EDI 310 Specification: Ocean B/L and Freight Invoice

The EDI 310 is the ocean bill of lading and the freight bill in one electronic document. Once an ocean carrier has your cargo on its books, it sends a 310 with what it will print on the bill of lading and what it intends to charge. Importers, NVOCCs and forwarders use it to check the B/L before it is released, to match containers to purchase orders, and to audit ocean freight before paying.

This guide covers what the 310 carries, where it sits next to the 300, 301, 304 and 315, every segment you will map, a live sample with two 40-foot containers, how it differs from the motor-carrier 210, and the errors that cause B/L amendments and disputed invoices.

What Is an EDI 310?

An EDI 310 is the Freight Receipt and Invoice (Ocean) transaction set defined by ASC X12, used by an ocean carrier to send bill of lading information and freight charges for a shipment. The X12 description of the set lists several uses for the same data: a receipt for the shipment, a substitute for the paper bill of lading, a copy for verification or information, a manifest, and a freight invoice. Which of those a given carrier means by its 310 is set out in its implementation guide. The 310 travels in functional group IO (the GS01 value).

Authoritative references for 310 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog defines the 310 structure, segment order and loops
• Stedi's X12 004010 reference for the 310 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 for Shanghai and USLAX for Los Angeles) most carriers send in the R4 port segments
• The BIC container prefix register governs the four-letter owner codes used in container numbers under ISO 6346, which appear in the N7 segment
• Each ocean carrier publishes its own 310 implementation guide, which sets the reference numbers it sends, its charge codes and whether the 310 is a draft, a final B/L or an invoice

Who sends it? The ocean carrier, or an NVOCC acting as carrier to its own customers.

Who receives it? The party that booked the cargo or pays the freight: a shipper on prepaid exports, a consignee or importer on collect shipments, or the forwarder or NVOCC managing the move for them.

When is it sent? After the shipping instructions are received and the carrier has issued or drafted the bill of lading. Carriers often send a new 310 when the B/L is amended or when charges change.

Why does it matter? The bill of lading is the document that controls release of the cargo at destination. A wrong consignee, container number or port on the 310 means a B/L amendment. A wrong charge means an invoice dispute. Both are cheaper to catch on the 310 than after the vessel arrives.

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

Ocean EDI has its own family of transaction sets, separate from the motor-carrier sets most shippers know. The ones you will meet on a typical full-container-load move:

A typical sequence runs: 300 booking request, 301 confirmation with the booking number, empty container pickup and gate-in (reported on 315s), 304 shipping instructions before the documentation cutoff, 310 with the bill of lading and charges, then 315 events for loading, departure, arrival, discharge and release. Carriers differ in which sets they support and whether they send them directly or through a carrier portal or network, so treat the sequence as typical rather than fixed.

The booking number from the 301 and the bill of lading number from the 310 are the two references that tie everything together. Store both against your purchase orders.

Interactive Example: 310 for Two 40-Foot Containers, Freight Collect

An ocean carrier (SCAC BLUQ) bills a US importer for two 40-foot high cube containers of wooden furniture parts moving from Shanghai to Los Angeles, with final delivery to the importer's warehouse in Ontario, California. The freight is collect, so the consignee pays. The N9 segments carry the bill of lading, booking and purchase order numbers. V1 names the vessel and voyage. The R4 loops give the place of receipt, port of loading (with the actual departure date), port of discharge (with the estimated arrival) and place of delivery. Each container has an N7 with its seal in M7, the cargo is described once in L0 and L5, and the L1 lines bill ocean freight and bunker per container plus a documentation charge. L3 closes with the total. All names, numbers and codes for the parties, carrier, vessel and containers are fictional.

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

310 Structure at a Glance

The table follows X12 release 004010 and lists the segments most carriers use. The standard has more (letters of credit, insurance, hazardous materials, export licences), which carriers include only when the shipment needs them.

"Optional" in the standard is often "required" in a carrier's guide. Most carriers send N9 with the B/L number on every 310.

Key Segments Explained

B3: Beginning Segment for Carrier's Invoice

B3**FI-26110455**CC*K*20261105*576500****BLUQ~

Some carriers put the bill of lading number in B302 and send no separate invoice number. Others keep the two apart and send the B/L in N9. The guide says which, and your match logic needs to know before go-live.

N9: Reference Identification

N9*BM*BLUQSHA2611045~
N9*BN*BK7730412~
N9*PO*4500918832~

V1: Vessel Identification

V1*9700017*MERIDIAN HARBOR*LR*118E*BLUQ***L~

The standard needs at least one of V101 or V102. Vessel names repeat across fleets, so match on the code when the carrier sends one.

