Line Drive Trucking API: integration guide

At a glance

Getting access

• The API is not documented on a public developer portal. CLI help documents and an LDT integration reference are provided to customers on request.
• Authenticated calls use a FACTS web login (the same user ID and password the customer would use on the carrier web tracking site). Ask Line Drive Trucking for a web login and API access through your sales or customer-service contact.
• The base URL is client-specific: CLI hosts each carrier under its own path, and LDT gives you the URL to use. Do not guess it from other CLI carriers.
• Production and test logins are separate. A live login does not authenticate against the test environment; test credentials must be requested separately.
• The documentation does not mention API pricing, rate limits or a formal approval process.

Authentication

Static username and password (FACTS web login) in the query string or XML body.

• There is no token endpoint and nothing to refresh. Each authenticated request carries the credentials.
• Query-string form: `xmlv=yes&xmluser=YOUR_USER&xmlpass=YOUR_PASSWORD`. Keep `xmlv=yes` on query-string XML calls; without it the BOL call returned the HTML login page instead of XML.
• The BOL call also accepts `UserName` / `Password` as query parameters, or `<UserName>` and `<Password>` elements inside the posted `<bol>` XML.
• Transit times (`xtransittime.xml`) and the accessorial list (`keywordlist.xml`) are usually callable without credentials. Rate quotes, BOL entry and shipment alerts require them.
• Because credentials travel in URLs, always use HTTPS and keep them out of logs and source code.

Endpoints

Transit time

Returns published business-day transit and the due date for an origin/destination postal-code pair, plus the origin and destination terminal codes.

Rate quote

Rates one or more freight lines and returns each charge line (freight, lane minimum, fuel surcharge, accessorials) and a quote total. Add `quotenumber=yes` to receive a persistent quote number.

Bill of lading & pickup request

Creates a bill of lading and, unless `nopickup` is set to Yes, a pickup request. A successful response returns the PRO number plus links to the BOL PDF and shipping labels.

Shipment tracking

Returns shipment details, status, lifecycle, movement history and document image links for a PRO number or a BOL number. Authenticated calls return more detail.

Documents & images (BOL / POD)

There is no separate document call. Document images are listed in the `<images>` block of the tracking response, one `<image>` per document, typed by `imagetypecode` (B = bill of lading, P = proof of delivery).

Shipment alerts

Subscribes email addresses to milestone emails for one or more PRO numbers. Alert types are SHIP, APPT, OFD and POD.

Accessorial code list

Returns the accessorial codes configured for LDT, such as LGDEL (liftgate delivery), LGPU, APPOINT, RESIDEL and RESIPU. Use it as the allow-list for quote and BOL accessorials.

Example request

Replace the base URL with the client-specific FACTS URL that Line Drive Trucking gives you. The response root is <ratequote> on success and <error> on failure.

Integration notes

• Unknown accessorial codes are silently ignored. RESIDEL adds a residential delivery charge, but the older sample code RESDEL returns no error and no charge. Validate every code against keywordlist.xml first, and match charges on `chargecode` rather than `chargedesc` (which can be blank).
• The live and test accessorial lists differ (test returned fewer codes). Do not copy the test catalog into production logic.
• Each call has its own XML root and error style: rate quote and tracking fail with an `<error>` root, while transit, BOL and alerts return `<response>` with `<success>No</success>` and one or more `<errormessage>` elements. Parse the root first.
• Responses declare ISO-8859-1 encoding and are served as text/xml. Do not assume UTF-8 or application/xml.
• Date formats vary by call: transit `pudate` MM/DD/YY, quote `shipdate` MM/DD/YYYY, BOL-only tracking `shipdate` YYYYMMDD, BOL `putime` and `closetime` HHMM. The format for BOL `pudate` is not defined, so confirm it with the carrier.
• Line items are numbered differently: rate quote uses bracket arrays (`wweight[1]`), the BOL uses suffixes (`weight1` … `weight8`). On the BOL, if you send one dimension for a line you must send all three.
• Tracking by PRO: LDT's reference found that the parameter `pronum` works on the live system, while `pronumber` (shown in the generic CLI document) returned "Invalid pronumber". Test both against your account. A wrong `shipdate` on a BOL lookup turns a valid BOL into "Invalid BOL number", so omit it unless you know the date.
• A successful BOL creates a real shipment and, unless `nopickup=Yes`, a pickup that dispatch may act on. Never send complete BOLs from a test harness against production, and add your own dedupe key so a retry does not create a duplicate shipment.
• In quote lines, the charge may be in `<chrg>`, in `<charge>` (older samples) or missing. Line numbers are not contiguous. Treat `<quotetotal>` as the authoritative amount. A lane can return transit times yet fail to rate, so do not use transit success as a serviceability check.

FAQ

On FreightAPIs

Official resources

Written from Line Drive Trucking’s published API documentation and last checked 2026-10-09. FreightAPIs is not affiliated with Line Drive Trucking; 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