Breaking down the Freight Booking API (Ocean) for Carrier Integration (2/2)
Glossary:
Acronym |
Definition |
BN4L |
Business Network for Logistics |
LBN |
Logistics Business Network (old name for BN4L) |
TM |
Transportation Management |
API |
Application Programming Interface |
MIL |
Manage Integration Logs |
VGM |
Verified Gross Mass |
The SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration solution connects shippers and their logistics partners on a secure network for optimized collaboration and insights, integrated tightly with core business processes for efficiency and resilience. More details can be found
here.
The Freight booking document is a primary transportation document for Ocean and Air. The processes supported in SAP BN4L for Ocean scenario are explained
here. In this post, the focus is on usage of booking API and the minimum data that is required for a successful end-end integration.
Booking Subcontracting process
Use Case 2: Shipping Instructions and VGM

Shipping Instructions and Booking Cancellation
Waybill notification is sent by the Shipper through their TM system and the Carriers get the Shipping Instructions and VGM through the
FreightBookingWaybillNotificaiton API. This is a POST call that creates and also sends SI & VGM updates.
An example of a shipping instruction.
Some of the key fields and the breakdown of the exemplary payload is shown below:
Note: The data in the waybill notification is subject to the level of detail a shipper maintains and shares with the carriers.

Note: If you are not receiving dangerous goods information, see if you have implemented this
note, which could be filtering out non-main items.
Use Case 3: Booking cancellation

Booking cancellation
Freight Bookings can be canceled by the Shipper and this Business event will be triggered by BN4L and delegated to Carriers and Network Partners via the
consumer API for Booking Cancellation.
The example payload looks like below:
{
"documentRecipientParty": {
"lbnId": "10010001721",
"standardIds": [{
"schemeAgencyId": "TM",
"schemeId": "",
"value": "0001010581"
}, {
"schemeAgencyId": "182",
"schemeId": "",
"value": "LBNT"
}, {
"schemeAgencyId": "182",
"schemeId": "",
"value": "SCSF"
}]
},
"transportationOrderBooking": {
"ordinalNumber": 3,
"externalDocumentIdentifier": "",
"freightBookingId": "6300003001",
"baseBusinessTransactionDocumentReference": {
"id": "6300003001",
"version": "0001010581-0003",
"typeCode": "1122"
}
},
"senderParty": {
"lbnId": "10010001410",
"standardIds": [{
"schemeAgencyId": "TM",
"schemeId": "",
"value": "LBNFBSHP03"
}, {
"schemeAgencyId": "009",
"schemeId": "",
"value": "GLN00001"
}]
},
"recipientParty": {
"lbnId": "10010001721",
"standardIds": null
},
"originatorId": "QW9_172",
"technicalId": "xri://sap.com/id:LBN#10010001410:QW9_172:FreightBooking:6300003001-0001010581"
}
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For further questions and feedback related to the blog, please check the Q&A area and feel free to post your questions in the link with the tag SAP Business Network for Logistics.