EDI 213 Shipment Status Inquiry: Carrier Guide

The EDI 213 is a tracking request in X12 form. Instead of typing a PRO number into a carrier's website or calling customer service, a shipper's or receiver's system sends a 213 with the shipment's references, and the carrier's system replies with a 214 status message. It is a small transaction, rarely more than a dozen segments, but it is the one that lets you pull status on demand rather than wait for the carrier to push it.

This guide covers what the 213 carries, when it makes sense next to an ordinary 214 feed, every segment you will map, two live examples (a shipper asking by PRO and a DC asking by bill of lading), and the mistakes that leave inquiries unanswered.

What Is an EDI 213?

An EDI 213 is the Motor Carrier Shipment Status Inquiry transaction set defined by ASC X12, used to request shipment status from a motor carrier. The standard states that the requestor may be a shipper or a consignee. It travels in functional group MI (the GS01 value).

Authoritative references for 213 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog defines the 213 and its segment order, and Stedi's X12 004010 reference for the 213 lists every segment and element by release
• The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) issues the SCACs that identify the carrier you are asking, normally the receiver ID on the interchange
• Each carrier that supports the 213 publishes its own guide, which says which references it can search on and how it replies

Who sends it? A shipper, a consignee, or a third party acting for one of them, such as a 3PL or a freight audit firm.

Who receives it? The motor carrier, usually an LTL carrier, that holds the shipment.

When is it sent? Whenever the requester wants status it does not already have: a shipment that has gone quiet, a delivery that is late, or a customer asking where their order is.

Why does it matter? Most carriers push 214s at milestones, but only for the parties and events they have been set up to report. The 213 lets you ask about a single shipment when you need it, using whatever reference you hold.

When to Use a 213 Instead of Waiting for a 214

The 213 and the 214 are two halves of one conversation, and you can run the 214 without the 213.

Carriers differ in whether they support the 213 at all. Many now offer tracking APIs and web portals instead, and a growing share of shippers get status through visibility platforms that aggregate carrier data. If your carrier does accept 213s, it is still the simplest way to pull status into an EDI-based system without a second integration.

How a 213 Inquiry Works

1. Requester identifies the shipment. It picks the strongest reference it has: the carrier's PRO number if known, otherwise the bill of lading number, the purchase order, or a combination.
2. Requester sends the 213. One transaction per shipment, with the references in REF, the pickup date in B11, and the shipper and consignee in the N1 loop.
3. Carrier acknowledges. A 997 confirms the 213 was syntactically valid.
4. Carrier searches its system. The PRO number is an exact match. A BOL or PO search may need the shipper, consignee or pickup date to narrow it down.
5. Carrier replies with a 214. The 214's B10 segment carries the shipment references, and its AT7 loops give the current status, date, time and location. See the 214 guide for the status codes.

Interactive Example: Shipper's 213 by PRO Number

Lakeshore Home Goods' freight from our 754 routing guide was picked up on November 11. A day later its customer service team wants to confirm it is on schedule for the DC. Its system sends a 213 to carrier QLTX with the PRO number, bill of lading and PO in REF segments, the total weight in L10, the shipper and consignee in N1 loops, and a free-text note in K2. 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: Consignee's 213 by Bill of Lading

Here the retailer's DC asks the same carrier about two inbound shipments. It does not have PRO numbers, only the suppliers' bill of lading numbers and its own POs from the ASNs. The interchange carries two 213 transactions, one per shipment, because the 213 is built around a single shipment: its references sit in the heading, not in a repeating loop.

213 Structure at a Glance

The table follows X12 004010. Later releases keep the same short layout.

Key Segments Explained

B11: Beginning Segment for Shipment Status Inquiry

B11*25*LHG4471*20261111~

The standard says B1101 identifies the requestor and B1103 is the pickup date. Which qualifier to use in B1101 is set by the carrier's guide. The carrier's customer (account) code is a common choice because the carrier can look it up directly, but some carriers want a DUNS number or a mutually defined code.

The pickup date matters more than it looks. A BOL or PO number is not unique across a carrier's whole history, and the pickup date is often what lets the carrier find the right shipment.

REF: Shipment References

REF*CN*QLTX20481557~
REF*BM*LHG-BOL-77120~
REF*PO*4500781234~

Send every reference you have. The PRO number is the carrier's own key and matches exactly. Without it, the BOL is the next best, because the carrier recorded it at pickup. A PO alone is weak: carriers only know it if the shipper put it on the bill of lading.

L10: Weight

L10*5710*G*L~

Weight is a tiebreaker. If two shipments share a BOL number, the weight helps the carrier pick the right one.

N1 Loop: Shipper and Consignee

N1*SH*LAKESHORE HOME GOODS~
N3*4100 EASTERN AVE SE~
N4*GRAND RAPIDS*MI*49508*US~
G61*IC*DANA REYES*TE*6165550142~
N1*CN*BIG-BOX RETAILER DC 6021*92*6021~
N4*COLUMBUS*OH*43217*US~

The loop repeats up to five times. N101 = SH is the shipper and CN the consignee. City, state and postal code in N4 are usually enough for the carrier to narrow its search. G61 gives a contact (G6101 = IC, information contact), with the name in G6102 and a phone number in G6104 after the qualifier TE in G6103.

K2: Administrative Message

K2*PLEASE CONFIRM DELIVERY APPOINTMENT AT DC 6021~

K201 is free text up to 80 characters. Most carriers process the 213 automatically and never read it, so do not put anything here that needs an answer. Use it for context a person might see if the automated search fails.

213 vs 214 vs 869 and 870

The 869 and 870 ask about an order: has it been picked, shipped, back-ordered? The 213 and 214 ask about freight: where is the truck? A buyer chasing a late PO may need both, an 869 to the supplier to find out whether it shipped, then a 213 to the carrier to find out where it is.

Common 213 Errors and How to Prevent Them

213 Implementation Checklist

• Confirm the carrier accepts the 213, and in which X12 release
• Get the requestor qualifier and ID it expects in B11
• Confirm which REF qualifiers it can search on (PRO, BOL, PO, others)
• Confirm whether it replies with a 214 and how fast
• Decide which shipments trigger an inquiry, and cap the frequency
• Store PRO numbers as soon as you receive them, from the BOL, a 214 or an invoice
• Map the reply 214s into your shipment tracking and alerts
• Test a PRO search, a BOL-only search and a shipment the carrier cannot find

The EDI document types reference shows how the transportation sets fit alongside order, ship notice and invoice documents, and the SCAC code glossary entry explains how carriers are identified.

Where OrderSync Fits

Tracking questions usually start as order questions: a customer asks where their purchase order is. Answering fast depends on having the order, its PO number and its shipment references in one clean record.

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 keeps the PO numbers on your orders, bills of lading and inquiries consistent. Paste any 213 or 214 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