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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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Foundations

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Standards

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Flagship messages

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Tools

X12 426 — Rail Revenue Waybill

The 426 transmits a rail carrier revenue waybill to statistical agencies (STB, AAR): revenue collected, tonnage, freight class, by lane.

Purpose

The 426 is the instrument of the Carload Waybill Sample of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), a US federal statistical program that collects sampled waybills from Class I railroads to analyze flows and pricing markets.

It carries commodity (STCC), origin / destination, tonnage, revenue, junction route, wagon type. Acknowledged by 997. Strong confidentiality — waybill details are confidential for 3 years (49 CFR 1244), only aggregates are public.

Envelope structure

The 426 travels within the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group RW, and ST/SE). Didactic example in release 004010:

x12 example-426.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*BNSF          *ZZ*USSTB          *260514*1700*U*00401*000000426*0*P*>~
GS*RW*BNSF*USSTB*20260514*1700*1*X*004010~
ST*426*0001~
B5*RW*RW-2026-0042~
N1*OR*BNSF RAILWAY*26*BNSF~
N1*DA*CSX TRANSPORTATION*26*CSXT~
R4*X*UN*USCHI*CHICAGO INTERCHANGE*US~
LX*1~
REF*ZZ*STCC-4011500-COAL~
N7*BNSF*5780019*C113~
AMT*ZZ*3450.00~
QTY*ZZ*98~
SE*10*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000426~

Common segments

  • Header — ST, B5.
  • Carriers — N1*OR (Originating), N1*DA (Destination), N1*JC (Junction) if interchange.
  • Lane — R4*X interchange or R4*L (loading), R4*U (unloading).
  • Commodity and wagon — LX: REF*ZZ (STCC), N7 (wagon), QTY*ZZ (tonnage), AMT*ZZ (revenue).
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • Precise STCC: the 7-digit STCC (Standard Transportation Commodity Code) is crucial for STB statistics; a 5-digit truncated STCC files the cargo in the wrong category.
  • Confidential treatment: unit revenues are commercially sensitive; a 426 must follow the STB confidentiality protocol — in-transit encryption, restricted distribution.
  • Junction routes: a BNSF→CSX move via Chicago must carry N1*JC Chicago; without it the STB cannot perform junction-route analysis.

Documentation

The code 426 and the name Rail Revenue Waybill are public and listed on x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The complete structure of loops, qualifiers and code lists is distributed by DISA via the proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.