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 Rate Rule, a specific RLD Rule type, that targets the transformation and control of rate and service presentation information after a rate response is received and before the rates are displayed or 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 standard carrier service names, transit times, or rate details returned directly by the carrier need to be relabeled, masked, or adjusted for the end-user or downstream systems, according to business rules. This is where the Efferent Rate Rule comes in. The Efferent Rate Rule post-processes the rate response to explicitly modify the rate details (e.g., renaming “UPS Ground” to “Standard Shipping” or padding the estimated delivery days) on the finalized output to improve the customer checkout experience and make better routing decisions in your supply chain. The Efferent Rate Rule is one rule type within an RLD Template.
Any number of Efferent Rate Rules can be built within an RLD Template to match business objectives. Each Efferent Rate 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 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 rate and service properties are altered in the final output. Once the match criteria are met, the rate response is transformed to override or adjust specific rate fields—such as Carrier Name, Service Name, or Estimated Delivery Days—with explicitly defined replacement values before the rates are presented to the shopper or the final label is manifested.
Usual use cases for Efferent Rate Rules within an RLD Template are numerous. Some common use cases include the following:
Alias or mask carrier-specific service names (e.g., changing “Home Delivery” to “Standard Eco Delivery”) to maintain flexibility in actual carrier selection during fulfillment without confusing the end consumer at checkout.
Pad the returned Estimated Delivery Days (e.g., adding +1 or +2 days to the carrier’s stated transit time) to account for internal warehouse processing delays and set accurate delivery expectations.
Normalize disparate carrier service levels into a unified naming convention (e.g., mapping both “Priority Mail” and “2nd Day Air” to a single “Expedited Shipping” tier) to provide a clean, standardized rate-shopping experience.
