FORTRAS
Also: FORTRAS 100 · BORD 512 · bordero file · forwarding interface
FORTRAS is a data exchange format widely used in German-speaking freight forwarding and groupage traffic. It carries consignment and bordero data as well as status messages between forwarders, cooperation partners and their systems.
What it is
FORTRAS emerged as an industry format for exchanging data along the transport chain and is used above all in groupage and hub-and-spoke networks. Unlike EDIFACT, FORTRAS is record-type based: a file consists of records with a fixed structure, each identified by a record type.
Two variants are met in practice: FORTRAS 100 and BORD 512. Both are mature — radical changes are rare, and virtually every transport management system in the German-speaking market supports them out of the box. The specification, its documentation and its issuance are looked after by the IT coordination of the System Alliance Hub and the networks that grew out of it, such as NG.network GmbH.
Typical content includes consignment and bordero data, status messages on the progress of a shipment, and feedback from handling. Which record types and fields exist at all is set by the specification; which of them are used, and how they are populated, is agreed between the partners or within the cooperation.
As with EDIFACT, FORTRAS describes the content, not the transmission method. Files are exchanged via SFTP, FTP, email or a cooperation\'s own systems, depending on what has been agreed.
In practice
Anyone working in a groupage cooperation or a hub network will normally have FORTRAS prescribed for them. The challenge rarely lies in the format itself but in the population rules: consignment number ranges, references, address and date details or status codes can differ from partner to partner.
Common stumbling blocks are consignment references that cannot be matched unambiguously, differing codes for shipment status, and additional details such as dangerous-goods or temperature information that are only expected in certain constellations.
We connect FORTRAS to the existing transport or forwarding management system: outgoing files are built from the data of the live order, incoming ones are processed and matched to existing consignments. Records that cannot be matched are logged and presented for clarification rather than disappearing quietly.
When it affects you
FORTRAS mainly concerns forwarders and logistics providers who are part of cooperations or hub networks, as well as companies whose transport partners require the format.
Two things help with a first estimate: a description of the variant the partner requires, and one real sample file. Together they usually reveal quickly which fields are already available from your own system and where details have to be added within the process.