EDI 212 Delivery Trailer Manifest: LTL Guide

The EDI 212 tells a receiving dock what is on the trailer before the trailer arrives. An LTL trailer bound for a retail distribution center usually carries freight from several shippers. The DC needs to know which purchase orders are on it, how many cartons and pallets, and when it can come in. The 212 answers all three in one document, sent by the carrier from its terminal once the trailer is loaded for delivery.

This guide covers what the 212 carries, who sends it and why, every segment you will map, two live examples (an original manifest and a replacement), how it differs from the 214 and the 856, and the errors that cost a trailer its appointment.

What Is an EDI 212?

An EDI 212 is the Motor Carrier Delivery Trailer Manifest transaction set defined by ASC X12, used by a motor carrier to give a consignee the contents of a trailer, containing multiple shipments, that has been tendered for delivery. The standard's own purpose statement adds that it is not for full truckload shipments. A truckload is one shipment, so there is nothing to manifest. The 212 travels in functional group TM (the GS01 value).

Authoritative references for 212 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog defines the 212 and its segment order, and Stedi's X12 004010 reference for the 212 shows the full loop structure by release
• The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) issues the Standard Carrier Alpha Codes (SCACs) that identify the delivering carrier in ATA01 and the trailer owner in MS201
• Each consignee publishes its own 212 implementation guide. Best Buy, Walmart and H-E-B all have 212 guides in Stedi's public guide library, and the consignee's guide sets which segments and references are required

Who sends it? The LTL carrier delivering the trailer, usually from the destination terminal.

Who receives it? The consignee: in practice a retail distribution center, a large warehouse, or the logistics provider that manages the consignee's inbound docks.

When is it sent? After the carrier has loaded the delivery trailer and before it shows up at the dock. Consignees set the lead time. Best Buy's carrier guide, for example, asks for the manifest within 90 minutes of the trailer closing at the carrier's terminal.

Why does it matter? A DC plans labor and dock doors around what is arriving. Without a manifest, an LTL trailer is a box with unknown contents, and the receiving team finds out what is in it when the doors open. With a 212, the DC can check every PO before the truck arrives and book a door for it.

Why Consignees Ask for a 212

Most EDI in a supplier relationship runs between the supplier and the retailer. The 212 is different: it runs from the carrier to the receiver, and the supplier never sees it. It exists because of how LTL works.

An LTL carrier picks up from many shippers, cross-docks the freight at its terminals, and builds delivery trailers by destination. By the time a trailer leaves for a DC, it may hold shipments from five suppliers, each with its own bill of lading, PRO number and purchase orders. Each supplier sent its own 856 ASN to the retailer, but none of those ASNs says which trailer the freight is on. The 212 makes that link.

Retailers use it in two main ways:

1. Appointment scheduling. The 212 becomes the carrier's request for a delivery appointment. In Best Buy's published carrier guide, the 212 replaces the manual appointment form for LTL freight into its DCs, and Best Buy answers with an EDI 163 that grants the appointment or rejects the manifest with the data that needs fixing.
2. Receiving preparation. The DC matches each PO on the manifest to its open orders and ASNs, flags anything it does not recognize, and stages labor for the carton and pallet counts.

See our glossary entry on cross-docking for how carriers and DCs consolidate freight, and the SCAC code entry for how carriers are identified.

Where the 212 Sits in the Freight Flow

An LTL shipment into a retail DC typically produces these documents. Which ones are exchanged by EDI depends on each party's setup.

1. 204 Motor Carrier Load Tender. The shipper, or the retailer on collect freight, tenders the shipment to the carrier.
2. 990 Response to a Load Tender. The carrier accepts or declines.
3. 211 Motor Carrier Bill of Lading or a 215 pick-up manifest. The shipper documents what it handed over.
4. 856 Ship Notice. The supplier tells the retailer what shipped.
5. 214 Shipment Status. The carrier reports pickup, linehaul and terminal events.
6. 212 Delivery Trailer Manifest. The carrier tells the DC what is on the delivery trailer.
7. Delivery. The DC receives against the manifest and the ASNs, and the carrier reports delivery with another 214.
8. 210 Motor Carrier Freight Invoice. The carrier bills whoever pays the freight.

Interactive Example: 212 for a Three-Shipment LTL Trailer

This continues the story from our 754 routing instructions guide. Carrier QLTX collected Lakeshore Home Goods' two purchase orders in Grand Rapids, moved them through its terminal network, and loaded them onto a delivery trailer for the retailer's DC 6021 in Columbus, Ohio, together with freight from two other suppliers. The heading names the DC (N1*ST), says the trailer is available for delivery (AT7*AV), and gives the trailer and seal numbers. Each LX loop is one shipment with its PRO and bill of lading in L11, weight and handling units in AT8, purchase orders in OID, and the shipper in N1*SH. The sample uses X12 004030. All names, IDs and SCACs are fictional.

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

Interactive Example: 212 Replacement Manifest

The same day, the carrier pulls the third shipment off the trailer and pushes delivery to the next morning. It resends the manifest with B2A01 = 05 (replace), the same manifest number in ATA02, a new date and time in AT7, and only the two shipments still on board. The receiver should discard the earlier version and plan from this one.

