Beyond ONE Record: Turning Shared Data into Coordinated Action

The push toward a single, shared digital data model for air cargo is one of the industry’s most promising initiatives.

IATA’s ONE Record represents meaningful progress beyond document-centric and message-based processes. It establishes a common data model, standardized APIs, and security specifications designed to improve how shipment information is shared across the air cargo ecosystem.

That foundation matters.

But shared data is not the same as coordinated execution.

A common record can ensure that airlines, freight forwarders, ground handlers, customs authorities, and truckers are looking at the same shipment facts. It does not automatically determine who acts next, when that action is due, whether the handoff was completed, or what happens when execution begins to stall.

The industry’s next challenge is to move from shared information to shared action.

What Data Standards Deliver

ONE Record and similar standards address a fundamental problem in logistics: every stakeholder has historically maintained its own version of shipment information.

A forwarder may have one status. An airline may have another. The ground handler may be working from a local warehouse record, while the trucker is relying on an email or phone call. Each system may be accurate within its own boundaries, yet the overall shipment remains difficult to coordinate.

A shared data model improves that environment by enabling:

• More consistent shipment and piece-level information
• Interoperability between participating systems
• API-based access to data
• Greater transparency across the transportation chain
• Reduced duplication and manual re-entry
• More direct connectivity between industry stakeholders
• Improved data ownership and access control

IATA describes ONE Record as a standard that creates a single record view of the shipment through a common data model and secured web API. Its stated vision is an end-to-end digital logistics and transport supply chain where data can be exchanged transparently across an ecosystem of stakeholders and platforms.

That is an important step forward.

Data should not have to be re-created every time responsibility changes. A shipment should not lose context because it moves from a forwarder’s system to an airline’s system, then to a handler, a trucker, or a government checkpoint.

Standards make that continuity more achievable.

The Limit of Shared Data

The operational limitation is straightforward: data describes conditions. Execution requires decisions and action.

A shared record may show that:

• A booking has been created
• Cargo is awaiting acceptance
• A truck is scheduled for pickup
• Documentation is incomplete
• A milestone has not been updated
• A shipment has missed its planned connection

But the record alone may not answer the questions that determine whether the shipment moves forward:

• Who owns the next action?
• What is the required completion time?
• Which partner must be notified?
• What qualifies as a completed handoff?
• Who is responsible for recovery if the milestone is missed?
• When should the issue be escalated?
• How should the exception be documented?

This distinction is where many digital transformation efforts stop too early.

The organization gains better visibility, but its teams still coordinate through email, spreadsheets, phone calls, and informal escalation. Everyone can see the issue. No one has a consistently governed process for resolving it.

Standardized information is not the same as standardized execution.

A Shared Record Does Not Assign the Next Move

Consider a shipment that is scheduled for pickup at an airport cargo facility.

The shared data may show the planned pickup time, the trucker assigned to the movement, the cargo location, and the required delivery window. That information is valuable. It creates a common operational picture.

But execution still depends on a sequence of actions:

1. The trucker confirms dispatch and arrival readiness.
2. The facility confirms cargo availability.
3. The handler releases the shipment.
4. The driver completes the pickup.
5. The shipment status is updated.
6. The next responsible party accepts the handoff.
7. An exception is raised if any step is late or incomplete.

If the truck does not arrive, the shared record may eventually reflect a missed milestone. Yet a controlled execution process must identify the risk before the failure becomes final.

It must trigger a response, assign responsibility, record the outcome, and make the next decision visible to the parties affected.

That is coordination infrastructure.

The Execution Layer

The natural complement to data standards is a coordination layer that operates on top of them.

This layer does not replace the shared data model. It uses that model as an operating foundation and adds the mechanisms required to manage work across organizational boundaries.

An execution layer translates data into:

• Triggers
• Assignments
• Milestones
• Required actions
• Escalation rules
• Completion confirmations
• Exception workflows
• Partner accountability
• Performance records

The difference is practical.

A data standard can expose that a milestone is overdue. An execution layer can identify the responsible party, issue the required task, set the escalation path, and document whether the recovery action was completed.

A data standard can make shipment information available to authorized participants. An execution layer can organize that information around the workflow that participants must perform.

A data standard can support visibility. An execution layer creates operational control.

