Transportation and Logistics

Different sectors of the transportation and logistics industry use different barcode symbologies.

Airline cargo

Standard 2 of 5 (IATA 2 of 5) is commonly used. The Air Transport Association (ATA) uses the Spec 2000 standard to define IATA 2 of 5.

Packaging

GS1 QR Code is commonly used.

Shipping

  • Code 128

  • Code 128C, used by FedEx

  • GS1 codes, including GS1-128 and variations of the GS1 Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC)

  • Interleaved 2 of 5 (ITF), specifically the customized ITF-14 variant

  • MaxiCode, invented and used by United Parcel Service (UPS)

  • PDF417, used by FedEx

  • SCC-14 (Shipping Container Code), also called DUN-14, which is a variant of Interleaved 2 of 5

  • SSCC-18, which is a variant of Code 128

Ticketing

Ticketing applications frequently use 2-D codes such as QR Code and Aztec Code. Aztec Code in particular is predominantly used for tickets and airline boarding passes, for online and mobile railway tickets in many parts of Europe, for several billing systems in Canada, and for the car registration system in Poland.

Standards that apply to the transportation and logistics industry include:

  • ANSI MH10.8.1 Automatic Identification and Data Capture Techniques Used in Shipping, Receiving, and Transport Applications

  • ANSI MH10.8.2 Data Identifier and Application Identifier Standard

  • ANSI MH10.8.6 Bar Codes and Two-Dimensional (2D) Symbols for Product Packaging

  • ANSI MH10.8.7 Labeling and Direct Product Marking with Linear Bar Code and Two-Dimensional Symbols

  • FedEx Ground: Bar Code and Label Layout Specification

  • ISO/IEC 16023 Information technology - International symbology specification - MaxiCode

  • Spec 2000