Routing Logic Directives (RLD) built into EPISHIP control shipments through the rate and label manifest processes of the supply chain.
The purpose of this article is to detail the Afferent Rate Rule, a specific RLD Rule type, that targets the transformation and control of requested rate and service information before a rate or label request is processed.
A rate or label request may specify a target carrier or service level to determine shipping costs, transit times, and routing. Sometimes, the default service requested by an upstream system (like a generic “Standard Shipping” from a shopping cart) does not align with the specific carrier service codes required for execution, or business logic dictates changing the requested service based on specific order variables. This is where the Afferent Rate Rule comes in. Unlike Efferent rules that post-process carrier responses, the Afferent Rate Rule pre-processes the request to explicitly modify the requested rate parameters (e.g., dynamically mapping a generic service to a specific carrier service code, or overriding the requested carrier entirely) before the request is ever submitted to the carrier network. The Afferent Rate Rule is one rule type within an RLD Template.
Any number of Afferent Options Rules can be built within an RLD Template to match business objectives. Each Afferent Options Rule includes the following components.
Match conditions of criteria operators include the following types: All (AND), Any (OR), None (Not).
Sender fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Receiver fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Package fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Line Items fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Options fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
References fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Rate fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
Time fields available for match criteria include the follow properties:
The match criteria types listed above are used within individual rules or can be combined into a single rule to target specific conditions that include several match criteria.
The shipment request is modified according to the rules defined within the Afferent Rate Rule matched within the RLD Template. The transformation functionality available to be included within the RLD template is as follows.
This configuration dictates exactly how the requested rate and service properties are altered in the outgoing request payload. Once the match criteria are met, the request is transformed to override or inject specific requested rate fields—such as the target Carrier or requested Service Name—with explicitly defined replacement values before the carrier processes the rate or generates a label.
Usual use cases for Afferent Rate Rules within an RLD Template are numerous. Some common use cases include the following:
Map a generic e-commerce checkout method (like “Two-Day Delivery”) to a specific carrier service code based on the package weight and destination before submitting the request.
Automatically override the requested carrier from a regional provider to a national carrier when the total cart declared value exceeds a certain threshold, ensuring high-value items are routed through a preferred secure network.
Downgrade a requested expedited air service to a standard ground service if the destination zone is close enough (e.g., Zone 2) that ground transit will inherently meet the required delivery timeline, saving on shipping costs before the rate request is even processed.
