Shipment Lifecycle and Statuses

This article explains the shipment statuses in the Tai TMS, what each one means, the order they progress in, and how a shipment's status is set as work moves forward.

Overview

In the Tai TMS, every shipment moves through a defined series of statuses from the moment it is quoted until it is fully closed out. The status is more than a label: it tells everyone on your team where the load stands, it colors the shipment in your lists and on the status bar, and it drives automated steps behind the scenes such as sending the load to a carrier (when the shipment becomes Ready) and making the shipment's charges ready for invoicing and carrier billing (when it becomes Delivered). Understanding the statuses and the order they follow helps staff keep loads moving and know what the system will do at each step.

How it works

A shipment advances through statuses in a set order. Each status represents a later stage of the load's life, and the normal forward path is:

Quote — The shipment has been priced or quoted but not yet booked.
Committed — The load has been booked and committed to move.
Ready — The shipment is ready to be tendered/dispatched to a carrier.
Sent — The tender or dispatch has been sent to the carrier.
Dispatched — The carrier has accepted the load and is dispatched.
In Transit — The load has been picked up and is moving.
Out for Delivery — The load is on its final delivery leg.
Delivered — The load has been delivered (proof of delivery is captured at this point).
Complete — The shipment has been closed out and finalized.

Outside of that forward path, a shipment can also be set to Canceled if the load will not move. International (ocean and air) shipments use the same statuses except Ready and Sent, which they skip. The public API names Quote "Quoted" and Committed "Booked"; the other status names are the same.

Where a new shipment starts. Each shipment type can have a default starting status that your organization configures. When no default has been configured, the Tai TMS falls back to built-in defaults: Domestic Freight shipments start at Quote, most other back-office shipment types start at Committed, and customer-facing (Front Office) LTL orders start at Ready, or at Committed for white-glove delivery.

How staff change status. Status is set from the shipment's Update Status (check-call) screen rather than by typing a value into a field. The screen offers quick buttons for the most likely next status, an alternate status, and the previous status, plus a Select Other Status option that lists the statuses from Quote through Delivered. Complete and Canceled are not in that list:

Complete Shipment appears once a shipment is Delivered.
Cancel is available through Select Other Status, and Lost Quote is offered while the shipment is Quote, Committed, or Ready.
Reinstate Shipment appears on a Canceled shipment and returns it to Quote.

Staff can also change status for many shipments at once from the loadboard and shipment search bulk actions.

Some transitions trigger extra prompts or steps:

Moving a shipment to In Transit can require answering the carrier's audit questions first; if required questions are unanswered, the update is held until they are answered. The update form also records the actual pickup date and arrival/departure times around pickup.
Moving a shipment to Delivered opens a prompt to capture proof of delivery (arrival, departure, and who signed), together with any delivery audit questions.
Canceling a shipment goes through a confirmation step that includes a cancellation reason field and lists any invoices, bills, or payments that already exist on the shipment. Canceling a shipment that already has invoices or bills requires additional permissions.
Setting an LTL shipment to Ready when its pickup time has already passed, or is less than two hours away, prompts you to update the pickup date and time (or leave it as is).
Before a status change, the system checks whether the customer is on credit hold (see the business rules below).

Status can also change automatically.

Carrier tracking updates that arrive electronically (EDI or API) can move a shipment forward — for example to In Transit, Out for Delivery, or Delivered. These updates only move a shipment forward, never apply to a Quote, and are not applied once the shipment is already Delivered or later.
When electronic dispatch to a carrier succeeds, the shipment moves to Dispatched or Sent (see the electronic dispatch article).
When a carrier confirms a shipment through its confirmation link, the shipment moves to Dispatched for truckload shipments and to Ready for other shipment types. Where waterfall tendering is enabled, a carrier accepting a waterfall tender moves the shipment to Sent.
On a consolidated shipment, a status change on the consolidated (parent) shipment is applied to each shipment inside it. Canceling the consolidated shipment instead releases the shipments inside it so they continue on their own.

The status bar on the shipment condenses these into five visual steps — quote, booked/ready/sent, dispatched, in transit/out for delivery, and delivered/complete — plus a canceled state.