N1 Loop: Shipper, Consignee and Notify Party

N1*SH*LINHAI WOODCRAFT CO LTD~
N1*CN*CASCADE HOME IMPORTS LLC~
N1*N1*PACIFIC GATEWAY CUSTOMS BROKERS~

N101 gives the role: SH shipper, CN consignee, N1 notify party, with N2 for a second notify party and FW for a forwarder when the carrier sends them. These are the names the carrier will print on the bill of lading. Check the consignee and notify party against your 304 shipping instructions on every 310: a consignee error on a B/L is the classic reason cargo cannot be released at destination.

R4 Loop: Port or Terminal

R4*R*UN*CNSHA*SHANGHAI*CN~
R4*L*UN*CNSHA*SHANGHAI*CN~
DTM*370*20261104~
R4*D*UN*USLAX*LOS ANGELES*US~
DTM*371*20261119~
R4*E*UN*USONT*ONTARIO*US~

Common R401 values: R place of receipt, L port of loading, D port of discharge, E place of delivery, T transshipment port. The DTM after an R4 dates the event at that location: 370 actual departure date and 371 estimated arrival date in this sample. Other qualifiers you will see include 369 estimated departure and 372 actual arrival, and some carriers use the generic 139 estimated and 140 actual.

N7 and M7: Equipment Details and Seal Numbers

N7*QXZU*412873*9210*G*******CN******K*2****45G1~
M7*CN4417203~

Put the prefix, serial and check digit together and you get the container number as it is painted on the box: QXZU4128732. Some carriers send the check digit inside N702 instead of N718. Which equipment type codes a carrier sends in N722 (ISO size-type codes or older four-digit codes) is set by its guide. Seal numbers matter because a seal mismatch at the terminal or at customs examination is a hold.

L0 and L5: Quantity, Weight and Description

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

L5 can also carry a commodity code with its qualifier, such as a Harmonized Tariff Schedule number (L504 = A) or a Schedule B number (J), and marks and numbers in L506.

L1: Rate and Charges

L1*1*2450*PA*490000****COF~
L1*2*395*PA*79000****BUA~
L1*3*75*LS*7500****DOC~

The X12 code list for L108 includes COF ocean freight, BUA bunker adjustment (with BU2 and BU4 for 20- and 40-foot containers), BSC bunker surcharge, DOC documentation charge, TER terminal charge and DTC destination charge. Carriers do not all use the same codes for the same surcharge, and many send their own charge names in L112. Map each carrier's charge codes to your own freight cost categories once, from its guide, rather than trusting the description text.

L3: Total Weight and Charges

L3*18420*G***576500****58.4*X*1240*K~

Check that the L1 charges add up to L305 and to B307. In the sample: 4,900.00 + 790.00 + 75.00 = 5,765.00.

EDI 310 vs 210, 211, 315 and 810

The 210 and 310 share segment names (B3, L0, L1, L3, L5), so the mapping work looks familiar if you already audit truck freight. The differences are the ocean-specific pieces: the vessel (V1), the port and place roles (R4), the container and seal detail (N7, M7), and the fact that on ocean freight the same document doubles as the bill of lading. An importer bringing in a container usually sees both: a 310 from the ocean carrier for the port-to-port leg, and a 210 from the drayage or trucking company for the move from the port. Moves inland under the ocean carrier's own bill (as in this sample, with a place of delivery in Ontario, California) can appear on the 310 instead.

Common 310 Errors and How to Prevent Them

310 Implementation Checklist

Before your first live 310 from an ocean carrier or NVOCC:

• Get the carrier's 310 implementation guide and confirm the X12 version in GS08 (004010 is common)
• Confirm whether the 310 is a draft B/L, a final B/L, a freight invoice, or all three, and how a revision is flagged
• Agree where the B/L number, booking number and invoice number appear
• List the N9 qualifiers it sends, and make sure your purchase order numbers come through
• Load its charge codes (L108) and map them to your cost categories
• Store container numbers with check digits and seals against the purchase orders they carry
• Decide how 310 data updates your landed cost and how disputes go back to the carrier
• Link the B/L number to your EDI 315 status feed so the same shipment shows booking, B/L, charges and events together
• Confirm the 997 you will send back for each 310
• Test an original, a revision, a prepaid shipment, a collect shipment and a multi-container B/L

If you are building out ocean EDI next to your retail documents, our EDI document types reference shows how transportation sets sit beside the 850 purchase order, the 856 ASN and the 810 invoice. For background on the paper document, see our bill of lading glossary entry.

Where OrderSync Fits

Every container on a 310 started as a purchase order. The PO number in N9, the cargo in L5 and the quantities the importer expects to receive all depend on that order being captured correctly in the first place, whether it arrived as an EDI 850, a PDF, an email or a spreadsheet.

OrderSync reads inbound orders in any format, matches customers, items and units to your catalog, and outputs clean ERP data or valid X12. Paste any 310 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