Short answer
EDI lets a shipper’s system and a broker’s TMS trade load data without email. The core truckload transactions are the 204 load tender, 990 accept or decline, 214 shipment status and 210 freight invoice, with 997 acknowledgments confirming receipt. They travel over a VAN, AS2, SFTP or an API-based EDI provider, under each shipper’s own rules.
Why shippers ask brokers for EDI
Large shippers plan freight in their own transportation or ERP systems. When a load needs a truck, the system sends a tender to the providers in its routing guide, waits for an answer, and expects status and invoices back in the same format. Email and portal logins work for a few loads. At volume, the shipper wants machine-readable data it doesn’t have to retype.
For a broker, that means EDI is often the price of entry to a shipper’s routing guide. It also moves work off your team. A tender that arrives as a 204 can become a load without anyone keying the stops, and a status that goes out as a 214 is one less email to a customer service rep.
The format is the ANSI X12 standard. Each document type is a numbered transaction set, and each shipper publishes an implementation guide that says which segments and codes it uses. Two shippers can both send a 204 and still fill it very differently.
The EDI transaction flow on one brokered load
A typical truckload flow between a shipper and a broker. Exact documents and timing come from the shipper’s implementation guide.
| Step | Transaction set | Sent by | What it carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Tender | 204 Motor Carrier Load Tender | Shipper to broker | Shipment ID, stops, appointment dates, equipment, weight, commodity, references, rate if the shipper includes one |
| 2. Receipt | 997 Functional Acknowledgment | Broker to shipper | Confirms the 204 arrived and parsed. It does not accept the load |
| 3. Accept or decline | 990 Response to a Load Tender | Broker to shipper | Accept or decline for that shipment ID, sometimes with a reason |
| 4. Changes | 204 with purpose code Change or Cancellation | Shipper to broker | Updated stops, times or references, or a cancellation of the original tender |
| 5. Status | 214 Transportation Carrier Shipment Status Message | Broker to shipper | Events such as arrived at pickup, departed pickup, estimated delivery, arrived at delivery, completed unloading |
| 6. Invoice | 210 Motor Carrier Freight Details and Invoice | Broker to shipper | Linehaul, fuel and accessorial charges with the references the shipper requires |
| 7. Receipt | 997 Functional Acknowledgment | Shipper to broker | Confirms the 214s and 210 arrived |
Transaction set names from X12. Sources below.
The four transaction sets, from a broker's seat
EDI 204: the load tender
X12 describes the 204 as the Motor Carrier Load Tender. It offers a full load with scheduling, equipment, commodity and shipping instructions. The purpose code tells you whether it’s an original, a change or a cancellation, using the X12 values 00, 04 and 01. Your TMS has to match a change to the load it already created. If it creates a second load instead, you get the duplicate booking problem EDI was supposed to prevent. Our EDI 204 glossary entry has the short definition.
EDI 990: accept or decline
The 990 Response to a Load Tender answers the 204. Shippers usually set a response window, and a tender you don’t answer in time may go to the next provider in the routing guide. The window is in the shipper’s guide, so find it before go-live.
EDI 214: shipment status
The 214 carries status events with dates, times, locations and references. Status codes come from an X12 code list. Common ones include X3 (arrived at pick-up location), AF (carrier departed pick-up location with shipment), X6 (en route to delivery location), AG (estimated delivery), X1 (arrived at delivery location) and D1 (completed unloading at delivery location). Shippers score brokers on whether these arrive on time and in order. See the EDI 214 glossary entry.
EDI 210: the freight invoice
X12 describes the 210 as used both as a motor carrier invoice to request payment and as a detail of freight charges. Shippers often audit it automatically against the tendered rate, so any accessorial needs the right charge code and usually prior approval. A detention line the shipper’s system doesn’t expect will likely stop the whole invoice.
The broker's problem: you're the carrier on paper
To the shipper’s system, the broker is the carrier. It expects your 990 within the window and your 214s at each event. But the truck belongs to someone else, and most small carriers don’t send EDI to brokers.
So a broker’s 214s are built from its own data: driver app or ELD tracking, check calls, and the times your team records on the load. If tracking goes quiet, the 214s stop. If someone enters an arrival time an hour late, the shipper sees a late arrival. Your EDI is only as good as your tracking and check call process.
References matter just as much. The shipper’s shipment ID from the 204 has to travel with every 214 and the 210. Lose it on a carrier swap or a rebooked load and the shipper can’t match your messages to its order.
