Transportation Control and Movement Document (TCMD) — Complete Reference

The Transportation Control and Movement Document (TCMD) is the standard document used to control, document, and account for the movement of a shipment unit through the Defense Transportation System (DTS). It accompanies the shipment and carries the data needed to move it and to track it — the activities at each end, the mode and priority of movement, the ports it passes through, and, above all, the 17-character Transportation Control Number (TCN) that uniquely identifies the shipment unit. The shipping activity prepares one TCMD per shipment unit; in manual form it is DD Form 1384, though the same data is now most often generated as an automated or electronic transaction. The TCMD is governed by the Defense Transportation Regulation (DTR) 4500.9-R, Part II — Cargo Movement, which absorbed the legacy MILSTAMP procedures.

At a glance

• What it is: The movement-control document that accompanies a shipment unit through the Defense Transportation System and carries the data needed to move and track it.
• Manual form: DD Form 1384, "Transportation Control and Movement Document."
• Key identifier carried: The 17-character Transportation Control Number (TCN), which uniquely identifies the shipment unit.
• Regulatory source: DTR 4500.9-R, Part II — Cargo Movement. Basic TCMD preparation requirements are in Chapter 203; the format and data-element preparation instructions are in Appendix M; the TCN construction is in Appendix L; and the in-transit data Document Identifier (DI) codes — the TK-series — are in Appendix W.
• Proponent: United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), which owns the DTR; the shipping activity prepares the TCMD.
• Lineage: Former MILSTAMP (DoD 4500.32-R) procedures were incorporated into DTR Part II.
• Where used: Manifesting and movement of cargo through air and water ports; in-transit accountability and visibility across the DTS.

What it is

A TCMD is the data record that controls a shipment as it moves. Where a Document Identifier Code (DIC) labels a supply transaction and a National Stock Number identifies an item, the TCMD identifies and controls a shipment unit — the physical thing being moved — for the purposes of transportation. It answers the transportation questions about a shipment: what it is, who is sending it and who is receiving it, how it is moving, how big and heavy it is, how urgently it must arrive, and which ports it transits.

A separate TCMD is prepared for each shipment unit entering the Defense Transportation System, by the transportation office of the shipping (originating) activity. Historically the TCMD was created as a punched card or as an administrative message; today it is most often produced as an automated transaction — including as an electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction set — but the manual standard form, DD Form 1384, remains the reference layout for the data elements. Where cargo is physically checked into a port, the cargo checker uses the TCMD to record and tally the cargo data and certifies it as accurate.

Because the TCMD's identifying key — the TCN — stays with the shipment from origin to destination, the TCMD is also the document that makes in-transit accountability and visibility possible: every scan, manifest, and status event downstream is tied back to the TCN that the TCMD established.

How it is structured

A TCMD is, at its core, a structured set of transportation data elements built around the Transportation Control Number (TCN). The data elements describe the shipment and how it is to move; the TCN is the unique key that ties them all together and follows the shipment through the system.

TCMD data elements

The TCMD carries the fields a transportation system needs to move and track a shipment unit. Commonly present data elements include:

• the Transportation Control Number (TCN) — the unique shipment-unit identifier (detailed below);
• a Document Identifier (DI) code that classifies the in-transit data transaction and the type of data it contains — the TK-series (e.g., TK4, TK6, TK9) defined in DTR Part II, Appendix W;
• the consignor / consignee activities, identified by DoDAAC (who is shipping and who is receiving);
• the mode/method of shipment code (how it moves — surface, air, sea, etc.);
• the transportation priority (TP) (how urgently it must move);
• the port of embarkation (POE) and port of debarkation (POD) codes;
• the required delivery date (RDD);
• piece count, weight, and cube, and commodity/special-handling data; and
• routing data, expressed using Routing Identifier Codes (RIC), that identify the activities and processing points the shipment moves through; and
• a Transportation Account Code (TAC) in the line-of-accounting field — a four-character pointer to the line of accounting (LOA) that identifies the appropriation or activity responsible for the transportation cost. The TCMD provides only four positions for the LOA, so a TAC stands in for the full 50- to 65-character LOA; valid TACs are maintained in the Transportation Global Edit Table (TGET).

