Documentation/Visibility·3 min read·Updated Nov 7, 2026
Tracking sources
Shipment Insight can track a shipment from five kinds of sources: the truck's ELD or telematics, the carrier's API, EDI 214 messages, a driver app or link, and manual updates. It uses the best one available and falls back automatically.
The five sources
| Source | What it sends | Typical frequency | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELD / telematics | GPS position, speed, and often the driver's remaining hours. | Every few minutes | Usually the most accurate. Needs the carrier to connect their ELD provider once. |
| Carrier API | Positions and statuses from the carrier's own system. | Depends on the carrier | Quality varies from carrier to carrier. |
| EDI 214 | Status messages: arrived, departed, delivered, sometimes a position. | At each milestone, or every few hours | Reliable for milestones, too sparse for a live map. |
| Driver app | Positions from the driver's phone, with the driver's consent. | Every few minutes while active | For carriers without an ELD connection. Only during the shipment. |
| Manual | A status or position entered by a person. | When someone updates it | The last resort. Always marked as manual. |
In preview
The console shows simulated shipments that use these sources. Connections to real ELD providers, carrier APIs and EDI are being built and will be listed here as they go live.
How the best source is chosen
When a carrier is assigned, Shipment Insight looks at what that carrier can provide and starts tracking from the best option, in this order: ELD or telematics, carrier API, EDI 214, then a driver tracking link. You don't need to pick.
A shipment can have several sources at once. Each milestone on the timeline shows the source that reported it. When two sources disagree, the most reliable one wins and the other is kept for reference.
Automatic fallback
If the main source goes quiet, Shipment Insight switches to the next one it has, for example from ELD to EDI 214. The shipment then shows the reason Switched to EDI 214 fallback, so you know why updates are less frequent.
Tracking rate and stale shipments
A shipment counts as tracked when it has sent a position in the last 60 minutes. After that it's stale: its last update turns red and a reason such as No location update for 3h 40m appears.
Your tracking rate on the Overview is the share of active shipments that are tracked right now. A shipment that's dispatched but not yet picked up has no position yet (Tracking starts at pickup), so it counts as not tracked.
Tip
A low tracking rate usually points to one or two carriers. Contact them first: connecting their ELD once fixes tracking for every load they carry for you.
Driver location privacy
- Driver positions are collected only while a shipment is active: from pickup until delivery. Tracking stops on its own when the shipment is delivered.
- In the driver app and the driver link, the driver gives explicit consent before any position is shared.
- You see the driver's position only for shipments you're a party to, never their location outside your loads.
- Location is treated as personal data. See Privacy and data.