Carrier’s official API
Daylight Transport API: integration guide
Daylight Transport publishes a REST/JSON API family called ship-daylight that covers LTL rate quotes, transit times, pickup scheduling, shipment tracing, document images (BOL, delivery receipt, labels) and invoice data. A second version adds US–Mexico cross-border rating, pickups and transit times. It is aimed at Daylight customers, 3PLs and TMS vendors who want to automate quoting and shipment follow-up.
This guide covers Daylight Transport’s own API (api.dylt.com). Credentials come from Daylight Transport, not from FreightAPIs, and we are not affiliated with them.
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At a glance
| Carrier | Daylight Transport |
|---|---|
| Type | LTL carrier |
| SCAC | DYLT |
| Interface | REST/JSON, OAuth 2.0 (client credentials) |
| Authentication | OAuth 2.0 client credentials (bearer token), plus MyDaylight user name/password on some calls |
| Capabilities | Rate quote, Transit time, Pickup request, Shipment tracing, Documents & images (BOL, POD, labels), Invoice data, Fuel surcharge, US–Mexico cross-border (v2) |
Getting access
- The APIs are documented on Daylight's developer portal, which is hosted on Apigee. You register there as a developer to get OAuth client credentials for your app.
- Most business calls also need a Daylight account number and a MyDaylight web login (user name and password). Rate quotes, pickups, document images, quote lookup and invoice data all require them, so you need to be a Daylight customer, or act for one.
- Tracing by probill or booking number, transit times and the fuel surcharge call only need the OAuth bearer token.
- The specification lists EDISupport@dylt.com as the API support contact. The documentation does not mention fees, rate limits or a formal approval step.
Authentication
OAuth 2.0 client credentials (bearer token), plus MyDaylight user name/password on some calls.
- Request a token with POST /oauth/client_credential/accesstoken?grant_type=client_credentials, sending client_id and client_secret as form fields.
- Send the token on every call in the header Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN. The spec defines the scopes read:ship and write:ship.
- Tokens are short-lived (expires_in is roughly 900 seconds) and no refresh token is issued. Fetch a new token before the old one expires.
- For rateQuote and pickup, the MyDaylight userName, password and accountNumber go inside the JSON body. For GET /rateQuote/{quoteNumber}, /image/* and /invoice/*, userName and password are query parameters.
Environments
| Production | https://api.dylt.com |
|---|
Endpoints
Rate quote
POST a dyltRateQuoteReq with origin and destination ZIPs, item weights and classes, and optional accessorials. The response returns a quote number, an earliest delivery date and a charge breakdown. A saved quote can be fetched again by its number.
| POST | /rateQuote | Get an LTL rate quote for a planned pickup date. |
| GET | /rateQuote/{quoteNumber} | Retrieve the details of an existing quote by quote number. |
Transit time
Look up Daylight service-level transit times between two ZIP codes. The answer is a list of pickup-day to delivery-day pairs, not a single number.
| GET | /transitTimes/{origZip}/{destZip} | Return transit times for an origin/destination ZIP pair. |
Pickup request
Schedule an LTL pickup with full shipper and consignee details, a pickup window and item lines. The response says whether the reservation was accepted, declined or adjusted and returns a booking number that stays with the shipment.
| POST | /pickup | Schedule an LTL pickup (body wrapped in dyltPickupReqs.dyltPickupReq). |
Shipment tracing
Trace a shipment by Daylight probill number, or by the booking number returned from a pickup request before a probill exists. The response includes current status, expected and actual delivery dates, any delivery appointment and a dated status history.
| GET | /externalTrace/{probill} | Trace a shipment by probill number. |
| GET | /externalTrace/booking/{bookingNumber} | Trace a shipment by pickup booking number. |
Documents & images (BOL, POD, labels)
Download scanned freight documents for a probill as TIFF or PDF, or generate a pre-filled BOL or shipping label before pickup, either from a booking number or from data you post. Image calls need MyDaylight credentials.
