Carrier Selection Features

Carrier Setup

Set up carriers with a full suite of configuration options, including access to manage service methods, rate tables, surcharge modifiers, fulfillment centers mapping, label configurations and augmentations, and package configurations.

Virtualized Contracts

Upload your carrier contracts to make it quick and easy to manage selection. All carrier contract structures are different, so when Shipium adds a carrier to the network, the platform also models out the carrier's contract structure. That makes it simple to upload your rates and surcharges. This eilminates the need for pass-through systems, like label printing API platforms, who simply use your carrier credentials to request rates or print labels.

Surcharge Management

Ensure fully loaded costs are used during selection by leaning on our surcharge management capabilities. Shipium staffs an in-house transportation ops team who keeps all carrier surcharges up to date, such as fuel surcharges which can update daily. Then, as a part of contract setup, you declare your ammendments to the surcharge cost structure. The result is a fully loaded rate comparison ensuring the cheapest options are always picked.

Peak and Other Carrier Surcharges

Carrier surcharges are extra costs that carriers assess for shipping packages, typically to cover fluctuating operational expenses. Peak season surcharges, also known as demand surcharges, are temporarily added by carriers to their base shipping rates during periods of high shipping demand. Shipium provides support for different peak surcharges across all carriers which flow into decision making throughout the platform, and manages them for you.

Zip-Zone Mappings

Offload carrier ZIP-Zone mappings to the Shipium platform. Mappings are automatically set up when you create a new origin, like a warehouse or store, and Shipium automatically stays updated as carriers routinely change their service areas.

Time In Transit (TNT)

Pick and configure from multiple time in transit (TNT) data models based on carrier and method. Several different products use TNT values to make calculations or inform decisions, so Shipium offers three different carrier TNTs options for customers based on the unique needs of their business.

Rate Expiration

Track and be alerted to expiring rates to ensure no service disruption. When uploading rates, Shipium will know when they expire, and will alert both you and the customer service team to ensure rates are updated in time.

Origin Properties

Declare properties across all origins in your network, like warehouses or stores. Set details like location, fulfillment days of the week, and holiday periods, among others.

Carrier Pull Times

Set the pull times for every carrier and service method per origin, since those times have a major impact on data modeling and rate shopping decisions.

Dynamic Origins

Create dynamic origin points within carrier selection APIs, which is a great fit for companies who have a large or dynamic fulfillment network, such as marketplaces.

Returns

Manage returns alongside the rest of your shipping operations. The platform supports most major carrier returns services, and makes it easy to fit into your returns process with various configuration capabilities.

Carrier Selection Rules

Injection Shipping / Zone Skipping

Add zone skipping to your network strategy by using Shipium's injection shipping capabilities. Combine different ways to use carriers and locations to make the ideal long-haul lanes that optimize for reduced costs and improved speed.

Carrier Volume Limits

Hazmat

Shipium partners with carriers to provide safe and proper shipping of hazardous materials. Material types include Limited Quantities (LQ - replaced OMR-D), Lithium Ion Products, and general IATA/DOT materials, and more.

Ship from Anywhere

Ship packages from any origin, including warehouses, stores, and more. It's easy to set up known origins in Shipium's Console, or utilize flexible APIs to pass a dynamic origin point during the carrier selection process.

Futured Dated Shipments

Create labels up to 60 days in advance, plus rate shop 14 days in advance without label creation.

Customizable Groups

Bulk Label Creation

Bound Printed Matter

Denote BPM shipments with the carrier service methods that support it through both the console and API parameters.

Package Types

Set up different packaging types, like boxes versus softpack bags, which can be used a preference during selection, and can impact optimization of carrier selection decisions.

Package Dimensions

Set up different packaging dimensions, which can be used when making carrier selection decisions.

Global Shipping

Ship to anywhere in the world from a U.S. Origin using supported carriers like Passport, or utilize major carriers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL to target specific regions.

Fully Landed D&T

Handle fully landed duty and taxes for international shipping using carriers who are full-service international carriers on the platform, like Passport, or partner with a D&T technology partner, like Zonos.

