Trucking companies have unique challenges. They deal with a large amount of data, high volumes of freight, and many different types of orders. Further, the trucking industry is fragmented into many other companies with different systems and processes that don't always capture all of their transactions. This creates a need for efficient methods of communication between the trucking company and its customers. And this is where electronic data interchange (EDI) can help.
Common EDI Transactions in Trucking
One of the significant challenges truckers face is keeping track of all their loads. So many companies need to be paid, and it's easy to lose track of what you've delivered and where it should be going—or worse, deliver something to the wrong recipient.
However, that helps truckers manage their loads in real-time. Using EDI will give you access to a dashboard where all your clients' information is easily accessible, so you can check where each load is at any given time. You'll also receive notifications when they change status or location, so there are no surprises when it comes time to pay out. Let's review some common EDI transactions in trucking:
204 Motor Carrier Load Tender
The 204 Motor Carrier Load Tender was developed by the Department of Public Safety and is designed to help determine precisely how much weight you can safely carry in your vehicle.
The 204 Motor Carrier Load Tender works by measuring the height and length of your vehicle, as well as its axle loads.
990 Response to a Load Tender
The 990 Response to an EDI 204 Motor Carrier Load Tender is a form that can be filled out to reply whether to accept or deny the tender.
210 Motor Carrier Freight Details and Invoice
The 210 Motor Carrier Freight Details and Invoice is a standard form used to create a record of the freight details and invoice. This form is filled out by a motor carrier who has received an order from a shipper. The shipper indicates how much freight they want to ship, and the motor carrier forwards this information to their customer.
The 210 Motor Carrier Freight Details and Invoice should be filled out accurately, so there are no errors on the invoice or shipping documents. This will help ensure that everything runs smoothly when it comes to payment.
211 Motor Carrier Bill of Lading
The 211 Motor Carrier Bill of Lading is also called a "bill of lading" or "commercial invoice." It includes information such as:
- The name and address of the shipper.
- The name and address of the consignee.
- A brief description of the goods shipped, including quantity and description.
- The date and place shipped from (where it was picked up).
212 Motor Carrier Delivery Trailer Manifest
The 212 Motor Carrier Delivery Trailer Manifest is a document sent to a carrier by a shipper or receiver. The carrier uses the manifest to track the delivery of goods, including trailers, containers, and other shipping equipment.
214 Transportation Carrier Shipment Status Message
The 214 Transportation Carrier Shipment Status Message is a message sent from the carrier to the shipper, containing details about the shipment status.
The 214 messages are sent in response to a 203 or 202 message requesting information on a shipment's current status. The 214 comes with specific data that can help you track a shipment.
215 Motor Carrier Pickup Manifest
A 215 Motor Carrier Pickup Manifest is a form that must be completed when a trucker picks up a load. The form contains the weight of the load, which the trucker must display on the outside of their vehicle to comply with federal regulations.
Law enforcement officers also use the form to determine whether or not a load is being transported legally and safely.
216 Motor Carrier Shipment Pickup Notification
The 216 Motor Carrier Shipment Pickup Notification is a notice that can be used to notify a motor carrier of a shipment pickup. This document contains information about the pickup, including the date and time of pickup, as well as other vital details like vehicle type, number of units being picked up, and more.
Motor carriers need to check this document before picking up any shipments. If any information provided is incorrect or missing, it could lead to delays in delivery or even damage to your goods.
217 Motor Carrier Loading and Route Guide
The 217 Motor Carrier Loading and Route Guide is a comprehensive document describing the loading, route, and location of every truck on the road. It contains not only the details of each vehicle but also information about which roads they are permitted to travel on, how much weight they can carry, and how many passengers they can transport.
The 217 Motor Carrier Loading and Route Guide are critical for ensuring that all trucks across the country follow safety regulations and keeping them from running into each other or getting stuck on roads too small for their size.
EDI Workflows and Mapping
A trucking company has many complex parts. It needs to communicate with many different parties, and each has its unique language, culture, and communication patterns—and that's before you start thinking about how they integrate.
But even if all those parties were speaking the same language, they would still need to be able to understand each other's terminology. For example, if a shipping company uses the word "container" when referring to a shipment of goods, but your trucking company uses the word "truckload," there will be problems.
And it gets worse when you consider that many of these terms are not standardized across industries or even within an industry. Every time a trucking company talks with another party in its supply chain (or even in another supply chain), there's an opportunity for miscommunication and confusion about what specific terms mean. This is where EDI can help.
An EDI workflow is the most essential component of EDI. It's the flow of data through multiple systems, meaning it needs to be designed to work for your business and its processes. You can even use it to improve your existing processes like a trucking company might do.
How do you apply an EDI workflow?
The first step is mapping out your current business processes. What exactly does your company do? How does it work? What are the steps involved? Once you know this, you can design a new process incorporating EDI technology. This will allow for faster processing time and better communication between departments within your company and with other businesses that use similar technology (like trucking companies).
Ask your customers and partners what kind of data they expect from you and what type of data they send back to you. This will help ensure that both parties get exactly what they need out of their interactions with each other—and it will also keep things running smoothly when any changes are coming down the pipeline.
Next, ensure all documents are formatted correctly before they leave the office, so there aren't any errors during transmission. You may want to consider using templates for certain types of information so that nothing gets lost in translation when it comes time for delivery; templates can also help reduce confusion if there is an issue. The overall objective is to reduce onboarding delays.
The Role of EDI in Trucking
Using electronic data interchange (EDI) can make a considerable impact. One of these is that it can reduce the time it takes to get an order through the system, get a shipment out, and then back in again. With EDI, you can transmit orders more quickly than paper-based systems because you can use computerized imaging techniques like bar code scanning at each step along the way.
Take a look at this hypothetical example:
Let's say you want to ship some electronic equipment from New York City to Los Angeles by truck. First, your dispatcher sends an order through EDI with all the necessary information about where it needs to go and who should receive it (including contact info).
Then your driver picks up that order from its origin point in Manhattan before heading out westward on Interstate 80 across Pennsylvania into Ohio toward Chicago; meanwhile, back in NYC, another person has received an updated record of that same shipment as part of all incoming goods for today. Hence, both parties know exactly what's going on here.
The time spent on each step can be as short or long as you like, and if there's anything that needs to get done between these two points (such as updating an invoice), then all it takes is one click of a button before moving onto another task.
Benefits of EDI for the Trucking Industry
EDI has many benefits, but one of the most notable is the ability to communicate more efficiently. By allowing for the communication of more information and between more parties, EDI provides for a greater level of transparency in day-to-day business operations.
In addition to this increased transparency, EDI allows trucking companies to transmit complex data across multiple platforms in real-time. This can be done quickly and seamlessly without any delays or errors.
Another example of trucking EDI benefits is that it makes auditing much more accessible. Imagine how much time it takes to manually sort through thousands of documents, and then imagine how much more time it would take when some documents are incomplete or illegible. In paper-based trade, businesses are often required to make copies of their shipping records and send them back for audits by government agencies—but this can be a very time-consuming process.
With EDI, all information needed for an audit is automatically extracted from your system as soon as you receive a request from a regulator. This makes audits faster and easier on both sides because there's no need for extra data collection or manual sorting through stacks of papers to comply with regulations.
Conclusion
EDI is an excellent way for trucking companies to improve their operations and provide better customer service. Integrating electronic data interchange into their operations can streamline processes, eliminate errors, and reduce costs while improving customer satisfaction.
