What is a container tracking webhook?
A container tracking webhook sends shipment updates to a receiving address in your software. Your team can use those updates to refresh transport orders, inform customers or prepare the next operational task. This reduces the need to copy milestones between a tracking dashboard and your TMS, or transport management system.
In Panvaya, you choose a supported container, bill of lading (B/L) or booking reference and set a tracking schedule. Successful tracking runs send the available ocean tracking details to your configured receiver. Webhook access must be enabled for your organisation.
Updates follow your tracking schedule
Panvaya webhooks provide periodic tracking updates. A container movement may appear in a later update depending on your schedule and when the carrier reports it. Scheduled delivery does not guarantee immediate notification of a physical movement.
Where scheduled updates help your operations team
A useful integration starts with the decisions your team makes every day. Decide which reported milestones should update an order, prompt a review or notify a colleague. Your receiving application controls those actions.
- Customer visibility: Keep shipment records in your TMS or ERP aligned with the latest available tracking update.
- Transhipment monitoring: Review reported intermediate calls and vessel changes when planning the next leg of a shipment.
- Arrival planning: Share available arrival and discharge milestones with the team arranging collection or warehouse receiving.
- Daily coordination: Choose regular update times that suit your team's working hours and timezone.
You can also request an on-demand run for an active subscription when you need another tracking update. Available information may still be unchanged. A successful new run is billable, so choose a schedule that matches the decisions you need to make.
What information can your TMS receive?
Panvaya webhooks deliver the standard ocean tracking response using consistent, DCSA-aligned milestone codes. The information available depends on the carrier, reference and shipment stage. Missing dates or details can remain empty.
- Shipment status and milestones: Reported events such as gate-in, vessel loading, departure, arrival, discharge and empty return, where available.
- Actual and estimated dates: Distinct date types so your team can distinguish completed movements from future plans.
- Journey details: Available origin, destination, transhipment locations, vessel names and voyage information.
- Document tracking: Available container records for an unscoped B/L or booking request, subject to carrier support. A container-scoped request limits the result to that unit.
Route and vessel-position information is optional and depends on coverage. Use the public webhook guide for the response format and integration examples. Tracking information supports planning; confirm cargo availability and release requirements with the responsible parties before dispatching a truck.
Where Last Free Day fits into container collection planning
Last Free Day (LFD) helps your team assess the remaining free-time window before applicable charges begin. Panvaya shows LFD estimates separately in the shipment dashboard when suitable dates and free-time information are available. The ocean tracking webhook does not include an LFD date or demurrage charges.
The dashboard estimate uses calendar days. It can be based on an actual or estimated discharge date, or an available vessel arrival date when discharge information is missing. Published carrier free time or a saved free-time setting can support the estimate. If the required information is unavailable, an LFD estimate may not be shown.
Confirm the applicable collection deadline
Treat the displayed LFD as a planning estimate. It does not account for carrier-specific working-day or holiday calendars. Confirm the applicable deadline, any negotiated free time and cargo release conditions with your carrier or terminal before arranging collection.
Your team can use reported arrival and discharge updates to prompt a collection review, then check the separate LFD estimate and the confirmed deadline. The free-time lookup also helps you review available published tariff information. These checks support planning without promising that every shipment has the same free-time allowance.
What your webhook receiver needs
Your receiving system must provide a publicly reachable HTTPS address on port 443 with a valid TLS certificate. Private-network addresses and localhost are unsupported. Your integration team can register the destination and choose a supported authentication option in Panvaya.
Supported receiver authentication includes an API key header, a static bearer token or OAuth2 client credentials. Use separate receiver credentials and verify them before accepting shipment updates. Keep credentials and customer shipment information out of public examples or shared screenshots.
Your receiver should also handle duplicate deliveries safely and acknowledge accepted updates promptly. Delivery identifiers help recognise repeated messages; they do not authenticate the sender. Temporary delivery failures can be retried automatically, and delivery retries do not incur another tracking charge. See the webhook guide for retry limits and troubleshooting.
How to start a container tracking integration
- 1. Confirm access: Check that webhook tracking is enabled for your organisation and review the applicable credit allowance.
- 2. Prepare your receiver: Ask your integration team to provide a public HTTPS destination with authentication and safe duplicate handling.
- 3. Choose references and timing: Add a supported container, B/L or booking reference and select a schedule suited to your operations.
- 4. Check the result: Confirm that received milestones appear correctly in your TMS and that actual and estimated dates remain distinct.
- 5. Plan collection: Review arrival and discharge information alongside the separate dashboard LFD estimate and your confirmed carrier or terminal deadline.
The bottom line
Container tracking webhooks help bring scheduled shipment milestones into the software your team already uses. Last Free Day estimates provide a separate planning aid in the shipment dashboard. Used with confirmed collection deadlines and release information, these tools can reduce manual coordination and help your team prepare the next step. Start with the Panvaya webhook guide to review the connection requirements.