X12 120 — Vehicle Shipping Order

The manufacturer orders vehicle shipping to dealers: VIN, models, options, dealer destination, delivery window.

Purpose

Automotive circuit pivot: GM, Ford, Toyota send a 120 to the car hauler (Jack Cooper, Cassens Transport, etc.) to order vehicle shipping from plant to dealers. Each vehicle identified by VIN (Vehicle Identification Number, 17 chars ISO 3779). Includes the rail rack if loaded by rail (loop with 404 Rail Shipment).

Envelope structure

The 120 travels inside the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group VS, and ST/SE). Didactic example in 004010:

ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*ACMEAUTOMFR   *ZZ*CARHAULER     *260516*1400*U*00401*000000120*0*P*>~
GS*VS*ACMEAUTOMFR*CARHAULER*20260516*1400*1*X*004010~
ST*120*0001~
B2A*VS*20260516*ORD-VS-001~
N9*VIN*1HGBH41JXMN109186~
N1*MF*ACME AUTO INC*92*ACMEAU~
N1*ST*DEALER ANYTOWN*92*DEAL01~
N4*ANYTOWN*CA*90210*US~
N1*CA*JACK COOPER TRANSPORT*92*JCT~
SE*7*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000120~

Common segments

• Header — ST, B2A (Beginning of Vehicle Shipping Order).
• Vehicle loop — N9 + VIN, model, color, options.
• Destination — N1*ST ship-to dealer + N4.
• Carrier — N1*CA.
• Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

• Invalid VIN: exactly 17 chars, alphanumeric without I/O/Q (1/0 confusion). Always validate.
• Dealer without GLN or DUNS: use N1-04 qualifier 92 (Assigned Identification) with a stable ID.
• Delivery window missing: car hauler must know when to deliver to plan.

Related transactions

• 121
• 129
• 404
• X12 — Hub

Documentation

The 120 code and the Vehicle Shipping Order name are public and listed at x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The full loops/qualifiers/code-lists structure is distributed by DISA via proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.