Business rules & limits

The order is fixed and meaningful. Each status represents a later point in the shipment's life. A load generally moves forward through the sequence above.
Status drives automation, not just display. Moving a shipment to Ready is what triggers the system to electronically tender/dispatch the load to the carrier (including when a shipment is created with a Ready status or a save changes it to Ready). Sent and Dispatched are normally results of that dispatch rather than triggers.
Delivered makes charges ready to bill. When a shipment becomes Delivered, its charges become ready for invoicing and carrier billing; if the total sell for an organization is lower than its total buy, the charges are flagged as having a variance for review instead. Canceling a shipment sets its charges to no accounting, and reinstating a canceled shipment resets them to not ready.
Ready through Delivered is the active accounting window. While a shipment is in that range, its not-yet-invoiced amount counts toward the customer's credit balance. Quote, Committed, Complete, and Canceled shipments are outside that window.
Delivered also updates related legs. Marking a shipment Delivered also marks its insurance and truck-order-not-used legs Delivered, and canceling a shipment voids any insurance certificate on it.
Some transitions have required steps. Delivered captures proof of delivery; In Transit can require audit questions; cancellation requires confirmation; and additional permissions are required to cancel a shipment that already has invoices or bills.
Credit hold can block a status change. If the customer's payment preference is Credit Hold, the Tai TMS blocks moving a shipment from Quote or Committed into Ready or any later status, and shows a Credit Hold warning that lets staff keep the shipment at Committed or Quote instead. The block does not apply to shipments already at Ready or later, to cancellations, or to a shipment for which a credit-hold bypass has been recorded.
Complete and Canceled are end states. Complete means the shipment is operationally and financially finished; Canceled means it will not move. Neither is an "in-progress" state, although a canceled shipment can be reinstated back to Quote.
Automatic carrier updates never move a shipment backward. An electronic tracking update does not change the status if it would set an earlier status than the shipment already has.
International shipments skip Ready and Sent. Domestic shipments use all of the statuses above.

Frequently asked questions

What are the shipment statuses in the Tai TMS and what order do they follow?

In the Tai TMS a shipment progresses through Quote (priced, not booked), Committed (booked), Ready (ready to tender to a carrier), Sent (tender sent), Dispatched (carrier accepted), In Transit (picked up and moving), Out for Delivery (final leg), Delivered (delivered, proof of delivery captured), and Complete (closed out). A shipment can also be Canceled if it will not move. Each status is a later stage than the one before it. International shipments skip Ready and Sent.

What status does a new shipment start in?

In the Tai TMS a new shipment starts at the default starting status configured for its shipment type, if your organization has set one. Without a configured default, Domestic Freight shipments start at Quote, most other back-office shipment types start at Committed, and customer-facing LTL orders start at Ready (Committed for white-glove delivery). From there staff advance the shipment as the load is booked and moves.

How does a shipment's status get set — can I just pick any status I want?

In the Tai TMS you change status from the shipment's Update Status (check-call) screen. It offers the likely next, alternate, and previous statuses as buttons, and Select Other Status lists every status from Quote through Delivered. Complete is set with the Complete Shipment button once the shipment is Delivered, and Canceled is set through the cancel and lost-quote options. Depending on the target status the screen may prompt for information (such as proof of delivery for Delivered) or run a check (such as credit hold) before the change is saved.

Why does the status matter beyond just tracking the load?

In the Tai TMS the status drives automated downstream work. Moving a shipment to Ready triggers electronic dispatch to the carrier, and moving it to Delivered makes its charges ready for invoicing and carrier billing. Shipments between Ready and Delivered also count toward the customer's credit balance as not-yet-invoiced amounts. So changing a shipment's status is how you set that automation in motion, not just a visual indicator.

What happens when I mark a shipment Delivered?

In the Tai TMS marking a shipment Delivered opens a prompt to capture proof of delivery, including the delivery arrival and departure times and who signed for the load, along with any delivery audit questions. The shipment's charges then become ready for invoicing and billing, and the Complete Shipment button becomes available to close the shipment out.

What is the difference between Complete and Canceled?

In the Tai TMS, Complete means the shipment has been delivered and then operationally and financially closed out — it is a normal end state. Canceled means the shipment will not move at all and is ended for that reason; its charges are set to no accounting. Both are final states rather than in-progress ones, but they represent very different outcomes, and a canceled shipment can be reinstated to Quote.

Can a status change be blocked?

Yes. In the Tai TMS, a customer on Credit Hold blocks a shipment from moving from Quote or Committed into Ready or later; staff are warned and can keep the shipment at Committed or Quote instead. Required audit questions must be answered before a shipment can move to In Transit, and canceling a shipment that already has invoices or bills needs additional permissions. So a status change is not always immediate.

Can carrier tracking updates change my shipment's status automatically?

Yes. In the Tai TMS, electronic carrier status messages (EDI) and carrier API tracking can advance a shipment's status — for example to In Transit, Out for Delivery, or Delivered. They only move the status forward, they do not change a Quote, and they are not applied once a shipment is already Delivered or later.

How do I bring back a shipment that was canceled?

In the Tai TMS, open the canceled shipment's Update Status screen and choose Reinstate Shipment. The shipment returns to Quote status and its charges are reset to not ready, so it can be booked and advanced again.