEWARES~
L0*1*5710*LB*5710*G***316*CTN**L~

LX01 numbers the line. L5 describes the commodity (L503 and L504 can carry an NMFC item with qualifier N). L0 gives the quantities the charges are calculated from:

When the billed weight in L002 or L004 is higher than the weight on your bill of lading, the carrier reweighed the freight. That is legitimate when the BOL was wrong, and worth disputing when it was not.

L1: Rate and Charges

L1*1*38.42*CW*219378****400~
L1*2***52651****405***********24~

L102 and L103 must appear together, and at least one of L104, L105 or L106 must be present. Audit each L1 against the contract: the rate in L102, the basis in L103, and whether the accessorial in L108 was approved for that shipment.

L3: Total Weight and Charges

L3*5710*G***272029******316*L~

L301 and L302 are the total weight and qualifier, L305 the total charges (two implied decimals), L311 the handling units, and L312 the weight unit. L305 should equal the sum of the L104 charges and the B307 net amount due. If it does not, ask before paying.

S5 Loop: Stops on a Multi-Stop Invoice

S5*2*PU*7380*L*410*CT~
N1*ST*BIG-BOX RETAILER DC 6025*92*6025~
N4*PLAINFIELD*IN*46168*US~

On a multi-stop truckload, the S5 loops show which stops the carrier ran, using the same stop reason codes as the 204 (CL complete load, PU part unload, CU complete unload). Check them against the tender: a stop-off charge for a stop you never tendered is a dispute.

210 vs 810 vs 310

The 810 bills a buyer for the goods; the 210 bills the payer for moving them. A 3PL often handles both directions: it pays carriers' 210s and bills its own clients. Ocean carriers invoice with the 310 and report container events with the 315.

Where the 210 Sits in the Freight Flow

1. 204 Motor Carrier Load Tender: the shipper offers a truckload; the carrier answers with a 990
2. 211 Bill of Lading or a 215 pick-up manifest: the shipper documents the freight at pickup
3. 214 Shipment Status: the carrier reports pickup, transit and delivery
4. 212 Delivery Trailer Manifest: on LTL into retail DCs, the carrier lists what is on the delivery trailer
5. 210 Motor Carrier Freight Invoice: the carrier bills the payer

Match the 210's delivery date in B309 against the delivery event on the carrier's 214. An invoice for a shipment with no delivery status, or with a delivery date that does not match, needs a second look. If you are missing status for a shipment, a 213 shipment status inquiry asks the carrier for it.

How to Audit a 210

Freight terms decide who receives the 210. If invoices for your inbound collect freight arrive at your suppliers, or vice versa, check the payment codes on the BOL and in B304. Our FOB shipping glossary entry explains how terms and payment interact.

Common 210 Errors and How to Prevent Them

210 Implementation Checklist

• Confirm each partner's 210 guide, X12 release (usually 004010), and GS01 = IM
• Agree what goes in B302 and B303, and which N9 qualifiers are required
• Map payment terms and the bill-to party
• List the L108 charge codes the payer accepts and map each accessorial
• Confirm the rate qualifiers you send in L103
• Implement N2 handling for B307, L104 and L305
• Decide how corrections and rebills are flagged
• Set up matching against BOLs, tenders and 214 delivery events
• Test an LTL invoice, a truckload invoice with accessorials, a correction and a zero-charge or credit line

Our EDI document types reference shows how the transportation sets sit next to order, ship notice and invoice documents, and the bill of lading glossary entry explains the document most 210s are matched against.

Where OrderSync Fits

A freight invoice is only as matchable as the shipment behind it, and the shipment is only as good as the order it came from. When an order arrives as a PDF or an email and the ship-to or freight terms are keyed wrong, that error travels onto the BOL and comes back on the 210.

OrderSync reads inbound orders in any format, from EDI 850s and 875s to PDFs, emails and spreadsheets, matches customers, items and units to your catalog, and outputs clean ERP data or valid X12, so your shipments start from accurate orders. Paste any 210 into the free EDI inspector to see it parsed segment by segment with a plain-English summary, or book a 15-minute walkthrough to see your own orders processed.

Frequently Asked Questions