This is especially important in air cargo, where a single movement may involve airlines, GSAs, freight forwarders, truckers, ground handlers, warehouses, customs authorities, and consignees. Each stakeholder may have a legitimate system of record. The problem is not necessarily the absence of systems.

The problem is what happens between them.

From Data Events to Operational Workflows

The most effective execution models connect events to defined actions.

For example:

• A booking request creates a structured review and response workflow.
• A capacity change triggers a reassignment or escalation process.
• A missed pickup window opens a recovery task for the responsible partner.
• An incomplete document set prevents the next stage from being marked ready.
• A confirmed handoff records both the action and the party accepting responsibility.
• A delivery exception creates a governed communication and resolution path.

This approach preserves the value of shared data while recognizing that operational work requires more than information exchange.

It requires timing, ownership, and accountability.

The execution layer also provides a mechanism for measuring what happened. Organizations can evaluate response times, handoff completion, exception frequency, partner performance, and recurring bottlenecks using structured activity rather than manually reconstructed communication histories.

That creates a stronger basis for continuous improvement.

The Combined Vision: Shared Data and Shared Action

The future of digital air cargo should not be framed as a choice between data standards and execution infrastructure.

Both are necessary.

Data standards solve the language problem. They provide a common structure through which systems and organizations can exchange information with less ambiguity and duplication.

Execution infrastructure solves the action problem. It organizes that information into workflows that clarify what must happen, who must perform it, when it is due, and what occurs if it does not happen.

Together, they close the loop from digitized data to digitized work.

The relationship can be understood simply:

Data standards	Execution infrastructure
Defines common information	Defines required action
Enables interoperability	Coordinates responsibility
Improves visibility	Creates accountability
Shares shipment facts	Manages workflow events
Supports access and exchange	Governs handoffs and exceptions
Establishes a data foundation	Converts data into execution

Neither layer is sufficient on its own.

Shared data without coordinated workflows can leave teams with better information but the same operational friction. Workflow automation without common data can create isolated processes that do not align across the broader ecosystem.

The combination is what makes end-to-end coordination possible.

Why This Matters Beyond Air Cargo

The principle extends beyond aviation.

Infrastructure programs, government transportation initiatives, DBE participation, workforce activation, and multimodal freight operations all depend on multiple parties completing connected actions. In each environment, progress can be delayed even when the underlying information is available.

A prime contractor may know which supplier is assigned. A government agency may know which milestone is due. A certified DBE may be ready to participate. A workforce partner may have trained candidates available.

The remaining challenge is coordinating those participants inside an accountable execution process.

That is why digital infrastructure must be evaluated not only by the data it stores or the systems it connects, but by the work it enables organizations to complete together.

The Industry Should Move Beyond the Record

ONE Record is a valuable foundation for the digitalization of air cargo. Its importance should not be understated.

But the industry’s objective should not stop at creating a shared record.

It should extend to creating shared action.

Standards make information common. Execution infrastructure makes action coordinated. The next generation of freight operations will depend on connecting both: a trusted data foundation beneath a structured layer for assignments, handoffs, exceptions, and accountability.

This is the direction of digital freight execution infrastructure: not another isolated system, but an operational layer that helps fragmented stakeholders execute from the same workflow.

Plug-In Freight Ops™ is the logical conclusion of that model. It sits above existing systems to coordinate activity across the shipment lifecycle: from quote and booking through tracking, handoff, exception management, and delivery.

The question is no longer whether the industry can share data.

The question is whether it can turn shared data into reliable, coordinated movement.

That is where the next phase of digital freight infrastructure begins.

Further Reading

• IATA ONE Record
• ONE Record technical documentation
• ONE Record GitHub repository
• ImEx Cargo: Cargo Coordination Solutions
• What Is Cargo Execution Intelligence?

About Michelle DeFronzo

Michelle DeFronzo is the Founder and CEO of ImEx Cargo, a woman-owned logistics and freight-technology company. With more than 30 years of experience in global logistics, she focuses on modernizing fragmented industries through modular infrastructure, interoperability, and ecosystem design.

Her work centers on building systems that connect airlines, freight forwarders, trucking providers, government stakeholders, certified diverse suppliers, and workforce partners without requiring organizations to replace the tools they already use.

Michelle is the creator of Plug-In Freight Ops™, a digital execution infrastructure layer designed to improve coordination, visibility, and accountability across complex logistics environments.