Carrier allocation

Optimise your shipping costs by reviewing and adjusting your carrier mix. Make sure you're accessing the best rates, and the right service levels, for your unique shipping requirements.

This article covers how to turn carriers and services on and off, and how to set the rules Shippit uses to choose a carrier for each order.

For more information about the different ways you can connect a carrier, see the understanding carrier integrations article.

Two ways to access carrier rates

There are two main ways to access carriers from within your Shippit account.

For carriers where Shippit has an agreement, you can access Shippit rates directly. You can turn these carriers on from within the carrier settings page and start using them immediately.

If you have pre-arranged rates with a carrier, you can use them with Shippit. To get started, email your rate card and account details to the Configuration team, or get in touch with your Shippit account manager. Our team review your details, and usually get back to you in 1-3 business days.

To find out how to integrate your preferred carrier, check the Know your carrier section.

Check which carriers and services are ready to use

Your carrier settings page groups each carrier together with the services it offers. Once a carrier and its services are set up, you turn individual services on and off, and a carrier's status reflects what's set up and turned on underneath it.

Carrier statuses

Each carrier on the carrier settings page (Settings → Carriers) shows a status:

• Set up: You haven't set this carrier up yet. This applies to carriers you have your own account with.

• Off: The carrier is set up, but none of its services are turned on. 

• Active: At least one of this carrier's services is turned on.

• Check settings: The carrier is set up, but something needs your attention. This might be an expired account number, or a missing setting such as pick-up time.

Service statuses 

When you open a carrier, most services have a toggle you can use to turn it on or off. Some show a status instead:

• Not configured: This service needs configuring before you can use it.

• Check settings: Something needs your attention. This might be an expired account number, or a missing setting such as pick-up time.

Turn carriers and carrier services on or off

Before you can turn services on, the carrier itself needs to be set up. Carriers on Shippit's rates are ready to use. Carriers you have your own account with show Set up until you've set them up. To find out how to set up a BYO carrier, see the understanding carrier integrations article. 

Turning a service on or off

1. Log in to your Shippit account.

2. Click the downward arrow in the top right-hand corner and choose Settings.

3. On the left navigation pane, click Carriers.

4. Locate the carrier you want to adjust.

5. Click Manage next to the carrier name. This opens a page listing the services that the carrier offers. For example, Allied Express might show Allied Express (their standard service level) and Allied Express Same Day (their priority service level).

6. Use the toggle next to each service to turn it on or off. If a service doesn't have a toggle, Shippit needs to configure it for you - click the contact support link on the page to get started.

Carrier allocation settings

You can change your allocation settings from the carrier settings page. Navigate to Settings → Carriers and scroll down to the Allocation settings section, where you can configure a few different allocation rules:

Allocate to the cheapest or fastest carrier 

Choose whether Shippit should preference the cheapest carrier, or the fastest carrier, when allocating your orders.

Automatically upgrade or downgrade based on delivery time

You can set Shippit to automatically move an order to a different service level, based on delivery time:

• Upgrade Standard orders to an Express carrier if the ETA is greater than: Set a number of days. If a standard order's estimated delivery time exceeds this, Shippit upgrades it to Express to help you maintain your delivery promise.

• Downgrade Express orders to a Standard carrier if the Standard ETA is less than: Set a number of days. If a Standard carrier can deliver just as fast, Shippit downgrades the order to take advantage of the cheaper rate.

Automatically upgrade based on price 

You can also set Shippit to automatically upgrade orders when a faster service level is cheaper, or within a price range you're comfortable with:

• Automatically upgrade Standard orders to Express if the Express price is cheaper: Turn this on to upgrade standard orders whenever an express carrier is priced lower.

• Upgrade any order to Priority / On Demand if the faster service price is cheaper: Turn this on to upgrade any order to priority or on demand whenever it works out cheaper.

• Upgrade any order to Priority / On Demand if the price difference is less than: Set a dollar amount. Shippit upgrades an order to priority or on demand if the extra cost is within this amount, even if it isn't cheaper outright. Use this to decide how much more you're willing to pay for faster delivery.

Advanced carrier settings

You can also adjust additional settings from the carrier settings page. Navigate to Settings → Carriers and scroll down to the Advanced carrier settings section. In this section, you can adjust your default authority to leave settings, how to manage collection points, and bulky freight settings.

Turn on the Set Authority to Leave (ATL) as a default for all orders toggle to have your orders default to ATL where possible. For more information about ATL, see the authority to leave article.

Turn on the Instruct carriers not leave at collection points toggle to add a default instruction to your orders requesting that carriers do not leave parcels at collection points. This only works for orders booked with Couriers Please.

Turn on the Automatically request a tail-lift service for bulky freight toggle to have bulky orders default to requesting a tail lift service. Use this setting if you ship bulky freight, and you don't have access to a forklift for loading and unloading freight on to carrier vehicles. For more information about bulky goods, see the shipping bulky freight article.

Arranging carrier pick ups

Without a regular pickup time, your pickups can vary depending on local availability. If you are shipping more than 10-15 orders a day with any carrier, we recommend that you arrange a regular carrier pickup.

You can arrange this directly with your carrier or, for carriers where Shippit has an agreement, we can help you. To get set up, contact your Shippit account manager, or email Shippit support with these details:

• The carrier you want to arrange a regular pickup for

• A designated contact person

• The contact person's phone number