Choose a service and understand the rate

How the service list is ordered, why you may not see prices or every service, what makes a rate change, and how carrier accounts are connected.

Which carriers do what

Shipping Center creates labels with UPS and FedEx. It also quotes rates, tracks packages and checks addresses with the other carriers your organization uses.

Read the service list

On Quick Ship and Power Ship, the Service list is sorted by when the package arrives, soonest first, and by price within the same day. Each row shows:

1. the arrival date, and the time and whether it is guaranteed when the carrier says so,
2. the price, if your role shows prices,
3. the service name, with Air or Ground.

Short notes on a row help you choose: how much sooner it arrives than the cheapest service (for example "1 day sooner"), and marks such as cheapest and fastest.

Choose the row with the day you need. You do not need to know what the service names mean. If you have more than one carrier and have not chosen one, the list says Choose a carrier to see services and prices.

Why you do not see every service or a price

• Your profile can limit the carriers, services and packaging you may use. Services outside it are not listed.
• Prices are shown only to roles that see cost. Everyone else sees the service and the arrival date.
• Signature on delivery: if a signature is required, only services that can collect one are offered.

What changes the rate

• Residential delivery. Carriers charge more to deliver to a home than to a business, whether or not you tell them. Ticking Residential address in the address book means the rate you are quoted is the rate you are billed.
• Weight and size. Type the real weight, and the dimensions for your own boxes. Carriers can charge by a package's size as well as its weight.
• Options such as a signature, a declared value or a return label.

Managers can see where a slower service would have arrived in time in the Faster Than Needed report under Insights. See Reports and the Audit Trail.

Carrier accounts (administrators)

Your organization's own carrier accounts are under Manage, Carrier Accounts. Each row shows the carrier, the account number, a description, where it applies, its authorization (Authorized, Needs re-authorization, or Not authorized for UPS and Not connected for FedEx) and its status. UPS is connected through a consent step you complete with UPS. The other carriers check the credentials you enter.

Some organizations ship through Mercury Commerce's own carrier arrangement. The Carrier Accounts page says so, and you do not need an account of your own.

If an account shows Needs re-authorization, reconnect it before your users try to ship. For help, send a request with the topic Carrier accounts.