The Transportation Control Number (TCN)

The TCN is a 17-character alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a shipment unit so the Defense Transportation System can control and track it from origin to destination. Its construction is defined in DTR 4500.9-R, Part II, Appendix L. In the standard form — used when the shipment derives from a MILSTRIP requisition — the 17 characters are built from the requisition document number plus shipment-control suffixes, so that the TCN is unique and traceable even when a shipment is broken into increments.

The TCN is constant across the multiple transportation legs of a shipment, with the exception of the 17th position when it is used as a split-shipment code — which is precisely why the partial and split codes exist: to keep the 17-character TCN from being duplicated when a shipment unit does not move as a single piece.

How it is used

The TCMD does its work at three points in a shipment's life: manifesting, in-transit accountability, and feeding in-transit visibility.

Manifesting and entering the DTS

When a shipping activity moves cargo through a military air or water port, its transportation office prepares the TCMD (DD Form 1384) so it accompanies the shipment into the Defense Transportation System. At the port, the TCMD is the document against which the cargo is checked, recorded, and certified, and from which manifests are built. The in-transit data Document Identifier (DI) codes in DTR Part II, Appendix W — the TK-series — distinguish the kinds of in-transit data transactions: TK4 for bill-of-lading shipments within CONUS, TK6 for Air Mobility Command aerial-port-of-debarkation (APOD) receipt and lift, and TK9 for seaport / theater-consolidation receipt and forward, so that each transaction's purpose and content are unambiguous to the receiving systems.

In-transit accountability (MILSTAMP / DTR processes)

The TCMD is the backbone of in-transit accountability — knowing what is in the pipeline and where. Because each shipment unit has its own TCMD and its own TCN, the system can account for each unit individually as it is consolidated, manifested, transshipped, and delivered. These accountability procedures are the ones formerly published as MILSTAMP (Military Standard Transportation and Movement Procedures, DoD 4500.32-R) and now carried inside DTR Part II.

Feeding in-transit visibility

The TCN that the TCMD establishes is the key that links a physical shipment to its electronic record. As the shipment moves through ports and carriers, scans and status events are tied back to that TCN, and the records are consolidated in USTRANSCOM's in-transit visibility (ITV) system of record — the Integrated Data Environment / Global Transportation Network Convergence (IGC). IGC lets users track a shipment across air, sea, road, and rail by its TCN. In short: the TCMD creates the record, the TCN is the handle, and IGC is where the world watches the shipment move.

Key fields / TCN structure

The 17-character TCN is the single most important field on the TCMD, and its structure is well documented. The table below gives the standard, MILSTRIP-derived construction (DTR Part II, Appendix L, Figure L-1) by position group. Appendix L also defines several other TCN constructions (for non-requisition, voyage, and maritime-prepositioning shipments); the layout below is the standard requisition-derived form.

Worked example

A unit orders a stocked item with a MILSTRIP requisition. The requisition document number is built from the unit's DoDAAC (positions 1–6), the Julian date it was created (positions 7–10), and a serial number (positions 11–14) — 14 characters that uniquely identify that order.

When the materiel is picked, packed, and readied to ship, the shipping activity's transportation office prepares a TCMD for the shipment unit. The TCN is constructed by taking those 14 positions of the requisition document number, adding the suffix in position 15 (here X, since the requisition was filled in full), a partial shipment code in position 16 (here X, because the whole unit moves together), and a split shipment code in position 17 (here X, because nothing has been split). The result is a single 17-character TCN that now identifies this shipment unit everywhere it goes.

The TCMD records the consignor and consignee DoDAACs, the mode of movement, the transportation priority, the POE and POD, the required delivery date, and the weight and cube. As the shipment moves into a port, it is checked against the TCMD and manifested. Downstream, when a transshipper has to break the unit and forward part of it separately, that leg's records carry a split shipment code other than X in position 17 — keeping each piece's TCN unique while still tracing back to the same origin requisition. Throughout, the TCN is the handle that USTRANSCOM's in-transit visibility system (IGC) uses to show where the shipment is.