US to Canada Shipping

Ship from a U.S. origin and deliver to a Canadian destination using the available cross-border carriers.

Intra-Canada Shipping

Conduct intra-Canada shipping with the necessary label requirements using Canadian carriers. All shipping requirements are considered including use of French and English languages, YYYY/DD/MM date structure, Canadian holidays, dim weights in metric units, Canadian VAT by province, daily manifests for multiple shipments, label requirements including rural routes, and use of Canadian dollar currency.

Canada to US Shipping

Ship from a Canadian origin and deliver to a U.S. destination using the available cross-border carriers.

Shipment Properties

Eliminate the tedious business rules you traditionally have to set up based on shipment properties. For example, Shipium knows that batteries can't ship via Air methods, or that a USPS-adjacent method is required for a P.O. Box. For every carrier in our network, count on us to shoulder the burden.

Service Areas

Immediately know which areas are serviced by regional carriers. Shipium maintains service area coverage for all carriers on the network, eliminating any need for you to manage it.

Network Properties

Set important properties of your fulfillment network, such as origin locations and fulfillment days, or carrier pull times. These properties impact the calculation of an accurate delivery date.

Real-Time Dynamic Modeling

Apply a real-time model to estimations. Deciding the right carrier at 7pm Friday is different than 7am Monday, which is different than 7am Cyber Monday. Shipium utilizes a big mix of real-time factors to ensure the best selection is made.

Platform-Wide Data Modeling

Benefit from historical transit data that spans the entire Shipium platform. All data is normalized and anonymized, then added to models to continue to refine accuracy.

Business Days of Transit

Optionally switch to use Business Days of Transit, which allows you to choose a carrier and ship method that will meet a delivery date based on origin FC operating day calculations. Ship date and time can be adjusted via API call - label needed or not - within carrier rule sets, and customer can select least expensive carrier and shipment method to hit delivery date. Carrier and ship methods can be altered for after shipment cut off times.

Custom Label Augmentations

Label Configurations

Multi-Tenant Customizations

Companies like 3PLs or marketplaces who might be servicing multiple tenant customers require the ability to customize labels to that tenant, like add their unique logo, return address or custom data. It's easy to set that up with a self-service interface.

Perishable Goods

Notify carriers of perishable items in a shipment. All carriers appreciate being notified of a perishable shipment, while some carriers require it. It's easy to set up perishable attribution on labels.

Special Properties

Easily set up special label properties for certain carrier service methods, like bounded matter, delivery signature requirement, weekend delivery statusing, and denoting different shipping types, amongst others.

Hot Failover

Labels without Costing

Generate shipping labels without having to provide costing information like carrier service method rates. This feature might be useful for your organization if you wish to print labels without Shipium calculating a shipment cost, and the carrier will bill you once your package has shipped. Using Labels without Costing also could be beneficial if your organization employs tenants in your network and they have their own confidential carrier service method rates; the carrier will bill your tenant once the package ships based on their established rate.

Automated Manifesting

Notify carriers of ready-to-go shipments as they happen with automated manifesting capabilities.

Scheduled Manifesting

Create a batched Manifest then notify carriers of the group of shipments to schedule a pickup time.

Manifest Summaries

Print out a daily manifest from the Shipium Console to hand to a carrier upon pickup. While not automated, some carriers require this style of manifest handoff, and Shipium makes it easy through an easy to use tool.

Carrier Mix

Get a detailed breakdown of what carriers are getting volume. Dive in and analyze how those carriers are performing related to package dimweights and geographical zones.

Origin Performance

Examine the shipping performance from specific origins, like the carrier mix or packaging breakdown.

Order-to-Ship

Get order-to-ship (OTS) metrics across origins.

Ship-to-Deliver

Get ship-to-deliver (STD) metrics across origins, carriers, and service methods.

Click-to-Deliver

Historical Shipments

Pull business reports of historical shipments to better understand and analyze operations and customers.

Report Configuration

Get granular report insights through reconfigurable parameters that include date ranges, multiple aggregate values and which origin to include. Each can provide the selected visual whether line graph, chart or another visual. Most important, it will provide historical performance metrics to allow for continual analysis and enhancements.