212 Structure at a Glance

The table follows X12 004030, the release used in the example and in retailer guides such as Best Buy's. In 004010 the structure is the same except that loop 0210 holds the SPO (Shipment Purchase Order Detail) segment instead of OID.

The standard's notes say loop 0200 is usually keyed on the carrier's PRO number, and that loop 0220 (the shipper) is only needed when the carrier has not already given that information in an earlier status message. Retailer guides often tighten this: Best Buy, for instance, makes the shipper loop, the L11 references and the OID lines mandatory.

Key Segments Explained

ATA: Beginning Segment

ATA*QLTX*DM-6021-1112-07*20261112~

ATA02 is the key for everything that follows. A replacement or cancellation must carry the same manifest number as the original, or the receiver will treat it as a second trailer.

B2A: Set Purpose

B2A*00~

A replace (05) is a full replacement: the receiver should drop every shipment from the earlier version and use only what the new one lists. A cancellation (01) means the trailer is no longer coming to that location.

N1 Loop (Heading): Delivery Location

N1*ST*BIG-BOX RETAILER DC 6021*92*6021~
N3*1200 DISTRIBUTION PKWY~
N4*COLUMBUS*OH*43217*US~

The heading N1 loop names where the trailer is going, normally with N101 = ST (ship to) and the consignee's own location ID in N104. The ID qualifier in N103 varies by guide: the example uses 92 (assigned by buyer), and some retailers ask for 94 (assigned by the ultimate destination). A wrong location ID is one of the fastest ways to get a manifest rejected.

AT7: Shipment Status Details

AT7*AV*NS***20261112*0530*LT~

This is the same AT7 segment a carrier uses on the 214 shipment status message, with the same code lists. On a 212 the heading AT7 describes the whole trailer. Consignees that schedule from the 212 typically read AT705 and AT706 as the earliest time the trailer can be at their dock.

MS2 and M7: Trailer and Seal

MS2*QLTX*530118*TL~
M7*QS4471902~

The yard and gate teams use these. A trailer that arrives with a different number or a broken seal is a receiving exception, so store both with the appointment.

LX and L11: Each Shipment and Its References

LX*1~
L11*QLTX20481557*CN~
L11*LHG-BOL-77120*BM~

The PRO number (CN) is the carrier's tracking number for the shipment. The bill of lading number (BM) is the shipper's, and it is usually the reference that ties the shipment to the supplier's 856 ASN. Some retailers also require their own load or move number in an extra L11 on freight they pay for. The guide names the qualifier.

AT8: Weight and Handling Units

AT8*G*L*5710*316~
AT8*G*L*2260**8~

AT804 and AT805 add up to the total handling units. Put floor-loaded cartons in AT804 and pallets in AT805, as in the two lines above, so the DC knows whether it needs a forklift or a crew.

OID: Order Identification Detail

OID*SO-55120*4500781234**CTN*220*L*4180~

The OID lines are why DCs want the 212. Each one names a purchase order the DC can look up. The carrier usually gets these values from the bill of lading or from the consignee's own 204 load tender on collect freight. If the 204 carried OID data, the guide may ask the carrier to echo it exactly. In 004010 the same information goes in SPO, where SPO01 is the PO number and SPO03 to SPO06 carry the unit, quantity and weight.

N1 Loop (Detail): Shipper

N1*SH*LAKESHORE HOME GOODS~
N4*GRAND RAPIDS*MI*49508*US~

The last loop in each shipment names who shipped it (N101 = SH). The DC uses it to find the supplier's ASN and to contact the right vendor about shortages.

212 vs 214 vs 856 vs 215

These four are easy to mix up because they all describe freight on the move.

The 215 and the 212 are mirror images. The 215 is the shipper's list of shipments at the start of the move. The 212 is the carrier's list of shipments on one trailer at the end of it, usually mixing freight from many shippers.

Common 212 Errors and How to Prevent Them

212 Implementation Checklist

For a carrier setting up 212s with a new consignee:

• Get the consignee's 212 guide and confirm the X12 release (004010 uses SPO, 004030 uses OID)
• Load the consignee's location IDs for N104 and test one per DC
• Confirm the required L11 qualifiers per shipment (PRO, BOL, and any consignee load number)
• Confirm the AT7 status and reason codes and the time code it expects
• Confirm the send window and whether the 212 is the appointment request
• Confirm the response: a 997 only, or an appointment message such as a 163
• Test an original, a replace with a shipment removed, a replace with a new date, and a cancellation
• Monitor 997s and appointment rejections for the first weeks of production

For a supplier, there is nothing to send, but there is plenty to influence. The PO numbers, carton counts and weights on a 212 come from your bill of lading. Accurate BOLs and 856 ASNs are what let the DC match the carrier's manifest to your shipment. Our EDI compliance guide and EDI document types reference show how these fit around the order.

Where OrderSync Fits

A 212 is the end of a chain that starts with an order. If the purchase order was keyed wrong, the PO number on the bill of lading is wrong, and the DC cannot match the freight when the carrier's manifest arrives.

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. That gives your shipping team correct PO numbers and quantities to put on the bill of lading. Paste any 212 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