VAN vs AS2 vs SFTP vs API-based EDI
Four common ways EDI documents move between a shipper and a broker. Cost patterns are described in general terms because pricing varies by provider.
| Connection | How it works | Cost pattern | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAN (value-added network) | Each party has a mailbox on a network. Documents are posted, stored and forwarded | Commonly mailbox and access fees plus usage, often billed by kilocharacter or document, sometimes with interconnect fees between networks | The shipper already uses a VAN and expects partners to be reachable there |
| AS2 | Direct, secure exchange over HTTP defined in RFC 4130, with signed receipts called MDNs | Software or hosted service plus certificate setup and maintenance. No per-document network fee in the protocol itself | High-volume shippers that require direct connections |
| SFTP | Files dropped into and picked up from a secure server on a schedule | Low connection cost. Monitoring, retries and acknowledgments are on you | Shippers or 3PL platforms that exchange batch files |
| API-based EDI provider | A provider translates X12 to and from JSON and manages partner connections | Often per trading partner or subscription pricing, sometimes plus usage | Brokers who want a TMS integration without running translation software |
Cost patterns summarized from provider descriptions. Always get a written quote per trading partner.
What EDI integration costs a brokerage
There’s no single price, because EDI cost is a stack. You pay for translation and mapping (turning X12 into your TMS’s fields and back), the connection (VAN, AS2, SFTP or a provider), testing time with each shipper, and ongoing monitoring when documents fail. The first shipper is the most expensive. Later shippers reuse the same connection and much of the mapping.
Pricing models vary. Orderful, an EDI provider, describes traditional VAN billing by kilocharacter (1,000 characters) with mailbox fees, alongside newer flat fees per trading partner and subscriptions. Whatever model you’re quoted, ask what counts as a billable document, what happens when a shipper resends, and what onboarding a new partner costs.
If EDI comes through your TMS vendor, it’s often packaged per customer connection. Here’s how some broker TMS vendors publish it.
How some broker TMS vendors package EDI
| Vendor | What’s published | Price shown |
|---|---|---|
| Tai TMS | Customer EDIs included by plan: 0 on Growth, 1 on Premium, 3 on Premium+, 5 on Pro | Growth $995/mo, Premium $2,465/mo, Premium+ $4,595/mo, Pro $7,925/mo |
| Descartes Aljex | Professional includes 1 customer EDI, Enterprise includes 2 EDIs | Professional from $999/mo, Enterprise from $2,375/mo |
| EZ TMS | EDI 204, 210 and 214 offered as an add-on through Bitfreighter, with monthly and setup fees | Add-on price not published |
| Port TMS | EDI/API included in plans, with the note “EDI and API charges may apply” | Pro $375/mo for 5 users, Growth $750/mo up to 12 users |
Pricing as of September 10, 2026, from each vendor’s public site. Sources below.
How to onboard a shipper's EDI
Get the implementation guide and IDs
Ask for the shipper’s guide for each transaction set, the X12 version, the connection method, and the interchange IDs and qualifiers both sides will use. Many truckload guides are written against version 004010, but the guide decides.
Map every field to your TMS
Shipment ID and references, each stop with address and appointment, time zones, equipment, weight, commodity, hazmat flags and special instructions. Decide where each field lands on your load and what happens when one is missing.
Agree on tender rules
The 990 response window, what an accept commits you to, and how changes and cancellations will arrive. Confirm whether a change after acceptance needs a new 990.
Agree on status rules
Which 214 events the shipper wants, how soon after each event, which codes and time zone, and how to report a delay reason. Match each event to a source in your operation: tracking, check call or a person.
Agree on invoice rules
Charge codes for linehaul, fuel and each accessorial, required references, approval rules and whether a POD must be on file before the 210 is sent.
Test with real scenarios
Original tender, change, cancellation, multi-stop, a late delivery with a reason code, and an invoice with an accessorial. Confirm a 997 comes back for everything you send.
Go live on a few lanes and assign an owner
Start small, check rejected and unacknowledged documents every day, and name the person who fixes them. Failed EDI rarely announces itself.
A 997 only confirms receipt
A 997 functional acknowledgment only confirms a document arrived and could be read. It doesn’t mean the shipper accepted your invoice or that you accepted their tender. Watch for the 990 on tenders and for payment or rejection on 210s, and alert someone when a 997 never arrives.
Where FreightVero is with EDI
EDI is planned for FreightVero, not live. Today the broker TMS doesn’t receive 204s or send 214s or 210s. What is live is the load data EDI depends on: multi-stop loads with appointment or window times, stop time zones resolved from the address, and live tracking through Load Market that flags tracking that goes quiet for 45 minutes. AI intake that reads PDF rate confirmations is in development. See the EDI integration page for status and to request it.
Related terms and guides
Tell us which shippers need EDI
EDI is planned for FreightVero, not live. Book a demo to see the broker TMS today and tell us which EDI connections you need.