UPS Ground weird calculation !

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michaelg
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UPS Ground weird calculation !

Post by michaelg » Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:01 am

I have a item with the following weight and dimensions:

Weight = 0.07 pounds
Dimensions = 1.5 L 1.38 W 1.38 H

When I place an order to buy 50 of these items the UPS Ground total charge is around 67.82 USD which to me is really to high. I enabled the UPS log mechanism and the send request looks like this:

Send: <?xml version="1.0"?><RatingServiceSelectionRequest xml:lang="en-US"><Request><TransactionReference><CustomerContext>Rating and Service</CustomerContext><XpciVersion>1.0001</XpciVersion></TransactionReference><RequestAction>rate</RequestAction><RequestOption>shop</RequestOption></Request><PickupType><Code>03</Code></PickupType><CustomerClassification><Code>03</Code></CustomerClassification><Shipment><Shipper><Address><City>South Burlington</City><StateProvinceCode>VT</StateProvinceCode><PostalCode>05403</PostalCode><CountryCode>US</CountryCode></Address></Shipper><ShipTo><Address><City></City><StateProvinceCode>AZ</StateProvinceCode><PostalCode>85364</PostalCode><CountryCode>US</CountryCode></Address></ShipTo><ShipmentWeight><UnitOfMeasurement><Code>LBS</Code></UnitOfMeasurement><Weight>53.5</Weight></ShipmentWeight><Package><PackagingType><Code>02</Code></PackagingType><PackageWeight><UnitOfMeasurement><Code>LBS</Code></UnitOfMeasurement><Weight>53.5</Weight></PackageWeight><PackageServiceOptions><InsuredValue><CurrencyCode>USD</CurrencyCode><MonetaryValue>350.00</MonetaryValue></InsuredValue></PackageServiceOptions></Package></Shipment></RatingServiceSelectionRequest>

Where the weight of 53.5 coming from ? To determine the billable weight according to the "UPS Daily Rates" guide is to compare the shipment's actual rate to the dimensional weight. The greater of the two is the billable weight and should be used to calculate the rate.

Actual weight: 3.5 pounds (lbs)
Dimensional weight: 2 x 1 x 1 = 2 pounds (lbs)

Is there something wrong in my interpretation ???

afm
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Re: UPS Ground weird calculation !

Post by afm » Thu Jan 07, 2010 10:44 am

I don't know where 53.5 came from, but your dimensional weight calculation is a bit off.

Dimensional weight is L x W x H / 194. One of the dimensions must be multiplied by 50 because you have 50 items in the package. So assuming you taped all 50 boxes together with no empty spaces, the dimensional weight is 1.5 x 1.38 x 1.38 x 50 / 194 = 1 (after rounding).
Andy Miller
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michaelg
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Re: UPS Ground weird calculation !

Post by michaelg » Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:10 am

Thanks, afm.

Those are the item dimensions measured and in inches as required by the store. The item described is called "Thermal Printer 38 mm" (shown below):

Image

The formula for dimensional weight is used by UPS shipping method to calculate the shipping rate: L x W x H (inches) / 194 (pounds):

Here is what is mentioned about UPS Ground shipping in the "UPS Daily Rates" guide:

Begin Quote:
UPS Ground shipments: If the cubic size of the package in inches is 5,184 or larger, divide the cubic size by 194 to determine dimensional weight in pounds. If the cubic size in inches is less then 5,184, use the actual weight of the package.
End Quote.

We know that the actual weight is 0.07 pounds because 100 rolls weighs 7 lbs.

What else could it be ?

michaelg
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Re: UPS Ground weird calculation !

Post by michaelg » Thu Jan 07, 2010 1:20 pm

Thermal Paper 38 mm: Weight: 0.07 pounds | Dimensions: 1.5 (L) x 1.38 (W) x 1.38 (H)

Also, I investigated a bit the formula behind the weight calculation, so here we go:

1. Order #1: Thermal Paper 38 mm x 4 = 7 USD x 4 = 28 USD, Shipping UPS Ground = 12.73 USD
Send: <?xml version="1.0"?>...<Weight>4.3</Weight>...

2. Order #2: Thermal Paper 38 mm x 50 = 7 USD x 50 = 350 USD, Shipping UPS Ground = 67.82 USD
Send: <?xml version="1.0"?>...<Weight>53.5</Weight>...

2. Order #3: Thermal Paper 38 mm x 100 = 7 USD x 100 = 700 USD, Shipping UPS Ground = 112.79 USD
Send: <?xml version="1.0"?>...<Weight>107</Weight>...

For any ant brain it looks like the request is being set with the weight calculated as: [Quantity] + [Billable Weight], where [Billable Weight] = [Actual Weight] because the dimensions in inches are less than 5,184.

Is this a bug ? Is the request sent by AbleCommerce or by the third-party UPS dll file ?

AbleCommerce: 7.0.3
BUILD: 12458
CommerceBuilder.UPS.dll: 7.0.10041.0

Mazhar can you give me a help on this one, please. Thanks.

michaelg
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Re: UPS Ground weird calculation !

Post by michaelg » Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:13 am

Ok, it looks like I'm the weird one :)

The thermal paper is part of a kit which means it has a weight to be set (by default is 1 pound). By setting the kit weight to the actual weight of the item (0.07 pounds) and the product weight to zero (otherwise it adds up as seen above), the billable weight is then properly calculated (3.5 lbs) and sent to the UPS server.

Is there any documentation about kits & options & variants ?

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