Common errors and gotchas

• Building a non-unique TCN. The whole point of the suffix (position 15), partial (16), and split (17) codes is to keep the 17-character TCN unique. Reusing a TCN — or defaulting positions 16/17 to X when a unit was actually broken into increments — creates duplicate TCNs that cause shipments to be confused or double-counted in the system.
• Confusing the partial code with the split code. Both use the same letter codes, but the partial code (position 16) is set by the shipper at origin and the split code (position 17) is set by a transshipper in transit. They are not interchangeable.
• Changing the wrong position across legs. The TCN is meant to stay constant across transportation legs; only the 17th position changes, and only when a shipment is split. Altering other positions between legs breaks traceability.
• Treating DD Form 1384 as optional once data is automated. Even where the TCMD is produced as a machine or EDI transaction, the DD Form 1384 layout is the standard data set; the required elements still have to be present and correct.
• Confusing the TCMD with the Military Shipping Label (MSL). The TCMD is the movement-control data record; the MSL is the physical, scannable label on the piece. Both carry the TCN, but they are different artifacts.
• Assuming "MILSTAMP" is still a separate manual. MILSTAMP procedures now live inside DTR 4500.9-R, Part II. Citing the old DoD 4500.32-R as the live authority is a common dating error — cite the DTR.
• Missing or wrong routing/port data. A TCMD with an incorrect mode code, Routing Identifier Code, POE/POD, or transportation priority can misroute or delay a shipment even when the TCN itself is correct.

Related codes and cross-references

• Mode of Shipment Codes — the one-character DTR code identifying the mode and method of movement for each shipment segment the TCMD documents.
• Shipment Hold Codes — the supply-side code reporting why ready-to-ship materiel has not yet entered the movement the TCMD covers.
• Routing Identifier Codes (RIC) — the three-character codes that identify the logistics activities and processing points a shipment routes through; carried in the routing data on transportation transactions.
• Document Identifier Codes (DIC) — the three-position codes that classify the supply transactions (requisition, status, shipment status) whose document number forms positions 1–14 of the TCN; the in-transit data world uses its own Document Identifier (DI) codes — the TK-series in DTR Part II, Appendix W.
• Julian Date Calendar — the ordinal-date system used in positions 7–10 of the requisition document number embedded in the TCN.
• USTRANSCOM IGC — the Integrated Data Environment / Global Transportation Network Convergence, USTRANSCOM's in-transit visibility system of record, which tracks shipments by their TCN.

Authoritative references

• DTR 4500.9-R, Defense Transportation Regulation, Part II — Cargo Movement. The governing regulation for cargo movement through the Defense Transportation System, including the TCMD; proponent USTRANSCOM. See the DTR Part II table of contents.
• DTR 4500.9-R, Part II, Appendix L — Transportation Control Number (TCN), updated Jun 2026. The authoritative construction rules for the 17-character TCN. See Appendix L.
• DTR 4500.9-R, Part II, Appendix M — Transportation Control and Movement Document (TCMD), updated May 2026. The authoritative source for the TCMD data elements and their preparation (DD Form 1384). See Appendix M.
• DTR 4500.9-R, Part II, Appendix W — In Transit Data (TK-series Document Identifiers), updated May 2026. The in-transit data DI formats (TK4 / TK6 / TK9) that classify in-transit data transactions. See Appendix W.
• DTR 4500.9-R, Part II, Attachment V6 — Army Transportation Account Codes (TAC), 8 May 2020. Defines the four-character TAC that points to a line of accounting in the TCMD's funding field, the rationale for TACs (the TCMD's four-position LOA field), and the Transportation Global Edit Table (TGET) of valid TACs. See Attachment V6.
• DFARS 247.370 — DD Form 1384, Transportation Control and Movement Document. Establishes that the transportation office of the shipping activity prepares DD Form 1384 to accompany shipments through a military air or water port, per DoD 4500.9-R, Part II. See DFARS 247.370 on Acquisition.GOV.
• DD Form 1384, Transportation Control and Movement Document. The standard manual TCMD form, published by Washington Headquarters Services. See the DD Form 1384 PDF.

Last verified 2026-06-22 against the current DTR 4500.9-R, Part II appendices (Appendix L — TCN, updated Jun 2026; Appendix M — TCMD, updated May 2026; Appendix W — In Transit Data, updated May 2026; Attachment V6 — Army TAC, May 2020), downloaded directly from USTRANSCOM. The TCN per-position structure, the partial/split codes, the TCMD data-element set, the in-transit TK-series DI codes, and the Chapter 203 / Appendix M mapping are confirmed against those primaries; the prior "Appendix DD" citation has been corrected to Appendix W. To suggest a correction, use the site's correction path.