EDI 300 Ocean Booking Request: Spec and Sample

The EDI 300 is where an ocean shipment starts. Before a container is released, loaded or billed, someone has to ask the carrier for space. The 300 is that request in electronic form: how many boxes, what size, from where, to where, around which date, and what is going in them. The carrier answers with a 301 confirmation and a booking number, and every later ocean document hangs off that number.

This guide covers what the 300 carries, where it sits in the ocean flow, every segment you will map, a live sample for two 40-foot high cube containers from Shanghai to Southern California, how it differs from the 301 and the motor-carrier 204, and the errors that turn into rolled bookings and wrong equipment.

What Is an EDI 300?

An EDI 300 is the Reservation (Booking Request) (Ocean) transaction set defined by ASC X12, used to request space on an ocean carrier's vessel for a shipment. It names the cargo, the equipment wanted, the places of receipt, loading, discharge and delivery, and the dates the shipper is working to. The 300 travels in functional group RO (the GS01 value), which it shares with the 301 confirmation and the 303 booking cancellation.

Authoritative references for 300 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog defines the 300 structure, segment order and loops
• Stedi's X12 004010 reference for the 300 lists the segments, elements and code values for release 004010
• The UN/LOCODE list maintained by UNECE supplies the five-character location codes (such as CNSHA and USLAX) most carriers expect in the R4 segments
• Each ocean carrier publishes its own 300 implementation guide, which sets the references, equipment codes and service codes it accepts

Who sends it? Whoever controls the booking: an exporter shipping on its own contract, an importer booking freight on a buyer-controlled move, or a forwarder or NVOCC booking on behalf of either.

Who receives it? The ocean carrier, directly or through a booking portal or network that passes the 300 on.

When is it sent? Days or weeks before the sailing, once the cargo and the ready date are known. A changed request goes as another 300 with a change action, and a cancellation usually goes as a 303.

Why does it matter? The booking reserves the space and the equipment. If the container type, count or origin is wrong on the 300, the carrier confirms the wrong thing, the wrong empties are released, or the cargo misses its vessel.

The Ocean Document Flow: 300, 301, 304, 310, 315 and 322

A typical full-container-load move runs: 300 booking request, 301 confirmation with the booking number and empty release, empty pickup and gate-in, 304 shipping instructions before the documentation cutoff, 310 bill of lading and charges, then 315 events through to empty return. Terminals report their own gate and vessel moves to the carrier on 322s, and those events often feed the carrier's 315s. Carriers differ in which sets they support, so treat the sequence as typical rather than fixed.

Interactive Example: 300 for Two 40-Foot High Cubes, Shanghai to Ontario, California

A US importer, Cascade Home Imports, books two 40-foot high cube containers of wooden furniture parts with an ocean carrier (SCAC BLUQ). The supplier in Shanghai is the shipper. B1 carries the importer's shipment reference and a new-request action code. G61 gives the booking desk to call. Y1 asks for a sailing around 3 November and names the carrier and mode. Y2 requests two 45G1 containers without chassis on pier-to-house service. N9 carries the purchase order. The R4 loops give the place of receipt, the port of loading with the requested departure, the port of discharge and the place of delivery. L0 and L5 describe 1,240 cartons, 18,420 kg and 58.4 cubic meters. All names, numbers and codes for the parties, carrier and cargo are fictional, and the same shipment runs through the 301, 304, 310 and 315 samples on this site.

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

300 Structure at a Glance

The table follows X12 release 004010 and lists the segments most bookings use. The standard has more, including authentication (Y6), priority (Y7), route preferences (R2A), equipment attributes (EA), hazardous material (H1, H2) and remarks (K1).

"Optional" in the standard is often "required" in a carrier's guide. Many carriers insist on a contact, the commodity and the weight on every booking.

Key Segments Explained

B1: Beginning Segment for Booking or Pick-up/Delivery

B1**CHI2610160412**N~

Keep B102 unique per booking request. The carrier echoes it on the 301, and it is the only key you have until the booking number comes back.

