X12 160 — Transportation Automatic Equipment Identification

Automatic reading of equipment (wagons, containers, trailers) via AEI/RFID. The 160 transmits the readings detected at a fixed point.

Purpose

The 160 standardises the sending of AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification) readings — RFID system used by North American railroads (AAR-mandated since 1995). Each wagon, container or trailer carries a passive RFID tag read at fixed points (yard, border, port). The 160 sends: equipment ID, timestamp, location, direction.

Envelope structure

The 160 travels inside the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group TI, and ST/SE). Didactic example in 004010:

ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*AEIREADER     *ZZ*RAILROADHQ    *260516*2000*U*00401*000000160*0*P*>~
GS*TI*AEIREADER*RAILROADHQ*20260516*2000*1*X*004010~
ST*160*0001~
BX1*AE*READ-2026-001*20260516~
N1*RV*KANSAS CITY YARD AEI*92*KCY-AEI-01~
N4*KANSAS CITY*MO*64101*US~
REF*EQ*BNSF123456~
DTM*009*202605162000~
SE*6*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000160~

Common segments

• Header — ST, BX1 Beginning of AEI Set.
• Reader — N1*RV Reader location, N4.
• Read loop — REF*EQ Equipment + DTM + direction.
• Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

• Unreadable tag (no-read): the 160 must signal no-reads via a dedicated code; otherwise tagless wagons go unnoticed.
• Direction unspecified: NB/SB/EB/WB must be present, otherwise movement reconstruction impossible.
• Out-of-sync reader clock: arrival orderings are skewed.

Related transactions

• 404
• X12 — Hub

Documentation

The 160 code and the Transportation Automatic Equipment Identification name are public and listed at x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The full loops/qualifiers/code-lists structure is distributed by DISA via proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.