A manifest is essentially a summary of the order information which is sent to the carrier electronically from Shippit when you hit Book/Manifest. It contains crucial data that is used by the carrier to invoice you accurately and track the delivery journey of each order booked.

When you've confirmed orders from the New Orders tab you'll have the option from Ready to Ship to download & print a label allowing you time to pick, pack and despatch as required.

Once your packages are ready for collection, you need to manifest by hitting BOOK NOW & your manifests will appear in Manifest History below.

Why is a manifest so important

It's crucial to book/manifest your orders before handing them over to a pickup driver. Failure to do so will result in a late manifest fee which varies depending on the carrier.

Manifesting after a collection by a driver may also affect the normal behaviour of tracking events flowing into Shippit from the carrier, proving problematic with notifications your customers receive. Tracking events will not flow into Shippit at all if an order is not manifested on time as it appears non-existent. You will however still be charged for the order including a late manifest fee when a scan event is captured by the carrier.

Whilst Shippit will always provide you with the option to print your manifests, these will not be required for all carriers. For those carriers, the driver will not request this from you upon collection - see below.

A printed manifest can be a handy tool to help those clients with smaller volumes of freight, to keep track of their dispatched freight at handover. However, for those clients manifesting larger volumes, a printed manifest will not be signed by the driver as it is time-consuming and not a requirement at pickup. Instead your packages will be scanned in at the depot upon arrival at the end of the day. Carriers require physical scans to show an article has entered and travelled in their network.

Note: a printed & signed manifest does not act as proof of collection with any carrier as they require a physical scan before claiming it has travelled in their network. If you experience any difficulties with freight handover, our team can provide advice if you reach out to your Shippit account manager.