Who sends it
Sent by the carrier back to the shipper or broker that issued the 204. It is an outbound message from the carrier’s point of view.
When it fires
Immediately after a 204 is reviewed, and before the load is worked. The 990 is what turns a tender into a committed load — or releases it back to the shipper to cover elsewhere.
What it carries
- The reservation or shipment identifier from the 204 being answered.
- A response code — accept, decline, or conditional.
- For a conditional or declined response, a reason and any note the partner supports.
Response codes
Common ANSI X12 values. The set a given partner accepts is defined in its implementation guideline.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
A | Tender accepted |
D | Tender declined |
C | Tender accepted conditionally (e.g. subject to an appointment or rate change) |
Where it breaks
- A 990 that is never sent — the tender times out on the shipper’s side and the load is re-offered or covered by another carrier.
- An acceptance sent after the shipper’s response window has closed, so the load is already gone.
- A conditional acceptance the partner’s system does not support, which is treated as no response.
How Trailflow handles it
Trailflow EDI (beta) sends the 990 from the tender queue — accept, reject, or conditional — as a direct action on the inbound 204, so the response and the resulting load state stay in sync.
See Trailflow EDI for the product. It is in beta; supported behavior may change.