Booking number
A booking number is the unique reference assigned by an ocean carrier or freight forwarder when space is reserved on a vessel for a shipment. It is the earliest persistent identifier for the shipment, predating the BOL.
The booking number is issued at booking confirmation — sometimes weeks before the goods are physically delivered to the port. It travels through every pre-loading milestone: container assignment, cut-off acknowledgement, dock receipt, loading.
Once the BOL is cut, the BOL number becomes the document-of-record reference, but the booking number persists in carrier systems and is the join key for milestones that happened before the BOL existed.
Booking numbers are usually 9 to 12 alphanumeric characters, prefixed by a carrier-specific letter combination. Format varies; expect to handle the carrier-specific prefix as part of any data pipeline that ingests multiple carriers.
Related terms
- Bill of lading vs. shipping manifestA bill of lading is a legal contract between a shipper and a carrier for a single shipment. A manifest is an operational document listing all cargo on a vehicle, vessel, or container, often covering many bills of lading.
- Voyage numberA voyage number is the unique identifier assigned by an ocean carrier to a specific journey of a specific vessel. It combines vessel ID with a sequential or coded voyage segment.
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