How to Reference Shipments

There are two ways to reference shipments with the CHI API.

Use the shipmentId that Is Returned on Creation of a Shipment by the Shipment Endpoint

The shipmentId is the unique identifier set by CHICARGO Connect.

• This approch requires the storage of the shipmentId by the user as shown in the upper part of the image.

Reference Shipments by alternativeReference or houseAirWaybillNumber

The alternativeReference is an identifier that you, as the user, set and manage within your system. It is a flexible ID that can be non-unique, meaning multiple shipments can share the same alternativeReference. This allows you to use identifiers that best fit your internal tracking needs without the requirement for uniqueness across all shipments.

The houseAirWaybillNumber (HAWB) is an identifier specifically used to identify a House Air Waybill (HAWB). It is known by the user and has to be set for every shipment, in order to get carried. Similar to the alternativeReference, the HAWB number can be non-unique, meaning that it may be reused after extended periods, such as a year.

Using the alternativeReference or houseAirWaybillNumber has two implications:

• If the shipment should be referenced e.g. in a dropoff manifest, then the alternativeReference or houseAirWaybillNumber may be used. In that case the CHI API infers the shipmentId, by taking the latest shipment with the respective alternativeReference or houseAirWaybillNumber. By that no storage of the shipmentId is necessary.
• If a shipment should be updated with a PUT, then the shipmentId has to be retrieved by a query in advance.