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Carriers and shipping methods
Three related lists decide how an order leaves the warehouse:
| Term | What it is | Who maintains it |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier | A transport company, such as DHL Parcel, PostNL or UPS | Boxture (predefined list) |
| Service type | A service of a carrier, such as standard, express or mailbox delivery | Boxture (predefined list) |
| Shipping method | Your own named combination of a carrier, a service type and a default packing material, with a code that orders refer to | Admins, per account |
Orders refer to a shipping method. When an order is packed, the shipment gets the carrier and service type of the order's shipping method. The carrier determines how a label is requested, when the carrier picks up, and which tracking link is shown.
All three screens are in Admin › Carriers & Services and are available to admins only.
Carriers
Admin › Carriers & Services › Carriers lists the carriers known to Boxture with their Code, Name and Countries. The list is maintained by Boxture; you cannot add or remove carriers yourself. Contact Boxture support when you need a carrier that is not listed.
Some carriers have a tracking link. When a shipment of such a carrier has a tracking number, the tracking number in the shipments list and on the shipment links to the carrier's track-and-trace page, and integrations (such as Shopify and WooCommerce) receive the tracking URL.
Carrier settings
Click a carrier to open its settings. This page shows the Carrier settings with the carrier already filled in as a condition:
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Pickup time | When the carrier collects at the location; used to calculate the planned ship time |
| Account number | Your contract number with the carrier |
| Authentication key, Authentication password | Credentials for the label connection |
| Api endpoint | Address of the label connection |
| Integration method | Which connection is used to request labels |
You can add levels with extra conditions, for example a different pickup time per location or separate credentials per service type. The settings are stored on the account you are working in; child accounts without their own values use them. See Settings for how levels and conditions work.
TIP
A 3PL usually enters its carrier contracts once on the top-level account. A client with its own contract enters its own credentials on its own account; for that client's shipments those credentials are used instead.
Service types
Admin › Carriers & Services › Service types lists every service type with its Carrier, Name and Code. The list is read-only and maintained by Boxture. You need it to choose the right service type for a shipping method and to use service types as a condition in settings (for example Carrier › Pickup time).
Shipping methods
A shipping method is what users and integrations choose on an order: "DHL standard", "PostNL mailbox", "Customer pickup", and so on. Each account can have its own shipping methods and share them with its child accounts.
The shipping methods list
Admin › Carriers & Services › Shipping methods lists the shipping methods of the current account and the accounts below it, with Code, Name, Account, Carrier, Service type and Default packing material.
Creating a shipping method
- Switch to the account that should own the shipping method.
- Go to Admin › Carriers & Services › Shipping methods and click Create.
- Fill in the Attributes tab:
- Carrier: the carrier that transports the shipments. Can be left empty for shipping methods without a carrier, such as customer pickup.
- Service type: only the service types of the selected carrier are offered. The service type must belong to the chosen carrier.
- Available for accounts: the child accounts that may use this shipping method (see below).
- Code: the code orders, imports and the API use to refer to the shipping method. It is converted to upper case and must be unique within the account.
- Name: the name users see.
- Default packing material: the packing material proposed when an order with this shipping method is packed (see below).
- Optionally add Notes and Metadata on the Meta Data tab.
- Click Save.
Which shipping methods an account can use
A shipping method can be used by orders of:
- the account that owns it, and
- every account selected in Available for accounts. Only active accounts at or below the owning account can be selected.
Shipping methods of a parent account are not automatically available to child accounts; add the child accounts to Available for accounts. The same rule decides which shipping methods appear in the shipping settings, such as Shipping › Default shipping method.
How the shipping method is set on an order
An order gets its shipping method in one of these ways:
- It is entered on the order (by a user, an import, the API or an integration, using the code).
- If the order has none, Shipping › Default shipping method can provide one, depending on destination country, order type, location, business model, channel and export.
- When an order comes out of backorder, Shipping › Backorder shipping method can replace it.
Whether an order must have a shipping method before it can be saved is controlled by Shipping › Shipping method required.
What the shipping method is used for
| Moment | Effect |
|---|---|
| Allocation | The cutoff time and SLA days can be set per shipping method, and the pickup time per carrier and service type of the shipping method. Together they plan the ship date. |
| Pick list plans | Pick list plans can select orders by shipping method |
| Packing | The proposed packing material is Packing › Default packing material if that setting has a value for the order; otherwise the shipping method's default packing material |
| Shipment creation | The shipment gets the carrier and service type of the shipping method |
| Labels | The carrier's integration method and credentials are used to request the label |