Shipment Status Updates

Shipment status updates are the discrete events that mark a load's progress from order release to delivery confirmation. Each update captures what happened (pickup completed, arrived at terminal, out for delivery), when it happened (timestamp), and where it happened (location or facility). Strung together, these updates form the timeline that logistics teams, customers, and finance departments all rely on to do their jobs.

Status updates flow through several channels depending on the carrier and the shipper's technology stack. EDI 214 messages are the traditional standard – structured electronic transactions that carriers send at predefined milestones. API-based updates are increasingly common and offer more flexibility and faster refresh rates. ELD and GPS data provide continuous location updates rather than milestone-based ones. And manual updates – entered by drivers, dispatchers, or logistics coordinators – still fill gaps where electronic tracking isn't available. The challenge for shippers using multiple carriers is that each one may deliver status data in different formats, at different frequencies, and with different levels of detail.

Consistent, timely status updates matter because they're the foundation for everything else in the visibility stack. Exception management rules fire based on status updates – if a pickup confirmation doesn't arrive within a defined window, that's an alert trigger. ETAs recalculate based on the latest status. Customer-facing tracking portals display status timelines. And freight audit processes use delivery confirmation timestamps to validate carrier invoices. When status updates are late, missing, or inconsistent, the entire downstream workflow degrades – which is why centralizing and normalizing updates across all carriers into a single timeline view has become a baseline expectation for modern TMS platforms.