Advance Ship Notice (ASN)

An advance ship notice is a pre-arrival communication – typically transmitted via EDI (document type 856) or API – that tells a warehouse, 3PL, or retail distribution center exactly what freight is inbound. It's sent after the shipment is tendered and picked up, giving the receiving facility a window to prepare. Without an ASN, the dock crew is effectively working blind when trucks show up.

A well-structured ASN includes the shipment's expected delivery date and time, carrier and tracking information, PO numbers being fulfilled, a line-level breakdown of items (SKU, quantity, lot numbers, expiration dates), and packing details like pallet count, carton count, and weight. For food and beverage shippers, ASNs often carry lot and batch traceability data that the receiver needs for FSMA compliance and inventory management.

ASNs are particularly critical in retail and grocery supply chains, where receiving operations are tightly scheduled. Major retailers assess vendor compliance penalties – commonly called chargebacks – for missing, late, or inaccurate ASNs. A late ASN can mean your delivery gets deprioritized at the dock, and an inaccurate one can trigger receiving discrepancies that cascade into payment delays and OSD disputes. For shippers delivering into cold storage facilities, accurate ASNs also ensure the right temperature zones and dock doors are allocated before arrival.

The best practice is to automate ASN generation as part of the tendering workflow – the moment a carrier is booked, the ASN fires to the receiving location with all relevant shipment and product data, no manual intervention required.