APL Tracking

APL Tracking refers to the shipment track-and-trace tool on apl.com, the website of American President Lines, LLC (APL) — an ocean container carrier that, since October 2020, operates as the U.S. Government and U.S.-flag-service arm of the CMA CGM Group. Logisticians use it to track containers, bookings, or bills of lading carried on APL's U.S.-flag vessels, which move Department of Defense and USAID cargo under the Maritime Security Program. It is a commercial carrier's customer tool, not a DoD system.

What it is

APL Tracking is the container/booking/bill-of-lading track-and-trace function at apl.com (found under "Track my Shipment" / eBusiness tracking). Users enter a container number, booking number, or bill-of-lading number to see vessel position, port of loading/discharge, and estimated arrival. It is standard ocean-carrier customer tooling, comparable to tracking tools offered by any container line — not a purpose-built military logistics system.

Who operates it

American President Lines, LLC (APL) operates apl.com. APL has been a subsidiary of the French shipping group CMA CGM since 2016. Effective October 1, 2020, CMA CGM restructured its transpacific business so that CMA CGM became the group's sole general commercial container brand, while APL narrowed its focus to U.S. Government business, U.S.-flag ocean service, and the Guam-Pacific trade. Within CMA CGM, the government-facing logistics arm is branded APL CEVA Government Logistics (ACGL), which combines APL's U.S.-flag shipping with CEVA Logistics' warehousing, trucking, and multimodal network. ACGL's confirmed U.S. government customers include the Department of Defense and USAID.

Access

The tracking tool at apl.com is publicly accessible; a free eBusiness account adds map-based routing and shipment notifications but is not required for a basic lookup. APL itself is not a government-access-gated system — there is no CAC/SAAR requirement to use the tracking page. However, actually shipping cargo with APL (i.e., becoming a customer whose containers can be tracked) happens through APL's commercial booking channels or through a government transportation contract, not through public self-registration.

How logisticians use it

A logistician with cargo moving on an APL-operated U.S.-flag vessel — including Maritime Security Program (MSP) sealift supporting DoD or USAID moves — uses this tool to check a specific container's or booking's transit status. It is a carrier-level tracking tool, not a fleet-wide or program-wide visibility system: it shows only shipments booked with APL. For across-carrier, program-level visibility into Defense Transportation System moves, logisticians instead rely on U.S. Transportation Command's Integrated Data Environment/Global Transportation Network Convergence (IGC) and the Single Mobility System (SMS), which aggregate move data across all DoD-contracted carriers, not just APL.

History & lineage

American President Lines traces its lineage to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (1848) and became American President Lines in 1938. APL enrolled vessels in the Maritime Security Program's predecessor Maritime Security Fleet in 1997 and remains an MSP/Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA) participant today, operating U.S.-flag, U.S.-crewed container vessels that give DoD guaranteed access to commercial sealift capacity in peacetime and contingency. CMA CGM acquired APL's parent, Neptune Orient Lines, in 2016. The October 2020 reorganization ended APL's general commercial transpacific service (absorbed into the CMA CGM brand) and repositioned APL specifically as CMA CGM's U.S. Government and U.S.-flag carrier.

Related systems

For authoritative, cross-carrier Defense Transportation System visibility, logisticians use USTRANSCOM's IGC and the Single Mobility System rather than any single carrier's tracking page. Readers should also not confuse this commercial carrier "APL" with the Navy supply term APL (Allowance Parts List), an unrelated logistics document used in shipboard maintenance and provisioning.