Later this week this week, we will implement a change to the Tracking API that will contribute to the stability and reliability of our services. This change affects the itinerary field of the “Listen to shipment updates” and “Listen to ALL updates” endpoints. If you use Hinterland Container Notification (HCN) via the web screens, you can ignore this update.
What is being changed?
Until now, for all visits within a rotation, the expected and actual arrival and departure times are shared in the itinerary field of the inland movement. Starting this week, we will limit this data to the ETA, ETD, ATA, and ATD of:
- The handling visit
- The last inland terminal visit, if known
This means that from that moment on, only relevant updates will be shared. By limiting the amount of information, fewer messages will be sent about the connections. This technical implementation gives more space and therefore higher stability and reliability of the connection. Further on in the release note you can find more information about the itinerary field and the above is explained with an example.
We do not expect any impact on operational processes
Before the change, we conducted an impact analysis with various parties. This revealed that the deleted data is not used. However, the sea movement information is used to gain insight into the status of containers. Therefore, this sea movement itinerary field remains unchanged.
We don’t expect any impact on the use of the ‘Listen to shipment updates’ / ‘Listen to ALL’ updates endpoint, although we recommend checking with your software suplier to be sure.
Background information: What does the itinerary field mean?
In the Tracking API, the movement field contains the following elements:
- Sea movement: all information about the movement of the vessel
- Inland movement: information about the journey of the inland movement
Both the sea and inland movement contain, among other things, the itinerary field. This field lists all visits and shares the ETA, ETD, ATA and ATD for each visit. In the case of the sea movement, this is a list of visits made by the sea vessel. For example: China, Antwerp, and Rotterdam. For the inland movement, this is a list of visits made by the inland modality. For example: APM MVII, EMX, and Venlo. In the event that the handling is loaded/unloaded at the APM MVII, we limit the data shared in the itinerary field of the inland movement to the data for the visits at APM MVII and Venlo.
