IFTSTA
IFTSTA is the UN/EDIFACT message used to report the transport status of a consignment or its equipment at defined milestones — booked, collected, gated in, loaded, departed, arrived, discharged, delivered. It is the tracking message of the freight-forwarding and multimodal world: carriers, forwarders and logistics platforms exchange IFTSTA to keep every party's shipment status in sync.
Each IFTSTA carries the shipment reference, the status code and reason, the location and the event date/time. It underpins the "track your shipment" experience end customers expect, and feeds the exception-management and ETA-prediction logic in modern TMS and freight platforms.
IFTSTA is the message that turns scattered carrier events into a single live shipment status. Without it, tracking is phone calls and spreadsheets; with it, a forwarder can show customers where their cargo is and flag delays automatically the moment a milestone slips.
event
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What is IFTSTA used for?
Reporting the status of a consignment at each transport milestone — the standard tracking message exchanged between carriers, forwarders and logistics platforms.
What does an IFTSTA message contain?
The shipment reference, a status code and reason, the location, and the event date and time.