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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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Tools

X12 422 — Equipment Order

The 422 transmits an order for railroad equipment — empty railcars to be supplied — from a shipper to a railroad or equipment provider.

Purpose

The 422 documents a shipper request for empty cars of a given type (covered hopper, tank, gondola, boxcar) at an origin on a planned date. It carries quantity, AAR type, date window, and origin.

It feeds the railroad equipment allocation. Acknowledged by 997, then by a 423 or 425 (waybill request). Critical for seasonal commodities (grain, fertilizer).

Envelope structure

The 422 travels within the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group GE, and ST/SE). Didactic example in release 004010:

x12 example-422.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*GRAINSHIPPER  *ZZ*RAILROAD      *260515*1100*U*00401*000000422*0*P*>~
GS*GE*GRAINSHIPPER*RAILROAD*20260515*1100*1*X*004010~
ST*422*0001~
BGN*00*EQORD-2026-0042*20260515~
N1*SH*GRAIN COOP INC*92*GLN-GRAIN~
N1*RR*BNSF RAILWAY*24*EIN-BNSF~
REF*ZZ*AAR-CODE-C113~
QTY*ZZ*25~
N4*WICHITA*KS*67201~
DTM*002*20260601~
SE*9*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000422~

Common segments

  • Header — ST, BGN.
  • Shipper / Railroad — N1*SH, N1*RR.
  • Equipment — REF*ZZ (AAR car type), QTY*ZZ (quantity).
  • Origin — N4 (city/state/zip).
  • Date — DTM*002 (expected supply date).
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • AAR code precision: C113 (small covered hopper) and C114 (large covered hopper) are conflated internally but distinct at allocation — use the exact AAR Open Top Loading Rules code.
  • Date window: a 422 without a window range causes strict delivery; for operational flexibility, carry the window via DTM*002 early + DTM*002 latest.
  • Origin precision: a shipper with multiple sidings must explicitly name the siding in N4; otherwise the car may be delivered to the wrong siding of the same customer.

Documentation

The code 422 and the name Equipment Order 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.