Be Part of the Ultimate Safety & Compliance Community
Trending news, knowledge-building content, and more – all personalized to you!
The Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) is a system that assigns unique two-to-four letter codes to transportation companies for identification purposes. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) developed the SCAC identification codes in the late 1960’s to facilitate computerization in the transportation industry.
The NMFTA assigns SCACs for all companies except those codes used for identification of freight containers not operating exclusively in North America, intermodal chassis and trailers, non-railroad owned rail cars, and railroads.
The SCAC is also the recognized transportation company identification code used in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 and United Nations EDIFACT approved electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction sets such as the 856 Advance Ship Notice, the 850 Purchase Order and all motor, rail, and water carrier transactions where carrier identification is required.
The SCAC is required for:
Carriers may apply for one SCAC for each mode of operation. A carrier holding both a motor carrier MC number and a freight forwarder FF number may obtain an SCAC for each operation.
Certain groups of SCACs are reserved for specific purposes:
The Standard Carrier Alpha Codes are published by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc., in the Directory of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes (SCAC). The Directory is updated on a quarterly basis, is reissued annually, and is available for purchase if you need to look up carriers SCACs. The SCAC data is also available via an online search engine on the internet through SCAC Online but requires an annual subscription.
The SCAC remains valid through July 1 of the following year and must be renewed on an annual basis. A renewal notice is sent approximately 30 days in advance of the renewal due date.
An all-digital upgrade known as SCAC 2.0, effective April 10, 2023, will allow carriers to manage their codes directly online without NFMTA support.
Applications are available online at https://secure.nmfta.org/Welcome.aspx.
Contact the NMFTA at (703) 838-1831 with any questions.