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.

In addition, rules can be terminal or continuing. A status of terminal for a rule means that no additional rules are processed after the rule. If a rule has a continue status, after the rule is processed, the system will continue to evaluate other rules to determine if any criteria match in order to process the additional qualifying rule(s). In the Console, you'll set this using the Continue Processing toggle: choose Stop for a terminal rule or Continue for a continuing rule.

Rules appear on either the Active Rules tab or the Inactive Rules tab. Each rule also has its own Enabled setting. A rule must be on the Active Rules tab and enabled to be evaluated.

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. To be considered during rules processing, a rule must be on the Active Rules tab and toggled to Enabled.

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.

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. 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.

Within Selection Criteria, you can establish rule matching settings related to Ship From, Destination, Package, PO Box, Tag, Exact Delivery Date, Ship Option, and Hazardous Materials.

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/Region/Postal Codes toggle and then select Specified countries, regions, and postal codes. To use countries, you'll need to select the box next to Use ship from countries, and to use postal codes, you'll select the box next to Use ship from postal codes. You will 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 CSV 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, regions, and postal codes. To apply the rule to specific countries, regions, and/or postal codes, you'll need to select Specified countries, regions, and postal codes. If you opt to specify countries, you'll need to select the checkbox next to Use destination 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 destination 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 CSV file 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 only include or not include shipments destined for a PO box. In addition, if you'd like the rule to match Highway Contract (HC) and Rural Route (RR) boxes, you can select the box next to Include HC (Highway Contract) and RR (Rural Route) Boxes.

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 Matching, 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 Matching, 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 Matching. 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 Selection Criteria. For Eligible Carriers & Methods, you'll 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 Carrier selection criteria option you choose determines how your selected carriers interact with the eligible carrier list as it's built up across matching rules:

• USE ONLY these carriers. Replaces the current list of eligible carriers with your selection. Any carriers and methods that were previously in the list (from higher-priority rules or the original carrier selection request) will be removed, and only the carriers and methods defined in this rule will be considered.
• RESTORE these carriers. Re-includes your selected carriers if they were excluded by a previous rule (whether REMOVEd or replaced by USE ONLY). Only carriers that were eligible at the start of rule processing can be restored, meaning carriers from the original carrier selection request that also passed pre-rule filtering.
• REMOVE these carriers. Removes your selected carriers and methods from the current list of eligible carriers. This is useful for filtering out specific carriers or services that should not be used for shipments matching the rule's criteria.

How the options work together with multiple rules:

Carrier selection rules are processed in priority order. When a shipment matches multiple "continuing" rules, the carrier criteria are applied sequentially to build up the eligible carrier list. For example, suppose the original carrier selection request includes carriers A, B, C, and D, and all four pass pre-rule filtering:

• The eligible list starts as [A, B, C, D].
• A high-priority rule with REMOVE for Carrier A is matched. The eligible list is now [B, C, D].
• A lower-priority rule with USE ONLY for Carrier B is matched. USE ONLY replaces the entire list, so the eligible list is now [B].
• An even lower-priority rule with RESTORE for Carriers C and D is matched. Because both were in the original eligible list, they're re-included. The eligible list is now [B, C, D].
• Finally, a rule with REMOVE for Carrier B is matched. The eligible list is now [C, D].

Complete configuration of a new rule

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 Off to On.

Priority order of rules

Adding a new rule could negate existing rules if the new rule is in higher priority order and modifies the eligible carrier list in a way that conflicts with what your other rules are doing. We recommend reviewing all your configured rules after creating a new one to ensure the new rule doesn't create a conflict with an existing rule.

For example, suppose you have an existing rule that REMOVEs Carrier X for shipments destined to PO boxes; its purpose is to keep Carrier X out of consideration for those shipments. You then create a new, higher-priority rule that uses USE ONLY for Carrier Y across all shipments. Because USE ONLY replaces the entire list of eligible carriers with only the carriers in that rule, the lower-priority PO box rule's REMOVE action has nothing left to act on by the time it's evaluated. The PO box rule is effectively negated.

Conflicts like this are most likely when a higher-priority rule uses USE ONLY, since it discards everything the lower-priority rules might have been managing.

To change the priority order of your rule, you'll use the kebab menu to the right of the rule once enabled, opting to Increase Order or Decrease Order. The priority order determines the order in which the rules will be followed.

Continuous and terminal status for rules

On the Carrier Selection Rules homepage, you will establish the status for each rule, setting the Continue Processing toggle to either Continue or Stop. When you select Continue for a rule, even if the rule's conditions are met, the next rule will still be evaluated. When you select Stop for a rule, no additional rules will be processed.

An example scenario for which an organization might wish to use continuous rather than terminal rules is if a rule is needed to guarantee that certain shipments such as PO boxes only include certain carrier service methods and another rule is also needed for certain postal codes or states (some of which include PO box postal codes) to include only a subset of those carrier service methods. In this case, one continuous rule would be set for PO Box Matching criteria, to only include shipments destined for a PO box. Another rule, which could be either terminal or continuous depending on other rules' desired outcomes, could be set for Destination Matching and Eligible Carriers & Methods such that certain carrier service methods are removed from consideration for a set of postal codes.

Interactive rule tools

The Carrier Selection Rules page in the Shipium Console includes interactive tools for understanding what a rule does, testing how a rule set evaluates against a sample shipment, and drafting rules using AI-assisted help. The tools do not change how the rule engine evaluates rules. They help confirm a rule's effect before it is saved, test a rule set against a sample shipment, and read complex rules in plain English. All four tools require additional access.