Y1: Space Reservation Request

Y1*20261103**BLUQ*O~

The requested sailing is a request. The carrier's 301 tells you the vessel and date it actually gave you, and the two often differ.

Y2: Container Details

Y2*2*R*PH*45G1~

Send one Y2 per container type, so a booking for two 40-foot high cubes and one 20-foot standard carries two Y2 loops. Which equipment type codes a carrier accepts in Y204 (ISO size-type codes or older four-digit codes) and how it reads the Y203 service codes against its own CY and door terms is set by its guide. For refrigerated cargo, a W09 follows the Y2 with the minimum and maximum temperature and the unit.

N9: Reference Identification

N9*PO*4500918832~

Which N9 qualifiers the carrier stores and returns differs by carrier. Send the purchase order on the booking anyway: when it comes back on the 301, 310 and 315, matching gets much easier.

N1 Loop: Parties

N1*SH*LINHAI WOODCRAFT CO LTD~
N4*SHANGHAI**201800*CN~
N1*CN*CASCADE HOME IMPORTS LLC~
N4*ONTARIO*CA*91761*US~

N101 gives the role: SH shipper, CN consignee, and in many guides a booking party, forwarder or notify party as well. The 300 only needs enough to book the space. The full names and addresses that will print on the bill of lading go on the 304 shipping instructions.

R4 Loop: Port or Terminal

R4*R*UN*CNSHA*SHANGHAI*CN~
R4*L*UN*CNSHA*SHANGHAI*CN~
DTM*369*20261103~
R4*D*UN*USLAX*LOS ANGELES*US~
R4*E*UN*USONT*ONTARIO*US~

The standard requires at least one R4. The DTM after an R4 dates the request at that point: here 369, estimated departure date. The place of receipt and place of delivery decide how much inland moving the carrier does, so they must agree with the service code in Y203.

L0 and L5: Cargo

L0*1***18420*G*58.4*X*1240*CTN**K~
L5*1*WOODEN FURNITURE PARTS~

The weight on a booking is an estimate. Carriers use it to plan the vessel, and the final figure comes later on the 304.

EDI 300 vs 301, 303, 304 and 204

The 300 and the 204 do a similar job: one party asks a carrier to take a shipment. The 204 tenders a specific load with stops and appointments and is answered by a 990. The 300 reserves space on a sailing and equipment at origin, and is answered by a 301 with a booking number. Neither one is a bill of lading. On ocean moves the bill of lading data goes on the 304 and comes back on the 310.

Common 300 Errors and How to Prevent Them

300 Implementation Checklist

Before your first live 300 to an ocean carrier:

• Get the carrier's 300 implementation guide and confirm the X12 version in GS08 (004010 is common) and the RO functional group
• Confirm how it wants changes and cancellations: a 300 with a change code, a 303, or both
• Load its accepted equipment type codes and service codes
• Agree which location code scheme it uses in R4
• Decide which references you send in N9, and check which ones it echoes on the 301
• Send the 300 from the same system that holds your purchase orders, so the PO numbers are right
• Confirm the 997 the carrier returns for each 300, and the 301 you expect back
• Test a new booking, a change, a cancellation, a mixed-equipment booking and a reefer booking if you ship refrigerated cargo

Our EDI document types reference shows where ocean sets sit beside the 850 purchase order and the 856 ASN. The SCAC code glossary entry explains the carrier codes in Y1 and the envelope.

Where OrderSync Fits

A booking is only as good as the order behind it. The quantities, weights and purchase order numbers on a 300 come from the orders your customers sent you, or the orders you placed with your suppliers, and those arrive as EDI 850s, PDFs, emails and spreadsheets.

OrderSync reads inbound orders in any format, matches customers, items and units to your catalog, and outputs clean ERP data or valid X12, so the PO numbers on your bookings point at accurate orders. Paste any 300 into the free EDI inspector to see it parsed segment by segment with a plain-English summary and any structural errors explained, or book a 15-minute walkthrough to see your own orders processed.

Frequently Asked Questions