Carriers’ Standard Carrier Alpha Codes will expire between Sunday, June 30, and Sunday, July 7. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association is reminding relevant transportation companies to renew their SCAC codes as soon as possible.
NMFTA assigns SCAC codes to all companies except those used to identify freight containers not operating exclusively in North America, intermodal chassis and trailers, non-railroad-owned rail cars, and railroads.
“SCAC identification codes have existed since the mid-1960s and were developed to facilitate computerization in the transportation industry,” Debra Edwards, client service senior manager for NMFTA, said. “It’s a unique two to four-letter code utilized to identify various transportation companies properly, and while certain groups of a SCAC are reserved for specific purposes, overall, the code is recognized by various organizations.”
See also: NMFTA to allow digital management of Standard Carrier Access Codes
A SCAC is required when doing business with all U.S. government agencies and with many commercial shippers such as the:
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA);
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP);
- Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)
- Automated Manifest (AMS)
- Pre-Arrival Processing (PAPS) Systems
Carriers using the Uniform Intermodal Interchange Facilities Access Agreement (UIIA) must maintain a valid SCAC.
“We understand that some industry professionals are uncertain whether SCAC needs to be implemented in their daily process,” Edwards continued. “To confirm that information, NMFTA has created a SCAC infographic to help determine if SCAC is necessary, what the specific reason for utilizing one is, and to what degree it should be incorporated.”
In addition, the infographic provides insight into when a SCAC is not needed.
To renew or apply for a SCAC code, companies should visit the SCAC website for real-time integration into the computer system. NMFTA publishes all codes, and the data is available via an online search engine through SCAC Online once a subscription has been purchased. If a data download is required, SCAC data is also accessible daily or quarterly by either email or FTP. Both are provided in UTF8 encoded ASCII format with a record length of 254 characters.
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