Banyan Technology API: integration guide

At a glance

Getting access

• API access is tied to a Banyan customer account. Client credentials (a client_id and client_secret) are issued by your Banyan account manager rather than through self-service signup.
• Banyan provides an integration (test) environment for building and a separate production environment. The production base URL is supplied by Banyan when you go live, so confirm it with your account manager.
• Which carriers you get quotes from, and features such as market reference rates (pullMarketRates), depend on how your Banyan account is configured.
• The documentation reviewed does not describe pricing for API access or a formal approval process.

Authentication

OAuth 2.0 client credentials (JWT bearer token).

• POST to /auth/connect/token with Content-Type application/x-www-form-urlencoded and the fields grant_type=client_credentials, client_id and client_secret. Both credential values must be URL-encoded.
• An optional clientrefnum field ties the token to a specific client reference so actions can be traced back to it.
• The response returns access_token (a JWT), token_type Bearer, expires_in (about 3,600 seconds) and the granted scope.
• Send Authorization: Bearer <access_token> on every API call. Tokens last roughly one hour, so refresh before expiry; an expired token returns 401.

Endpoints

Rate quote (create shipment)

Quoting works by creating a shipment with importAsStatus set to Quoted. Banyan runs the request through its carrier rating engine and returns a loadId plus a list of carrier quotes. The same call can also import a shipment directly as Pending, Booked or Dispatched.

Transit time

There is no separate transit-time endpoint in the documentation reviewed. Each quote carries a transit time in days, and a dispatched booking returns an estimated delivery date.

Booking, dispatch & pickup

Book a quoted shipment by passing the chosen quoteId. Optional flags move the load straight to Dispatched and send a pickup request to the carrier, set a PRO number, or email a BOL copy.

Shipment tracking

Fetch tracking events for one or more shipments by loadId. You can ask for the full history or only the most recent status. Each event carries both the carrier's raw message and a Banyan-normalized message.

Documents & images (BOL, POD, labels)

Request one or more document types for a shipment. PDFs and images come back base64-encoded; shipping labels can also be returned as ZPL or EPL for thermal printers. Each document type succeeds or fails independently.

Freight invoices

Page through carrier invoices with filters for PRO, BOL, loadId, client reference, status and four date ranges. Each invoice includes line items, payments and the variance between the invoiced amount and the original quote, which is useful for freight audit.

Accessorial codes (static data)

Download the list of accessorial services Banyan accepts, split into Shipper, Consignee and Load types. Use it to map your own service flags to Banyan abbreviations.

Example request

Replace YOUR_BANYAN_API_HOST with the integration or production host Banyan gives you. Keep the returned loadId and the quoteId you pick; both are needed to book.

Integration notes

• loadId is the key for everything after quoting: booking, documents, tracking and invoice lookups all take it. Store it as soon as the create call returns.
• waitForRates defaults to true, so the create call blocks until rating finishes. If you set it to false, check ratingCompleted and poll for quotes later.
• If a handling unit has length, width and height, unitOfMeasurement (IN, FT or CM) becomes required. Weight units are LBS or KG, and freight class must be one of the standard values from 50 to 500.
• Accessorials go into three separate arrays (shipperAccessorials, consigneeAccessorials, loadAccessorials). Liftgate at pickup is SLFTG, liftgate at delivery is CLFTG; putting a code in the wrong array is a common mistake.
• The accessorial list endpoint is limited to 3 requests per minute and returns 429 beyond that. Pull it once and cache it.
• On booking, submitPickupRequest sends a real pickup request to the carrier. With dispatchOverride left false, a failed pickup request keeps the load out of Dispatched status, so check dispatchResponse.success and errors.
• For tracking, repeat the query parameter per shipment (Ids=123&Ids=456) instead of sending a comma list. dateTimeType tells you whether a timestamp came from the carrier or is the time Banyan received the event.
• Errors use the RFC 7231 problem-details shape (type, title, status, traceId, detail, errors). Log traceId when raising a support ticket. Carrier_POD only becomes available after delivery and otherwise returns success false for that document type.

FAQ

On FreightAPIs

Official resources

• Banyan LIVE Connect API docs (v3): docs.banyantechnology.com/

Written from Banyan Technology’s published API documentation and last checked 2026-10-09. FreightAPIs is not affiliated with Banyan Technology; endpoints and access rules can change, so confirm details in the carrier’s own documentation before going live.

Other carrier API guides

ABF Freight · Estes Express Lines · Saia LTL Freight · TForce Freight · Old Dominion Freight Line · XPO (LTL) · AAA Cooper Transportation · AIT Worldwide Logistics