Tracking numbers are numbers assigned to packages when they are shipped. Tracking numbers are useful for knowing the location of time sensitive deliveries. It is a unique ID number or code assigned to a package or parcel. The tracking number is typically printed on the shipping label as a

bar code A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

that can be scanned by anyone with a bar code reader or smartphone. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, some of the carriers using tracking numbers include UPS,

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

, and the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

. Most postal services use the

S10 (UPU standard) The UPU S10 standard defines a system for assigning 13-character identifiers to international postal items for the purpose of tracking and tracing them during shipping. The standard was introduced on 18 April 1996, and is currently in its 12th ve ...

(format AA 00000000 9 BB) for international mailings, including the United States Postal Service and most European postal services.

Formats

Tracking numbers consist of letters and numbers typically between 8 and 40 characters long sometimes with spaces or hyphens between groupings of characters. When shown on a receipt after shipping a package the tracking number is usually close to the barcode. FedEx Ground and Express tracking numbers are 12 digits (with the ability to expand to 14 characters in the future), while overall barcode length is 34 digits. A UPS tracking number, for domestic packages within the United States, will usually start with "1Z" followed by a 6 character shipper number (numbers and letters), a 2 digit service level indicator, and finally 8 digits identifying the package (the last digit being a

check digit A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for Error detection and correction, error detection on identification numbers, such as bank account numbers, which are used in an application where they will at least sometimes be input manually. It ...

), for a total of 18 characters. DHL Express supports the carrier-independent ISO standard 15459-1 for the identification of single packages. Such identifiers consist of uppercase characters and numerals, and they can be up to 35 digits long. Companies that already use this standard do not require an additional identifier to track their pieces when shipping with DHL Express. In addition, DHL Express uses numeric identifiers of exactly ten digits to track transport orders (i.e. an order to transport a shipment consisting of one or more pieces from A to B). Customers can use both codes for tracking purposes.

References

{{Reflist Freight transport Identifiers

Formats

See also

References