Here are our top 5 critical success factors for a smooth pickup based on how your businesses dispatch operations work.
To ensure the carrier can collect your packages safely and on time, here are a few key compliance tips to ensure a smooth pickup:
Types of pickup locations
Stand alone storefront
Management level: simple
This location may be a stand alone store, or retail outlet with easy access to the entry of the store and parking for the driver
There will be no special requirements to access freight of any sort, including bulky freight
Office building or residential
Management level: intermediate
This location will require instruction for the driver to collect e.g level/floor number etc
It may require gate, elevator, or stair access where instructions may be required to access
Someone must be present for the driver to collect on any day and time
Warehouse, 3PL
Management level: intermediate
Your own or third-party warehouse location where your freight is stored for collection by carriers. Drivers may need to undergo an induction before entering to comply with OHS and allow them to collect your freight
If using a 3PL, please check what induction requirements they have. You will need to ensure you have provided this information to Shippit prior to go-live so we can set this up with the carrier
Ship-From Store within a shopping centre
Management level: special
Stores situated within a shopping centre will have special pickup operations for heavy or bulky freight. OHS requires all freight that is over 30kg dead weight to be placed on a pallet or skid for transport. This freight must be collected from a dock, not in-store
Freight below this profile can be collected in store with a pickup agreement between the driver to ensure they can park and collect freight in a timely manner
Store staff should be trained/informed on how to present freight to a driver
Ensure your pickup address details are accurate in Shippit
It’s critical for Shippit to have accurate pickup details for each store or location you’re shipping from to avoid issues when the driver attempts collection.
During the onboarding phase we require all relevant information to aid in the account setup. If you are shipping both cartons and pallets, we will advise you on best practices to ensure it runs as smoothly as possible.
Remember to notify us of any changes to your pickup locations or processes as well to ensure the driver doesn’t experience any issues.
When setting up a pickup location in Shippit, we’ll require the below information to accurately pass this through to the carrier for collection.
Location: stand alone storefront, office building or residential
Full pickup address including a store number, building name, street no, suburb, and postcode. Note character limits exist so keep this short and sweet. If you’re unsure please speak with your onboarding specialist to test this prior to go-live
Business/Store name
Contact name/phone at pickup. Note the driver will call this number if there are pickup issues
Any parking and/or accessibility instructions as the driver will not always be able to wait if they cannot easily access the pickup location and goods are not ready.
Location: warehouse, 3PL, or ship from store within a shopping centre
Full pickup address including a valid dock or unit no, street no, suburb, and postcode. Note this is the address where the driver will physically collect from not necessarily the store itself
Business name or the signage to look for
Contact name/phone at pickup. Note the driver will call this number if there are pickup issues
Opening hours at pickup/dock
Dock instructions such as
Dock number and parking bay where applicable
Opening hours
Entry instructions
Induction requirements if the driver is required to complete a site induction before entering the dock or warehouse.
Manifest data on time
Manifesting orders quickly and on time is critical to a seamless order journey. If an order is collected and scanned before being manifested it can affect data flow, notifications, tracking, and even result in a surcharge from certain carriers.
To ensure the most efficient data flow,, it’s preferred that you manifest before labelling and presenting freight. At the very latest, you should manifest all orders daily within an hour of labelling to ensure optimal data tracking.
Below are some key reasons why it’s so important to have orders manifested on time:
Carrier receives data before the driver arrives avoiding refused freight and futile charges
Optimal data tracking. If freight is handed over late it will have limited to no visibility in the network. This is extremely troublesome for you, Shippit and our carrier partners.
Accurate notification (both Shippit and carrier notifications)
Avoid surcharges for late manifests. Several carriers already have a ‘late manifest surcharge’ which can vary from $5-$25.
We would recommend that you have set manifesting times/windows with your dispatch/warehouse teams or store locations to ensure that freight is being manifested regularly prior to collection. This will help with all customers especially when receiving scheduled or daily collections.
Follow packaging compliance guidelines
Each carrier company has a chain of responsibility (COR) and must comply with transport standards. Freight presentation is becoming more refined to ensure the safety of everyone involved whilst transporting freight.
The below article will provide key tips and some more info specifically on current guidelines and requirements Shipping-Bulky-Freight-Pallets
During onboarding, or activating a new location, if you’re shipping ‘special goods’ - your freight must be approved by our Shipping Operations team which will ensure you are set up properly eliminating the risk of failure and delays. Please ensure you have had your ‘special goods’ approved before shipping.
Special goods include:
Liquids or fragile goods
Dangerous goods
Heavy/bulky goods
Palletised or consolidated freight
Please check the freight packaging guidelines of each carrier you choose to ship with. We’ve also created this guide to help with Packaging-Guidelines.
Freight staging and readiness
It’s extremely crucial that clients with multiple or ship-from-store locations have designated staging areas where freight can be left for the drivers to collect with minimal hassle. This could be a central point in the store that is accessible to drivers to collect themselves.
If this is not possible, ensure freight is stored in a nearby location for staff to obtain (e.g storeroom or reception area) and handover to the drivers in a timely manner. Drivers cannot be expected to wait long and there will be futile fees associated with unready freight.
If you are using multiple carriers, you will need to ensure freight is already separated by carrier and labelled clearly for ease.
We recommend doing some training with staff and store locations so they have a greater understanding of the dispatch process to avoid issues arising and ensure a smooth pickup experience for everyone.
Set up the right pickup schedule
Enabling the right pickup process lays down the foundations to a successful pickup experience.
During onboarding or store activation, your specialist should enable you correctly based on your pickup requirements.
The two types of collections are ‘ad hoc’ and ‘scheduled’ and the expectation for both is very different.
Carriers run on schedules but these don’t always go to plan due to traffic, weather, capacity for the day, seasonal volume, and other unforeseen issues that arise. A guaranteed pickup time is not guaranteed however a pickup window can always be provided to those with scheduled collections. Carrier collection times can vary but are almost always attended during the afternoons.
Scheduled collections
If you have pallets, consolidated freight or high volumes coming out of any location or store, we will set up regular schedules. High volumes mean you have freight being dispatched from the store/location every day or frequently.
We will then set up daily or regular collections with the carrier for you.
Any clients with consolidated or special freight (e.g pallets), these will be managed by a dedicated pickup team.
Scheduled collections should look like:
A daily or regular pickup
An agreed pickup window
This could be daily in the afternoon
Daily within a 2-3 hour pickup window
Twice daily (very high volume and dense driver areas)
Dedicated Shippit pickup support
Premium support with Shipping Operations (custom)
Dedicated delivery support (standard)
Ad-hoc collections
If you do not have enough volume to allow for a daily pickup, you’ll fit into the adhoc collection category. Ad Hoc collections should look like this:
A driver will receive a pickup booking within minutes of you manifesting on Shippit
Pickup should occur within 24 -48 hours excluding in peak season
Access to our general pickup support team