Ocean loads typically are created using one or several references from the booking (Container, MBOL, Booking Number, etc.) along with information about the port of loading and port of discharge. Optionally, drayage legs can be tracked.

Using the Create Load API to populate the full details of the load, including references, ports, and any additional stops which might be tracked is the first method of creating ocean loads. The implications of this method is that the organization creating the load in FourKites must have all of those data points on hand.

While it is sometimes the case that all details about the load are planned by the customer organization, there are situations where a freight forwarder or other entity might be managing the freight, meaning that the underlying customer might not have full details about ports, appointments, and other information.

Use the Booking API enables FourKites customers to bypass the need to have all information about the load. Specifically, limited information about the booking, such as Booking Number, Container Number, or Master Bill of Lading can be sent to FourKites so that the load details can be fetched directly from integrations with shipping lines or partner data platforms.

The following section details samples and recommended fields to create quality ocean or intermodal shipments for tracking. This section assumes that your organization has the full details about the ocean load and can supply information such as ports, ETD, ETA, and other information. If you do not have the full load details, please review the Booking API at the end of this section.

The fields shown in these samples follow recommendations, but the full list of available fields can be found in the fields list below.

FourKites supports different variations of ocean shipments, depending upon the level of tracking your organization is interested in capturing. Additional considerations should be made based upon the breadth of data managed directly within your organization.