How Does Shipment Tracking Work?

Shipment tracking is the process of monitoring the physical location and delivery status of a package as it moves through a carrier's logistics network. It provides visibility to both the merchant and the end customer, reducing anxiety and support tickets.

The Shipment Lifecycle

The tracking process relies on physical scans of the barcode printed on the shipping label (the AWB number).

1. Shipment Created: The merchant generates a label via software. The carrier is notified, but doesn't have the package yet.
2. First Scan (Picked Up): The carrier physically takes the package and scans the barcode. This is the most critical scan, as it legally transfers custody of the goods to the carrier.
3. Transit Events: As the package moves between trucks, planes, and regional sorting facilities, it is repeatedly scanned.
4. Out for Delivery: The package is placed on the final delivery van.
5. Delivered: The delivery driver scans the package at the customer's doorstep (sometimes capturing a signature or photo).

The Challenge of Carrier Events

Every carrier has a completely different database architecture and event vocabulary.

For example, when a package is on the delivery truck:

• Amazon Shipping might emit the event OutForDelivery.
• Delhivery might emit Dispatched_to_Hub.
• FedEx might emit On_FedEx_vehicle_for_delivery.

If a merchant is using five different carriers, their software has to parse and understand hundreds of different, esoteric event codes to accurately display the status to the customer.

Status Normalization

Modern multi-carrier platforms solve this through Status Normalization.

A platform like RC:Ship ingests the raw, messy event data from dozens of carriers and translates it into a single, unified schema. No matter what the carrier calls it, RC:Ship will translate the event to a standard status like out_for_delivery.

This allows developers to build clean, branded tracking pages and automated notification flows without having to write custom parsing logic for every new carrier they add to their network.