MIL-STD-129 Labels
Military Shipping Labels (MSLs)

Military Shipping Labels

Military Shipping Labels (MSLs) provide accurate and compliant shipping labels to meet MIL STD 129 requirements for US Military shipments and storage containers.

Key Advantages:

• Labels are printed and syntax is checked using the latest in thermal transfer printing.
• Labels can be created for unit, case and pallet level shipment identification and storage containers.
• Print and encode all barcodes and RFID tags (if required) to exact military specification.

Military Shipping Label Requirement

If you have a government contract that requires compliance to the IUID Policy there is a good chance that you may also have a requirement for MIL-STD-129 labels which is the standard for marking military shipments and containers in storage. Check your contract for “MIL-STD-129” or ask your contracting officer.

Military shipping labels (MSLs) are used to identify who the shipper is, what supplies or assets are being delivered and the final destination of the shipment. 

MSLs have been the shipping standard put in place by the DoD in order to improve the accuracy and productivity of the DoD’s receiving department. This will lead to more timely payments to you as the vendor. However, the data that you provide in order to create the MSL is key! You want to be sure your data is accurate so that it correctly reflects all required data elements of the shipment.

What data is needed on a Military Shipping Label?

Here is a list of the key data components of a Military Shipping Label. All of these data elements need to be presented properly on your label to conform to MIL STD 129.

• Transportation Control Number or TCN
• DODAAC or CAGE
• Ship to address
• Date shipped
• Method of shipment
• Transportation priority
• Weight
• Cubic feet
• Total pieces
• National stock number or NSN
• Shipped from location
• Required delivery date

The TCN, or Transportation Control Number, is a 17-character data element assigned to control and manage each shipment throughout the transportation pipeline for payment processing. The TCN is embedded in the 1D barcode at the top of the label. A PDF417 barcode which went into effect with the latest revision of MIL-STD-129 to eliminate multiple 1D barcodes includes the ship to address, National Stock Number (NSN) and other human readable information noted previously.

Military Shipping Labels with RFID

MIL-STD-129R is the current standard for MSLs issued February 2014. The standard size for a Military Shipping Label is 4 inches by 6 inches which also may include an RFID inlay which is required when shipping to certain Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) warehouses. The RFID inlay will contain the pallet or container number which is verified inline as the label is being printed.

Verification and Validation Reports

The 1D and PDF417 barcodes on the MSL will need to be verified and validated just like an IUID label , in order to ensure that they are readable by a commercial off the shelf 2D barcode scanner or imager. Military shipping labels with an embedded RFID tag will be verified in-line as the labels are printed. This will help to create the audit trail that shows that the tag is readable and that your labels are compliant.

To learn more about military shipping labels read this article.

For Military Shipping Labels contact our partner Metalcraft