How to Track International Shipments
International shipments rarely move in a straight line. A carton may leave a warehouse in Shenzhen, cross the Pacific, clear customs, and reach a local delivery van days later. Each handoff creates a new scan—and sometimes a quiet gap. Good logistics shipping tracking helps businesses and recipients understand where a shipment was last recorded, what is happening next, and when an estimated delivery date may change.
The scale makes reliable visibility more than a convenience. UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2024 notes that over 80% of global trade by volume moves by sea. That makes port schedules, vessel movements, and transshipment points important parts of many international journeys. The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index also assesses tracking and tracing as one of six dimensions of logistics performance. These reports offer useful context, but neither can tell you where one specific parcel is right now.
That detail comes from shipment-level records: carrier tracking pages, electronic notifications, and documents such as a bill of lading or airway bill. Match the tracking number to the correct carrier, check the event time and location, and compare updates with the promised delivery window. A status can lag behind the physical shipment. It can also be unclear. Tracking is informative, not magic. In the sections ahead, we’ll explain how to follow international shipments, interpret common scan events, and respond when updates stop—while keeping expectations realistic.
Identify the Carrier and Gather Shipment Details
Before checking a tracking page, identify who physically carries the shipment. The seller, freight forwarder, and carrier may be different parties. Match the tracking number to the carrier named on the shipping label or booking confirmation. For international parcels, note any postal or delivery partner listed for the destination country. UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2024 reports that shipping carries over 80% of world trade by volume. That scale helps explain why a shipment may pass through several terminals and tracking systems.
Gather the full tracking number, carrier name, ship date, origin, destination, and service type. Keep a copy of the label or receipt; one digit can lead to another shipment’s scan history. Check whether the carrier’s page recognizes the number before interpreting a gap as a delay. Some scans appear only after a parcel reaches a sorting hub or clears a transfer between carriers. Updates can be uneven. I have seen people worry over a quiet tracking page, though a missing scan alone does not confirm a lost parcel.
Tips: Save the receipt and shipment reference together. Check the carrier’s own tracking page, then compare timestamps and locations. If the number remains unrecognized, ask the sender to confirm the carrier and number. Don’t guess.
Locate the International Tracking Number
When an international parcel is dispatched, look for a tracking number in the shipping confirmation, receipt, or sender’s order page. It may be labeled “tracking number,” “shipment ID,” or “waybill.” This code is usually different from your order number, which identifies the purchase, not the parcel. Check the full message, including its lower section; the tracking details can be easy to overlook.
If no number appears, ask the sender whether the parcel has been handed to the carrier and request the exact tracking code. A label may be created before the first scan, so an empty tracking page does not always mean something is wrong. Wait for the initial scan, then enter the code on the carrier’s official tracking page. Some parcels receive a new local tracking number after reaching the destination country. Compare status details before assuming the original code has stopped working. Updates can lag. That part can be confusing.
Tips: Copy and paste the code to avoid mistyping similar characters, such as 0 and O. Keep the dispatch email until delivery, and note when you last checked the status. If the number still shows no results after several business days, contact the sender with your order date and shipping confirmation.
How to Track International Shipments - Locate the International Tracking Number
| Where to Check |
Where the Number Usually Appears |
How to Identify It |
If You Cannot Find It |
| Shipment confirmation email |
Look for a field labeled “Tracking number,” “Shipment ID,” or “Waybill number.” It may appear near the dispatch date or tracking link. |
It is a shipment reference used to follow the parcel; it is not necessarily the same as your order number. |
Check spam and promotions folders, and confirm that the parcel has been handed to the carrier. |
| Shipping receipt or dispatch record |
Check the printed or digital receipt for a tracking, parcel, consignment, or waybill reference. |
The reference may contain letters, numbers, or both. International tracking formats vary by postal service and carrier. |
Ask the sender or shipping counter for the shipment reference shown on the dispatch record. |
| Parcel label |
Look near the barcode or in a section marked “Tracking,” “Shipment,” or “Waybill.” |
Do not assume every number on the label is trackable; labels can also show routing, service, or internal reference codes. |
Ask the sender to confirm which label reference is the tracking number before entering it online. |
| Air waybill or cargo document |
For air freight, check the air waybill (AWB) document for its waybill number. Other freight documents may show a shipment or bill-of-lading reference. |
The document type matters: an air waybill number and a bill-of-lading number are different references and may use different tracking systems. |
Contact the freight forwarder or sender and ask which reference should be used for tracking. |
| Order page or sender account |
Open the order’s delivery or shipment details and look for a tracking link or shipment reference. |
An order number identifies a purchase; a tracking number identifies a shipment. One order may also be sent in multiple parcels. |
Request the tracking number and the carrier or postal service handling the international shipment. |
Tip: Tracking updates may not appear immediately after dispatch. Allow time for the first carrier scan, and use the tracking service linked to the shipment or the carrier identified by the sender.
Enter the Number in a Carrier Tracking System
How to Track International Shipments
Enter the Number in a Carrier Tracking System
Open the carrier’s tracking page and enter the shipment number exactly as shown on your receipt or dispatch email. Remove extra spaces if the form rejects it, but keep any letters or leading zeros. A number can look correct and still contain a typo. Check each character carefully.
The first scan may not appear right away. That can happen while a parcel moves from the sender to an export facility. Wait a little, then try the same number again. Small delays are frustrating. Record the latest status and its timestamp, especially when updates use a different time zone. “In transit” usually means the shipment is moving through the network, not that it is near delivery.
For international shipments, one carrier may pass the parcel to another during its journey. If the original tracking page stops updating, check whether it lists a local delivery partner or a second tracking number. I have found this handoff easy to miss.
Still, a quiet tracking page does not prove a parcel is lost. Compare the displayed dates, destination details, and delivery estimate before contacting the sender or carrier. If the number remains unrecognized after a reasonable wait, confirm it with the person who shipped the parcel.
Interpret Tracking Events and Customs Updates
International tracking is a sequence of handoffs, not a live map. A parcel may move while its public status stays unchanged because scans are recorded at checkpoints, not continuously. The World Bank’s Connecting to Compete 2023 report found that an average international shipment took 44 days from the exporter’s warehouse to the importer’s warehouse; about 60% of that time was spent at sea. A quiet tracking page can therefore be normal. Still unsettling.
Read each event as evidence of a specific step. “Customs information received” usually means shipment details were submitted, not that the parcel cleared inspection. “Under customs review” signals a pause for assessment; “released” generally means authorities have authorized onward movement. Exact wording and scan timing vary by route and carrier. No scan? Not necessarily a problem. Compare the event timestamp with the local time zone, then check whether the update names a required document or action. The World Customs Organization’s Time Release Study Guide recommends measuring clearance with reliable timestamps, a useful reminder that one status alone rarely explains a delay. I would avoid guessing from a vague alert; even experienced shippers can misread a routine processing gap as a lost parcel.
