Cross-carrier shipment tracking: the future of the shipping industry
Tracking and tracing in the shipment industry have always played an important role. It's an effective way to keep the clients and the business owners updated with the various business-related details and ensure their well-being.
The tracking and tracing details are so crucial that the DCSA and its member carriers have officially published Tracking and Tracing (T&T) standards for the global shipping industry. These standards have served as a baseline for almost every shipment company in the industry.
Why are these Shipment Standards Crucial?
Miscommunication and misunderstanding can be serious problems for business owners around the world. Therefore, businesses worldwide must have a common language to simplify tasks and communication. The army has its codes, and so do medical doctors.
Similarly, trading experts need some baseline rules and regulations. Many industries, organizations, and associations put forward the need for standardized B2B communication in the cross-carrier shipment tracking business. Container tracking is a complicated process and requires vigilance throughout the process.
Since the data standards are documented and well-defined, there's little confusion in the B2B communication. Many experts believe this shipment tracking is the future of the shipment industry, considering its benefits.
What Do The Standards Include?
The tracking and tracing standards are a set of rules and common processes included in the shipment industry.
Third-party owners, shipment owners, and carriers can implement these standards in their actions, making the process more streamlined. The business owners and shipment members can tweak these standards based on their specific niche.
However, the gist of standards remains the same regardless. These standards also include the data process that the shipment owners can implement for cross-shipment tracking, which is the future of the shipment industry.
The supply chain professionals and the carriers can easily communicate through standard protocols. Since the shippers, carriers, and other professionals communicate in a unified way. There's little room for errors and mistakes.
Since most carriers have adopted these standards, these companies will soon provide their customers with a standard API.
How can the Standards Help the Shipment Industry
The shipment industry can greatly benefit from the tracking and tracing standards mentioned in the latest rules. We have outlined some of the top ways in which cross-shipment tracking can help the carriers and shipments optimize the process:
No need for Data Process
The data used in the shipment tracking process can take a lot of time to analyze and compile. The professionals can process the data straight away without requiring extra steps. For instance, professionals can skip data mapping and translation from the shipping process and comprehend information faster. Most professionals without tracing and tracking standards have to use poorly documented in-house data formats and then transform them into other data formats.
Improves Data Quality and Compatibility
The standardized tracking and tracing processes allow the shippers and other professionals to get better quality, structured information and optimize the process. Proper data also provides higher reusability and data mistakes.
Provides More Data Recollection Modes
Data recollection is important for shipment experts, especially when it requires data management. Tracing and tracking standards require professionals to add well-structured information, making reconciliation easier. The faster data recollection makes analysis, report creation, and other freight business tasks easier.
Provides Consistent Information
The difference in language and understanding is the biggest challenge faced by the shipping industry. The linguistic standards worldwide were pretty versatile, which left several business owners in distress and problems. Fortunately, the Track and Trace standards specified have made the process more unified and universal. The shippers and freight professionals can now communicate with one another easily, making it the future of the shipment industry.
Where to get more info about the Track & Trace OpenAPI Specifications?
The DSCA has specified and published information about the API definitions for the Track and Trace at SwaggerHub. It is open source, so you can easily refer to it whenever required. You can use several DCSA standard-compliant APIs to counter-tracking problems that you might encounter during cross-carrier shipping tracking.
They also have customer support for clients who do not know where to get info when facing track and trace events problems. There's a formal publication that you can find about the Track and Trace specification next time you demand cross-shipping.
Bottom Line
Efficient tracking is a must for professional freight services. The Track and Trace specifications adopted by most freight industries have streamlined the process. It is the shipping industry's future since it provides comprehensive, universal, and easy-to-implement information to professionals wherever they are.
