Creating a routing guideline

Routing guide lines contain the specific conditions to use when routing a shipment.

About this task

A routing guide can contain multiple routing guide lines.

When routing occurs, the shipment is matched against the routing guide lines. Based on the criteria specified, a carrier and carrier service is selected. The shipment mode is determined for shipments/loads based on the combination of the carrier and carrier service.

When routing results in a change to the shipment destination, the system reroutes the shipment, with the revised destination as the factor for routing. This type of configuration is used for consolidator nodes. While routing the second time, system looks for the routing guide entry that contains destination node, but without any other destination parameters filled out (such as address, etc.). However, the consolidator destination node should be defined.

To create a routing guideline:

Procedure

  1. Open the Applications Manager and select the application that you want.
  2. From the Routing Guidelines Details window, select the Routing Details Tab. To have access to the Routing Details Tab, save the information you have entered on the Primary Info Tab.
  3. A Routing Guide Line search window displays.
  4. Select the Create New icon. A Routing Guide Line Details screen displays in the work area.
  5. Enter information in the applicable fields. Refer to Table 1 for field value descriptions.
  6. Choose the Save icon.
    Table 1. Routing guide line details
    Field Description
    Setting conditions

    In many of the following fields, you can select is, is in, or is not in, and then specify a value. Use:

    • is to specify that a single value must be matched
    • is in to specify a group of values, one of which must be matched.
    • is not in to specify a group of values. The routing guide line is used if none of these values match.

    For example, to match any one of a group of states, specify

    State is in California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada.

    When assessing the condition, California would match, Florida would not.
    When shipping from:
    Node Select the node.
    When ship from is not node, select the following attribute(s) Select one or more of the following conditions.
    Country/Region Select the country or region name(s).
    State Enter the state name(s).
    City Enter the city name(s).
    Zip Code Enter the zip code or zip code range.
    And shipping to:
    Node Select the node.
    Region Select the region.
    When ship to is not node and region, select the following attribute(s) Select one or more of the following conditions.
    Country/Region Select the country or region name(s).
    State Enter the state name(s).
    City Enter the city name(s).
    Zip Code Enter the zip code or zip code range.
    Consolidator Select the consolidator name(s)
    Store# Select the store number(s).
    And weight is in the range: You can match weight. For example, if you want packages that weigh between 100 and 500 pounds to be shipped using a specific carrier, you would specify From as ‘100' and To as ‘500'.
    From Enter the minimum value.
    To Enter the maximum value.
    And volume is in the range: You can match volume. For example, if you want packages that are between 3 and 10 cubic feet to be shipped using a specific carrier, you would specify From as ‘3' and To as ‘10'.
    From Enter the minimum value.
    To Enter the maximum value.
    And handling units are in the range: Number of cases.
    From Enter the minimum value.
    To Enter the maximum value.
    And if requested carrier service code is  
    Carrier Service Code Select a carrier service code.
    For more information about defining carrier services, see Defining carrier services.
    Then ship via:  
    Priority Indicates the number to give this rule a relative importance.

    When a shipment is compared to the routing guide lines, there may be two carrier services that could be used. The priority serves as a tie breaker. The carrier service with the lowest number is used.
    Carrier / Service Indicates the carrier and service code that is desired.
    Break Bulk Node The break bulk location that is close to the buyer.
    Contact Specified Indicates whether the contact details for the carrier is specified.
    With overrides:  
    Override Freight Terms Select to override the shipment's Freight Term.
    Override Ship To To override the Ship To value, check this box and select one of the following:
    Node Select the node name.
    Consolidator Select the consolidator name.
    Store# Select the store number.
    This is only used when performing routing again due to a revised ship to address.

Results

When the conditions set are assessed, the routing guide line that matches most conditions is used. For example, imagine there are three routing guide lines:

Routing guide line A - What to do when shipping from Massachusetts

Routing guide line B - What to do when shipping from Massachusetts, and when shipping from the zip code 01810.

Routing guide line C - What to do when shipping from Massachusetts or NY.

If the shipment originates from the zip code 01810, it matches all of these routing guide lines. The actions specified in Routing guide line B is used, as more conditions are met (both the state and the zip code).

If the shipment originates from Massachusetts, but not from zip code 01810, then both Routing guide line A and Routing guide line C match.