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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Tools

X12 218 — Motor Carrier Tariff Information

The 218 publishes a motor carrier's tariff structure: rates by zone, by weight and by NMFC class, surcharges (fuel, accessorials), discounts and conditions.

Purpose

The 218 lets a carrier publish pricing in a structured form so a shipper TMS can auto-rate a shipment: zone → weight → NMFC class → rate. The grid embeds surcharges (fuel surcharge, accessorials like liftgate or inside delivery) and negotiated discounts. Most US LTLs publish a 218 monthly, and SMC3 maintains a central reference store.

The 218 is not a quote — for a spot quote use the 753/754 (Request for Routing Instructions / Response). The 218 is the underlying rate book.

Envelope structure

The 218 travels in a functional group TF (Tariff). Didactic example in release 004010 on a weight-band rate-card excerpt:

x12 example-218.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*ACMECARRIER   *ZZ*ACMESHIPPER   *260514*0800*U*00401*000000218*0*P*>~
GS*TF*ACMECARRIER*ACMESHIPPER*20260514*0800*1*X*004010~
ST*218*0001~
B1A*ACMECARRIER*TARIFF-2026-04*20260501*20260601~
N9*RT*Tariff-Q2-2026~
G68*Rate Card Q2-2026 - All zones~
LX*1~
N1*CA*ACME CARRIER*92*CA-077~
G69*0-499*LB**85.00~
G69*500-999*LB**62.00~
G69*1000-1999*LB**42.00~
SE*9*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000218~

The B1A opens the tariff with SCAC, tariff number, effective and expiration dates. G68 and G69 carry the rate blocks and the weight bands. The N1*CA identifies the publishing carrier.

Common segments

  • Header — ST, B1A (Beginning Segment for Tariff), DTM.
  • Description — N9 (qualifier RT), G68 (Line Item Description).
  • Tariff detail — LX loop with N1 (CA), G69 (Line Item Detail) per band, G62 for windows.
  • Conditions / surcharges — K1 (Remarks) or a dedicated FOB block for terms.
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • Effective vs expiration: B1A03 and B1A04 must strictly bound the period of effect; an overlap between two 218s from the same carrier creates rating ambiguity.
  • NMFC class: reference the class with the exact qualifier expected; some TMSs expect the strict NMFC code, others the sub-class.
  • Fuel surcharge: rarely carried in the 218 itself; usually published outside EDI on the carrier site, applied as a multiplier on the TMS side.

Documentation

The code 218 and the name Motor Carrier Tariff Information are public and listed on x12.org/products/transaction-sets. SMC3 publishes a central LTL tariff repository.