Container tracking & freight FAQ

Enter the container number on the tracking page. We identify the carrier from the number, find the vessel carrying it, and show its live position, full sea route and estimated arrival. No carrier login or booking reference is needed.

Yes. The container number alone is enough. A booking number identifies your reservation with the carrier, but the container number identifies the physical box, which is what we match to a vessel.

A container number identifies one physical container and stays with it for its whole working life. A booking number identifies a single reservation of space on a vessel and is used once. Container numbers are four letters and seven digits; booking numbers vary by carrier.

Yes. You can attach a PO or SO number to any tracked container and then search by it. Most teams think in purchase orders rather than container numbers, so this is usually the faster way to find a shipment.

Vessel positions come from live AIS transmissions, so the map reflects where the ship is now rather than the last milestone the carrier published. Port and terminal events update as they are reported.

Yes, and that is the main reason to use a platform rather than carrier portals. We detect the carrier automatically and show every container on the same dashboard regardless of who is carrying it.

Yes. You can send a shipment view to anyone without giving them access to your account, which removes most of the status emails your team currently answers.

Yes, on all plans. Upload a spreadsheet of container, PO or SO numbers and they are tracked from that point on. API access is available on Max and Enterprise.

The shipment is marked arrived, you get an alert if you have one set, and the record stays in your account for reporting. Re-checking a shipment you're already tracking doesn't count against your monthly allowance.

A container number follows the ISO 6346 standard: four letters then seven digits, for example TTNU 825407 8. The first three letters are the owner code, the fourth is the equipment category, then six serial digits and one check digit.

The check digit is the final digit of a container number, calculated from the preceding ten characters. It lets any system confirm the number was typed correctly. If a container number is rejected, a mistyped check digit is the most common reason.

They are the owner code, registered with the Bureau International des Containers. They identify the company that owns the container, which is often but not always the carrier moving it.

U marks a freight container. J indicates detachable equipment and Z indicates a trailer or chassis. Almost every container number you will see uses U.

The Standard Carrier Alpha Code is a two to four letter code identifying a transport company, used across booking, customs and EDI messages. MAEU for Maersk is a common example.

The BIC code is the owner prefix assigned by the Bureau International des Containers, the body that administers container identification worldwide. It is the first three letters of every compliant container number.

Check for transposed characters, confirm the check digit, and make sure you have a container number rather than a booking or bill of lading number. Very new containers can also take a short time to appear in carrier data.

A master bill of lading is issued by the carrier to the freight forwarder. A house bill of lading is issued by the forwarder to the actual shipper. If you booked through a forwarder, you usually hold the house bill.

An air waybill, or AWB, is the transport document for air cargo. It is an eleven digit number beginning with a three digit airline prefix, and unlike a bill of lading it is not a document of title.

A seal number identifies the tamper-evident seal fitted to a container door after loading. It is recorded on shipping documents so that any interference in transit can be detected on arrival.

The Automatic Identification System is a maritime safety system in which vessels continuously broadcast their identity, position, speed and heading. Shore stations and satellites receive these signals, which is how live vessel positions are known worldwide.

FCL means full container load, where your cargo fills a container you have booked. LCL means less than container load, where your cargo shares a container with other shippers and is consolidated and deconsolidated en route.

A twenty-foot equivalent unit is the standard measure of container capacity. One twenty-foot container is one TEU and a forty-foot container is two TEU. Vessel sizes and port volumes are quoted in TEU.

A non-vessel operating common carrier issues its own bills of lading and sells ocean transport without owning ships. It buys space from vessel operators and resells it, which is why your bill of lading may name a company you have never heard of.

Transshipment is moving cargo from one vessel to another at an intermediate port rather than sailing direct. It adds transit time and is a common cause of delay, because your container must wait for the connecting vessel.

A trade lane is a regular route between two regions, such as Asia to North Europe. Rates, transit times and capacity are all managed by lane, so most shipping conversations are lane-specific.

