EDI 858 Shipment Information: BOL Data Guide

The EDI 858 is the shipper's full account of a shipment, written for the carrier. Where a 204 load tender asks a carrier to take a load, the 858 tells the carrier what the load is: who ships it, who receives it, what equipment and seal it moves under, and the description, piece count and weight of every line on the bill of lading. It works across modes, which is why it shows up in rail, truckload, intermodal and government freight.

This guide covers what the 858 carries, who uses it, every segment you will map, a live truckload example, how it compares with the 211, 204 and 856, and the errors that lead to wrong freight bills.

What Is an EDI 858?

An EDI 858 is the Shipment Information transaction set defined by ASC X12, which lets a sender transmit detailed bill-of-lading, rating and/or scheduling information for a shipment. It travels in functional group SI (the GS01 value). In release 004010 the X12 description adds that it can carry Government and Commercial Bills of Lading and related government movement documents, and that it may be used by US civilian agencies, the Department of Defense and their trading partners.

Authoritative references for 858 work:

• The X12 858 structure (release 004010) on Stedi lists the heading, the HL detail loop and the L3 summary
• U.S. Steel's 858 guide shows a rail implementation in release 003010, with origin and destination stations, route and rail car details
• FCA US's CENTS 858 guide uses the 858 for its Carrier Electronic Notification of Trailer Status program
• USTRANSCOM's DoD transportation conventions include an 858 bill of lading version for defense shipments
• The NMFTA issues the Standard Carrier Alpha Codes (SCACs) the 858 uses to name the carrier

Who sends it? Usually the shipper or its 3PL. Some programs flow the other way, so read the guide: the name says "shipment information", not who holds the pen.

Who receives it? The carrier, a freight payment provider, or a government transportation office.

When is it sent? At or before pickup, so the carrier can build its waybill, rate the shipment and schedule equipment. Some rail programs send billing data with the release of the car.

Why does it matter? Carriers bill from what the shipper declares. A wrong weight, piece count, payment term or consignee on the 858 turns into a wrong freight bill, a reweigh charge, or a misrouted load.

Who Uses the EDI 858

Most commercial truckload and LTL shippers use the 211 bill of lading or the bill-of-lading detail inside the 204 instead. The 858 tends to appear where one document must serve several modes, or where a government program or a large shipper has standardized on it.

Release Differences: LX Detail vs HL Detail

The 858 changed shape over time, and older guides are still in production.

Check GS08 and the guide's version before you reuse a map. A 004010 parser will not read an 003010 detail loop correctly.

Interactive Example: Prepaid Dry-Van Truckload

A food distributor in Toledo sends a carrier the shipment information for a prepaid truckload of canned goods to a grocery DC in Des Moines. BX sets the mode (motor), payment (prepaid), the shipper's shipment ID and the carrier SCAC. N9 carries the bill of lading and PO, G62 the requested pickup date, and N1 the shipper and consignee. In the detail, the first HL is the trailer (N7, with seal M7), and two child HL levels carry the lading lines in L5 and L0. L3 totals 38,400 lb and 1,800 cartons. All names, IDs and the SCAC are fictional.

Use the Plain English tab for a readable summary, or click any segment to see its elements.

858 Structure at a Glance (Release 004010)

The 004010 standard has more than 60 segment positions. Most implementations use a small subset, and the guide decides which.

Key Segments Explained

BX: General Shipment Information

BX*00*M*PP*LKS3011804*HWLX*L*B~

BX04 is defined as fixed for the life of the shipment and free of blanks and special characters. Use the same value everywhere the shipment is referenced. BX05 is optional in the standard, but guides such as Burlington's make it required. See the SCAC glossary entry for how carriers get their codes.

N9 and G62: References and Dates

N9*BM*LKS-BOL-77120~
N9*PO*4500982211~
G62*10*20261109~

N901 qualifies the reference: BM is the bill of lading number and PO the purchase order number. Carriers print these on their freight bill, so they are how you match the 858 to the 210 freight invoice later. G6201 qualifies the date: 10 is the requested ship or pickup date, and 11 the date shipped.

