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 Efferent Options Rule, a specific RLD Rule type, that targets the transformation and control of shipment-level carrier options after a rate response is received and before the final label is generated.
A rate response request includes a list of all service types across multiple carriers in a distributed network. Sometimes, the shipment options—such as signature requirements, Saturday delivery, Cash on Delivery (COD), or specific handling flags—need to be dynamically added, removed, or modified based on the specific carrier or service selected from that rate response, according to business rules. This is where the Efferent Options Rule comes in. The Efferent Options Rule post-processes the rate response to explicitly modify the shipment options on the finalized output to make better routing decisions in your supply chain and prevent label generation errors. The Efferent Options Rule is one rule type within an RLD Template.
Any number of Efferent Options Rules can be built within an RLD Template to match business objectives. Each Efferent 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 carrier rate response is modified according to the rules defined within the Efferent Options 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 shipment options are altered in the final output. Once the match criteria are met, the rate response is transformed to toggle specific options on or off, inject missing options, or overwrite option parameters (such as the specific Cash on Delivery Amount) before the final label or manifest is generated.
Usual use cases for Efferent Options Rules within an RLD Template are numerous. Some common use cases include the following:
Automatically inject an “Adult Signature Required” option onto the final manifest only if a specific carrier’s economy service is selected from the rate response, mitigating the higher risk of package theft associated with that service level.
Strip a requested “Saturday Delivery” option from the final payload if the rate shopper ultimately selects a regional carrier service that inherently delivers on weekends without requiring the specific (and sometimes error-inducing) flag.
Dynamically adjust the Cash on Delivery (COD) amount or currency on the finalized output based on the specific international carrier service returned by the rate response.
