Guides

Special Processing Properties

Associate a special processing property with your shipment.

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About special processing properties for a shipment

In certain cases, you may need special handling for a given shipment. In that case, there are several options you can specify as part of the Shipment entity, or when using the Carrier and Method Selection & Shipment Label API single call.

This document provides instructions for designating a shipment for:

  • Required delivery signature
  • Saturday delivery request
  • Type of transportation

For guidance on specifying shipment contents as a special designation, see the following documents:

Special processing and accessorial options

This table shows the optional special processing elements that can be included as part of the element.

PropertyProperty contentsDescription
deliverySignatureOptionString enumeration
Values are:
none (the default)
signature
resident_signature
adult_signature
adult_resident_signature		If you pass an optional deliverySignatureOption, its value is used to select only ship methods that support the specified delivery confirmation type.

Note: Only FedEx and USPS support adult_resident_signature.

If you do not need a resident specifically, use signature, which is the most broadly supported across carriers.
saturdayDeliveryBoolean
true or false		This is a srict filter for Saturday-only services. For flexible weekend delivery, consider desiredDeliveryDate.

Some carrier service methods deliver on Saturday for free, whereas some charge an additional fee for Saturday delivery. If you do not want to incur extra charges for Saturday delivery, this flag should be set to false, which is the default setting. Service methods that deliver for free on Saturday will still be considered during carrier selection. However, if you are willing to incur more cost and upgrade the carrier service method to meet a Saturday delivery, you can set this flag to true. If this flag is true, only carrier service methods that can deliver on Saturday will be considered. All other service methods will be filtered out of carrier selection.

Note: Setting this flag to true does not guarantee a Saturday delivery, which is dependent upon the carrier. If you have included a desired delivery date (DDD) of Saturday or Sunday, setting this flag to false does not impact the DDD for a Saturday delivery.
transportationTypeString enumeration
Values are:
any (the default)
air
ground		By passing a transportationType, you can limit the set of possible methods for this shipment.

Note: Specifying transportationType may increase the shipment cost. Use sparingly, if at all.

Saturday delivery

Saturday delivery can be requested using two different approaches, each with distinct behavior:

Option 1. Saturday Delivery Flag

"saturdayDelivery": true
  • When to use. You require delivery specifically on Saturday.
  • Behavior. Returns only services that explicitly support Saturday delivery to your destination
  • Result. May return fewer options, but guarantees Saturday-capable services

Option 2: Desired Delivery Date

"desiredDeliveryDate": "2024-03-16"  // A Saturday
  • When to use. You want delivery by Saturday (weekend timeline).
  • Behavior. Returns services that can deliver on or before the specified Saturday
  • Result. More shipping options, including Friday delivery that meets your timeline

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Tip

Use the Saturday delivery flag only when Saturday is a hard requirement. For flexible weekend delivery, use desiredDeliveryDate for more options. You can find information in the desired delivery date documentation.

Resources

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

Updated 8 days ago