Recommendations for Shipping using Freight On Board (FOB)?

[MartinZ]

I am new to AC7 and looked through the discussions about Shipping in hopes that an answer could be easily found. Maybe I can get some guidance from current AC7 users/developers!

Some of our smaller products can easily be handled by the UPS Shipping method already in AC7. However, some of our products have to be assembled and can be fairly large, often taking up small or medium-sized pallets. We typically ship these using Freight On Board and then locate the best carrier at the time of shipping. Does anyone have a recommendation on the best way to handle Freight On Board shipping within AC7? My development team may have to build a custom shipping method because the product variables that go into selecting the best option can be quite numerous. I was thinking that an additional field or two for each product may be a good way to go (with custom development to accomodate this), but I could be wrong. Any recommendations, links, or assistance would be greatly appreciated! Good day!

--MartinZ

[mazhar]

My development team may have to build a custom shipping method because the product variables that go into selecting the best option can be quite numerous. I was thinking that an additional field or two for each product may be a good way to go (with custom development to accomodate this), but I could be wrong. Any recommendations, links, or assistance would be greatly appreciated! Good day!

Have a look at the product templates features, they may help you for accommodating extra information for the products.

[MartinZ]

That only affects the products and is easily handled. What isn't easy is a way to calculate shipping for Freight On Board. We are trying to figure out a solution for that specifically. The variables that go into shipping products via freight include the various pallet sizes, trucking companies, daily rates, zone coverage for freight carriers, and other items specific to the transportation industry. Sometimes multiple shipments can be combined for a reduced transportation cost. So you can see how it would be complicated at best!

[sohaib]

You can write your own shipping provider that can handle your custom shipping logic.
Have a look at http://wiki.ablecommerce.com/index.php/ ... ng_Carrier for more details on shipping provider API

[WylieE]

That only affects the products and is easily handled. What isn't easy is a way to calculate shipping for Freight On Board. We are trying to figure out a solution for that specifically. The variables that go into shipping products via freight include the various pallet sizes, trucking companies, daily rates, zone coverage for freight carriers, and other items specific to the transportation industry. Sometimes multiple shipments can be combined for a reduced transportation cost. So you can see how it would be complicated at best!

I used to work for a freight forwarder and can relate to the challenges you're facing. Do you have experienced freight personnel at your office? Sometimes the best computer for the job is still a person. You've seen how many variables can be part of a rate quote. If you look at the hours and hours you'll spend programming, testing and updating (rates change regularly), you may be ahead of the game by doing it manually.

[MartinZ]

I used to work for a freight forwarder and can relate to the challenges you're facing. Do you have experienced freight personnel at your office? Sometimes the best computer for the job is still a person. You've seen how many variables can be part of a rate quote. If you look at the hours and hours you'll spend programming, testing and updating (rates change regularly), you may be ahead of the game by doing it manually.

We have an onsite Shipping Department that interfaces with a freight broker. I talked with our supervisor and he had similar ideas to this. It may be too difficult to develop a shipping method automatically due to the daily changes in everything that affects transportation by truck. We're probably going to average out the Zone charges and put static shipping costs for the items. It's a start. If I find a way to automate this type of shipping method, I'll update this Topic for future use!

[kwikstand]

There are some freight companies that have API's to integrate there tools into your web site. You might want to look at yellow freight.

http://www.yrc.com/e_commerce/api.html

I have been wanting to do this for quite some time now, but have no idea how to even start.
Does anybody else know anything about this?