The port of discharge is where your container comes off the vessel. The final destination is where it is delivered, which may be inland and reached by rail or truck. Ocean tracking ends at discharge unless inland legs are also tracked.

A voyage number identifies one specific sailing of a vessel, since the same ship repeats a route many times. Combined with the vessel name it pinpoints exactly which sailing your cargo is on.

A berthing window is the slot a terminal allocates to a vessel for arrival and working. Missing the window can mean waiting offshore for the next available slot, which is a frequent source of delay.

The cut-off is the latest moment cargo or documentation can be submitted for a given sailing. Miss it and your container rolls to the next vessel, typically a week later.

The common causes are port congestion, missing a berthing window, transshipment connections, weather routing, customs holds and equipment shortages. Live vessel position usually tells you which of these you are dealing with.

ETD is the estimated time of departure from the port of loading. ETA is the estimated time of arrival at the port of discharge. Both are estimates and both move during a voyage.

Accuracy depends on how the ETA is produced. Estimates derived from live vessel position, speed and route are considerably more accurate than published schedules, which are set weeks in advance and rarely revised.

Demurrage is a daily charge applied when a full container stays inside the terminal beyond its free time. It is charged by the carrier and rises quickly, so knowing your arrival date early is the practical defence.

Detention is a daily charge for keeping the carrier's container outside the terminal beyond the agreed free period, typically while you unload at your own premises. Demurrage is inside the terminal, detention is outside it.

A rollover happens when your container does not sail on its booked vessel and moves to a later one. It is usually caused by overbooking, a missed cut-off or a weight restriction, and it typically costs a week.

Establish where the vessel actually is, then decide whether the delay affects a downstream commitment. Early warning matters more than the delay itself, because it is what lets you tell a customer before they call you.

Port congestion is a backlog of vessels waiting to berth because terminal capacity is exceeded. Vessels anchor offshore and transit times stretch, often across a whole region rather than a single port.

A common approach multiplies voyage distance by an emissions factor per container per kilometre. Our estimate uses the distance actually sailed, derived from tracked positions, rather than a straight-line or scheduled distance.

Scope 3 covers indirect emissions in a company's value chain, including transport it pays for but does not operate. Ocean freight you buy from a carrier is Scope 3 for you and Scope 1 for the carrier.

The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive expands sustainability reporting obligations for companies trading in Europe, and reporting companies increasingly ask their suppliers for transport emissions data. Requirements and timelines have changed more than once, so check the current position with your advisor.

A TEU-kilometre is one twenty-foot equivalent unit moved one kilometre. It is the standard denominator for freight emissions factors, because it separates the distance travelled from the volume carried.

Yes. Carrier-reported figures use the carrier's own fuel data and methodology, while estimates are modelled from distance and vessel type. Estimates are useful for planning and comparison; audited reporting may require carrier data.

Consolidating partial loads into full containers, choosing direct services over transshipment, avoiding air substitution for delayed sea freight, and selecting carriers with newer, more efficient tonnage all reduce emissions per unit shipped.

ShipTastic charges per container, with no monthly fee. Each new container or B/L you track uses one credit: US$2.00 each, US$1.85 each from 10, US$1.75 from 50 and US$1.50 from 100. Your first shipment is free. For a steady monthly volume (50 or 150 containers), API access or white-label, talk to our team. Full detail is on the pricing page.

A container is active while we are monitoring its ocean journey, from the first tracked position through to arrival. Re-checking, sharing and alerts cost nothing extra.

Adding new shipments pauses until you buy more credits, on the pricing page or in the app. Shipments you already track keep updating, and re-opening one is free. Credits you buy do not expire. On a monthly plan, the plan’s allowance resets at each renewal.

Yes. Paid plans renew automatically every month until you cancel. Cancel anytime under Account > Billing > Cancel subscription; you keep access until the end of the month you paid for, and the plan then does not renew. Refunds are not self-service: we only consider one for a technical issue or billing mistake, on request.

Only your account. Shipment records are not shared with other customers, and we do not sell shipment data. Anything you share externally is shared deliberately, by you, through a share link.