Check Impact

Check Impact shows how many of your recent shipments would match a rule's criteria. The check covers shipments from the last seven days that completed carrier selection successfully, and it excludes test mode shipments. It displays the number and percentage of matching shipments. When there are matches, it also shows example shipments and how the matching set overlaps with the carriers and methods configured on the rule. The overlap wording adapts to the rule action (USE ONLY, RESTORE, REMOVE) so the reported impact reflects what the rule actually does for matching shipments.

Check Impact is available on each rule in the rule list and on the rule create and edit form. On the form, Check Impact becomes available once you have made a change to the rule, and is briefly unavailable while a save is in progress. The form check evaluates the criteria currently entered in the form, including unsaved changes; the rule list check evaluates the saved rule. Check Impact runs against your shipment history. No carrier APIs are called, and no shipments are rated or generated by this check.

Test Rules

Test Rules submits a sample shipment through your rule set in priority order and shows how each rule evaluated. Test Rules is at the top of the Carrier Selection Rules page, next to + Add Rule.

Selecting it opens the Test Rule Configuration window, which has two parts.

Under Rules to Include, you can select rules that are on the Active Rules tab but are not enabled, and evaluate them alongside your enabled rules in the run. Each available rule is listed with its position in the rule set. Selecting a rule here does not enable it, and the selection applies to that test run only. Rules on the Inactive Rules tab are not available for selection. In the results, an included rule is marked to show that it is normally inactive and was included for that run.

Under Test Shipment, you build the shipment to evaluate against the rule set. A fulfillment context is required. The remaining fields are grouped into four tabs, are optional, and are pre-filled with sample values:

• Destination. Country code, region or state, postal code, and PO box type (None, PO Box, Highway Contract Box, or Rural Route Box)
• Shipment. Weight and unit, exact-date delivery, shipment tags, ship option, and hazardous material (None, Limited Quantity, Hazmat, or Full Hazmat)
• Tenant. Tenant ID
• Carrier. Carrier service method allow list, available after you select a fulfillment context

Select Run test to evaluate the rule set. The results open with the carrier and service method selected for the test shipment, followed by the Execution trace. If no rules are enabled and none are selected under Rules to Include, the execution trace reports that there are no active rules in the rule set. In that message, active means enabled rather than the Active Rules tab.

The execution trace shows the starting service method list, each rule that evaluated in priority order, and the ending service method list, so you can see how each applied rule changed the set of eligible service methods. Applied rules note their effect on the list, such as the methods added or removed, or that the rule made no change.

Each rule in the run is tagged with one of three outcomes:

• Applied. The rule matched and was applied.
• Would Have Applied. The rule matched, but a terminal rule earlier in priority order stopped processing before this rule could run.
• Does Not Apply. The rule did not match.

When a terminal rule stops the run, that rule is tagged Stopped Processing, the trace ends there, and the rules that were never reached appear in a separate panel showing what would have happened had processing continued. For more on terminal and continuing rules, see Continuous and Terminal Status for Rules.

Describe Your Rule

Describe Your Rule lets you describe a rule in plain language on the rule create page. After you select Generate, the rule form pre-populates with the structured criteria.

For example, typing "Block UPS Ground for shipments over fifty pounds going to Alaska for the Acme tenant" populates the form with the corresponding action, tenant, destination postal codes for Alaska, package weight, and carrier and method criteria. State references are expanded to the exact postal codes that cover the state.

Military destinations (APO, FPO, DPO) are handled distinctly.

Describe Your Rule sends only the description text and the display names already on your rule form (such as your carrier, tenant, and origin names) to the AI service. No shipment data is sent.

You review the populated form and select Save as Draft to save the rule. Nothing is saved automatically.

A generated draft can come back with questions to resolve, such as a threshold that was not specific enough or a carrier name that did not match one on your account. When that happens, the form is still populated, and the questions are listed for you to work through before you save. If a description cannot be turned into a rule at all, the form is left empty and you are prompted to rephrase it or fill in the form directly.

Describe

Describe renders a saved rule as a plain-English sentence. The sentence covers the rule's action, criteria, and whether the rule is terminal or continuing. The terminal-versus-continuing language uses a single canonical sentence for consistency across all rules.

• For a terminal rule. "After this rule matches, no other rules in the rule set are evaluated."
• For a continuing rule. "After this rule matches, the next rule in the rule set is also evaluated."

For more on terminal versus continuing rules, see Continuous and Terminal Status for Rules.

Manage carrier selection rules

Within the Carrier Selection Rules page, you can access details about any rule by clicking on the caret icon to the left of the rule name. Each criterion that can be configured for a rule is listed in the details with information pertaining to that particular rule.

To edit a Carrier Selection rule, you'll select the Edit option within the kebab menu for the rule, next to the Continue Processing toggle. Selecting Edit 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 option within the kebab menu for the active rule.

Selecting Delete prompts 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 by selecting Edit or change its status back to Active by selecting Restore.

Selecting Restore 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.

FAQ

Q: Can Check Impact look back further than seven days?
A: Check Impact uses your last seven days of shipment history. For longer-window analysis of shipment patterns, see Shipium Orca AI Analytics.

Q: Does a Test Rules run create a shipment or a label?
A: A test run submits a test mode shipment, which is recorded in your environment. No label is generated, and no carrier charges are incurred. See Label Test Mode for more on test mode.

Q: If I include a rule that isn't enabled in a Test Rules run, does that enable it?
A: No. The rule stays not enabled, and the selection applies to that test run only. Only rules on the Active Rules tab that are not enabled can be selected; rules on the Inactive Rules tab are not available.

Q: Does the AI in Describe Your Rule save the rule automatically?
A: No. The AI populates the rule form with structured criteria. You review the populated form and select Save as Draft to save the rule. The rule does not exist on the platform until you save it.

Q: What data is sent to the AI service?
A: Only the description text you provide and the display names already on your rule form (such as your carriers, tenants, and origins); no shipment-level data is sent.

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