N1: Parties

N1*SH*LAKESIDE FOODS DISTRIBUTION~
N1*CN*GREAT PLAINS GROCERS DC~

SH is the shipper and CN the consignee, each followed by N3 and N4 addresses. Rail guides also use station codes and Standard Point Location Codes (SPLC) to identify places. Add a bill-to or freight-bill party when someone other than the shipper pays.

HL, N7 and M7: Equipment

HL*1**E*1~
N7*HWLX*530217*********TF~
M7*SL4471902~

In 004010 the detail area is built from HL levels. The level codes and how deep the tree goes are set by the implementation convention. The example uses E (transportation equipment) for the trailer and I (item) for each lading line under it.

A seal number that does not match the seal on the trailer is a common reason a consignee refuses or holds a load.

L5 and L0: Lading Lines

L5*1*CANNED TOMATOES 24/14.5 OZ~
L0*1***24000*G***1200*CTN**L~

L002 and L003 carry a billed or rated-as quantity where the rate depends on something other than actual weight, and the L1 segment carries rates and charges when the shipper rates the move. Commodity codes drive the rate, so send the code your carrier contract names. The example leaves them out rather than invent one.

L3: Total Weight and Charges

L3*38400*G*********1800*L~

L301 is total weight (38,400) with L302 qualifier G (gross), L311 the total lading quantity (1,800 pieces) and L312 the weight unit (L, pounds). L303 to L307 carry the freight rate, charges, advances and prepaid amount when the 858 includes rating. Totals must equal the sum of the L0 lines: 24,000 + 14,400 lb and 1,200 + 600 cartons.

EDI 858 vs 211, 204 and 856

The 858 and 211 overlap the most: both carry bill-of-lading data to a carrier. The 211 is motor-specific. The 858 covers rail, motor, intermodal and government shipments in one standard, with room for rating, routing and stop-off detail. The 856 answers a different question for a different reader: it tells the buyer what to receive, while the 858 tells the carrier what to move.

Where the 858 Sits in the Freight Flow

1. Tender (motor). The shipper offers the load with a 204, and the carrier accepts with a 990. Rail and government programs may skip this step.
2. Shipment information. The shipper sends the 858 with the bill-of-lading detail, at or before pickup.
3. Ship notice. The supplier sends the buyer an 856 for the same shipment where the buyer requires one.
4. Status. The carrier reports progress with 214 messages.
5. Freight bill. The carrier bills with a 210 (motor) or its mode's invoice, built from the 858 data.
6. Payment. The bill-to party audits the freight bill against the 858 and pays.

Common 858 Errors and How to Prevent Them

Paste a test 858 into the free EDI inspector to see the equipment, lading lines and totals laid out side by side, which makes total and unit mismatches easy to catch.

858 Implementation Checklist

• Get the partner's 858 guide and confirm the release (003010 and 004010 differ)
• Confirm direction, timing and whether the 858 replaces a 211 or paper BOL
• Confirm which BX elements are required and the code values allowed
• Confirm the HL level codes and tree, or the detail loop an older release uses
• Load SCACs, commodity codes and party IDs (station codes or SPLC for rail)
• Capture equipment and seal numbers at loading
• Compute L3 totals from the L0 lines
• Test prepaid and collect shipments, a multi-line load and a correction
• Monitor 997 acknowledgments for rejections in the first weeks

Where OrderSync Fits

The weight, ship-to and freight terms on an 858 come from the customer order. If that order was keyed from a PDF or email with the wrong ship-to or quantity, the shipment information is wrong before the truck arrives.

OrderSync reads inbound orders in any format, including EDI 850s, PDFs, emails and spreadsheets, matches customers, items and units to your catalog, and outputs clean orders to your ERP or valid X12. Paste an 858 into the free EDI inspector to read it in plain English, see how ERP integration works, or book a 15-minute walkthrough to see your own orders processed.

Frequently Asked Questions