About carrier selection rules

Carrier selection rules enable your organization to configure delivery zone rules to specify a set of one or more carriers to cover a delivery zone as well as establish other criteria for those deliveries.

You can add new and modify existing rules within your network, including changing the priority order for your rules. The priority order determines the rules that are being followed. For example, if you have a postal code included in two rules, one in the priority 1 position and the other in the priority 3 position, Shipium will select rule 1 because its priority is first. You also can set rules to be active or inactive.

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Tenants are optional for your workflow

If your organization doesn't include tenants in your network, you won't see tenants in your Carrier Selection rules workflow and you can disregard information about tenants in this documentation.

Set up and enable carrier selection rules

To enable carrier selection rules for your network, you'll first need to configure the rules in the Shipium Console.

After logging into the console, you'll select Carrier Selection and then Carrier Selection Rules from the lefthand navigation menu.

To add a new rule, you'll need to select the Add Rule button, as shown in the following screenshot. Any existing rules will appear in the Active Rules or Inactive Rules tab, depending on their active/inactive status.

Once you select Add Rule, you'll be directed to the Carrier Selection rules screen, where you'll be asked to provide the Carrier Selection Rule Details, Selection Criteria, and Carrier Criteria.

Within Carrier Selection Rule Details, you'll provide a unique Name for your rule as well as an optional Description.

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To add a rule, you must enable at least one selection criterion

When adding a Carrier Selection rule, you must have at least one criterion in the Selection Criteria in order to create the rule successfully.

Within Selection Criteria, you'll provide information for Tenants, Origin Matching (or Ship From Matching), Destination Matching, Package Matching, PO Box Matching, Tag Matching, and Exact Delivery Date. If your organization doesn't use tenants, you can disregard instructions regarding tenants; they will not be part of your workflow for creating a Carrier Selection rule.

For Tenants, you can opt to apply to All Tenants or Specified Tenants. If you select Specified Tenants, you'll need to choose the tenants for which you wish to apply the new rule from the dropdown menu below Tenants.

For Origin Matching, you can choose to have the rule apply to all shipments, regardless of origin, by selecting All shipments are eligible, regardless of origin. You also can differentiate rules application by origin, either by including shipments from specific origins or excluding shipments from specified origins.

Another option within Origin Matching for at large shipping locations without a specific origin is to use countries and/or postal codes of ship-from addresses in your fulfillment network. To exercise this option, you'll enable the Use Ship From Country/Postal Codes toggle and provide all countries and/or postal codes for which you wish the rule to apply. Alternatively, for postal codes, you can download a postal code template and then upload a file of applicable postal codes.

For Destination Matching, you'll provide your Destination Criteria, whether applicable to all of your network destinations or to specified countries and postal codes. If you opt to specify countries, you'll need to select the checkbox next to Use Countries. You have the option to include or not include countries matching the country(ies) you select from the dropdown menu. Similarly, if you opt to specify postal codes, you'll need to select the checkbox next to Use Postal Codes. You have the option to include or not include the postal code(s) matching the postal code(s) you enter.

Alternatively to populating the postal codes field with individual postal codes, you can download a spreadsheet to complete with your applicable postal codes and upload into the console.

For Package Matching, you'll select your Package Criteria for your Carrier Selection rule. You may choose All packages are eligible, regardless of size and weight or Specify required package criteria. If you select Specify required package criteria, you'll need to provide a weight in ounces, pounds, grams, or kilograms as well as a qualifier for how the rule should treat your package weight (e.g., Greater Than or Equal To, Equals). The package weight is defined by the actual physical weight of the package.

For PO Box Matching, you'll select the desired PO Box Criteria for your Carrier Selection rule. You can choose All shipments are eligible, regardless if the shipment is for a PO Box to keep the default setting of not considering PO boxes. You also have the option to include or not include shipments destined for a PO box.

For Tag Matching, you'll select your Tag Criteria for your Carrier Selection rule. You have three choices: to not use tags and include all shipments, to only include shipments matching the tag(s) you specify, and to not include shipments matching the tag(s) you specify. In the Shipium platform, shipment tags are decorated on shipments at request time. They are string keys that allow your organization to categorize types of shipments.

If you choose to apply tags, you'll need to add the tag(s) in the field, as shown in the following screenshot.

For Exact Delivery Date, you have three options: to not consider exact delivery date for your shipments; to only include shipments with an exact delivery date, or to exclude shipments with an exact delivery date.

Another selection criterion is Ship Option, which allows you to include or exclude shipments by selected ship option. You may multi-select your own configured ship options or Shipium's standard ship options.

Also within the selection criteria is the option to set a rule for Hazardous Materials. You can include or exclude shipments matching hazardous material (hazmat) criteria for limited quantity hazmat, full hazmat, or full hazmat or limited quantity hazmat.

Within Carrier Criteria, you'll provide your Carrier Service Method Criteria. For Eligible Carriers & Methods, you can choose to either include or exclude certain carriers and methods. Then you can select which carriers and methods to apply to your rule from the dropdown menu. The menu provides the option of selecting a carrier and all its associated delivery methods or selecting specific methods by carrier. You can select as many carriers and methods as are eligible within your network.

The last step to save your Carrier Selection rule is to select the Save button at the bottom of the screen and then select the Back button to return to your Carrier Selection Rules screen.

You'll receive a system message notifying you that your rule was created successfully.

Once you've created your Carrier Selection rule, it will appear as the last rule in priority order on your Carrier Selection Rules screen. The rule's status automatically will be set to not enabled. To enable your new rule, you'll need to toggle the Enabled button from NO to YES.

Adding a new rule could negate existing rules if the new rule is in higher priority order and the existing rules don't conform to the new rule. We recommend reviewing all your configured rules after creating a new one to ensure the new rule doesn't create an inclusion or exclusion conflict with an existing rule. For example, if you have a rule to only include shipments destined for a P.O. box but then you create a new rule that all shipments are eligible, regardless of tags, and move the new rule to priority order 1, the existing P.O. box rule could be negated.

To change the priority order of your rule, you'll use the up and down arrows to the right of the rule once enabled. The priority order determines the order in which the rules will be followed.

Manage carrier selection rules

To manage your Carrier Selection rules, you'll need to select Carrier Selection and then Carrier Selection Rules from the main lefthand navigation menu.

To edit a Carrier Selection rule, you'll select the Edit icon to the right of the rule's title and description, next to the Enable toggle. Selecting the Edit icon takes you to the Carrier Selection Rule Details screen for that particular rule.

To change a rule's status from active to inactive, you'll select the Delete icon to the right of the rule's title and description, next to the up and down arrows for priority ordering.

Selecting the Delete icon causes a popup message asking if you're sure you want to make the rule inactive, as shown in the following screenshot.

Once you select the OK button, your rule will appear in the Inactive Rules tab. Within Inactive Rules, you can edit the rule or change its status back to Active.

To change a rule's status from inactive to active, you'll select the Circle Arrow icon to the right of the rule's title and description, next to the Edit icon.

Selecting the Circle Arrow icon causes a popup message asking if you're sure you want to make the rule active, as shown in the following screenshot.

Once you select the OK button, your rule will appear in the Active Rules tab. Just as when you first created the rule, its default status in the Active Rules tab will be not enabled and in the lowest priority order.

To search your organization's Carrier Selection Rules, you can use the search tool at the top of the Carrier Selection Rules screen. You can opt to search all your network records (a global search) or you can limit the search by tenant - if your organization uses tenants in your network.

Resources

Your Shipium team member is available to help along the way. However, you might find these resources helpful:

• Terms and Definitions

• Troubleshooting Guide

• Contact Shipium Support