| GET | /image/{probill}/{doc_type} | Return a scanned document for a probill in TIFF format. |
| GET | /image/{probill}/{doc_type}/pdf | Return a scanned document for a probill in PDF format. |
| GET | /image/booking/{bookingNumber}/{doc_type} | Return a pre-filled BOL or label PDF built from pickup request data. |
| POST | /image/bol | Return a populated Daylight BOL PDF from the values in the request body. |
| POST | /image/label | Return a populated shipping label PDF from the values in the request body. |
Invoice data
Fetch invoice data for a probill as JSON, including dates, terminals, parties, totals and per-item rated charges. Requires MyDaylight credentials.
| GET | /invoice/{probill} | Return freight invoice data for a probill. |
Fuel surcharge
Return the current diesel price and Daylight's current fuel discount percentage.
| GET | /fuelSurcharge | Get the current fuel surcharge inputs. |
US–Mexico cross-border (v2)
Version 2 of the API adds US↔MX lanes for rate quotes, pickups and transit times while keeping US domestic behavior. Country codes are limited to US or MX, Mexican states use 3-letter codes, and Mexican consignees need extra fields.
| POST | /v2/rateQuote | Rate quote for US domestic and US↔MX lanes. |
| POST | /v2/pickup | Validate and schedule a pickup, including US↔MX shipments. |
| GET | /v2/transitTimes/{originZip}/{destinationZip} | Transit times for US and US↔MX routes. |
Example request
Check success in the response: "NO" means the request failed and errorInformation.errorMessage explains why.
Integration notes
- There are two layers of credentials. The OAuth token proves your app; the MyDaylight userName and password prove which customer data you can see. Image, invoice and quote-lookup calls fail without both.
- On GET calls the MyDaylight userName and password are query parameters, not body fields. Treat request logs and URLs as sensitive.
- pickupDate on a rate quote must be within four business days of today. Dates use YYYY-MM-DD and pickup times use HH:mm:ss in the origin's local time.
- Each item line is limited to 15,000 lbs, and on a rate quote the pallets value (pallet-equivalent handling units) must not exceed 10.
- The proof-of-delivery document type is dr (delivery receipt), not pod. The invoice doc_type returns all documents for the probill in one file.
- Accessorials are sent as accName (P/Pickup, D/Delivery, O/Other) plus an accId name from Daylight's accessorial matrix, for example "Lift Gate Delivery". Do not repeat the same accessorial twice.
- Three identifiers appear over a shipment's life: quoteNumber (from rating), bookingNumber (from the pickup) and probill (assigned once freight is picked up). Trace by booking number until a probill exists.
- Errors often come back as HTTP 200 with success = "NO". In v2, validation failures are a semicolon-separated list in errorInformation.errorMessage, so split it on ";".
FAQ
Does Daylight Transport have an API?
Yes. Daylight publishes the ship-daylight REST/JSON API for rate quotes, transit times, pickups, tracing, document images, invoice data and fuel surcharge. A v2 adds US–Mexico cross-border lanes.
How does Daylight API authentication work?
You get a bearer token through the OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow and send it in the Authorization header. Quotes, pickups, documents and invoices also need your MyDaylight user name and password plus a Daylight account number.
Can I get a POD from the Daylight API?
Yes. Call /image/{probill}/dr/pdf (or without /pdf for TIFF). The delivery receipt type is dr, and your MyDaylight credentials are required.
Can I track a Daylight shipment before it has a probill?
Yes. Use /externalTrace/booking/{bookingNumber} with the booking number returned by the pickup request. Once a probill is assigned you can trace with /externalTrace/{probill}.
On FreightAPIs
Official resources
- ship-daylight developer overview & code lists: dylt-portalapi.apigee.io/overview
Written from Daylight Transport’s published API documentation and last checked 2026-10-09. FreightAPIs is not affiliated with Daylight Transport; endpoints and access rules can change, so confirm details in the carrier’s own documentation before going live.
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