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 Limit to Carrier Rule, a specific RLD Rule type, that targets the restriction of available shipping options to explicitly designated carriers.
A rate response request includes a list of all service types across multiple carriers in a distributed network. Sometimes, specific carriers are the only target for use in shipment label creation based on certain order variables, according to business rules. This is where the Limit to Carrier Rule comes in. The Limit to Carrier Rule post-processes the rate response to include only the services from authorized carriers (stripping out all unapproved carriers) to make better routing decisions in your supply chain. The Limit to Carrier Rule is one rule type within an RLD Template.
Any number of Limit to Carrier Rules can be built within an RLD Template to match business objectives. Each Limit to Carrier 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 Limit to Carrier Rule matched within the RLD Template. The transformation functionality available to be included within the RLD template is as follows.
This configuration dictates the exact carrier or carriers that are permitted to handle the shipment. Each carrier enabled within the Shipper Account can be specified individually. Once the match criteria are met, the rate request response is transformed to filter out all carrier options except the explicitly designated ones before the final rates are presented or the label is manifested.
Usual use cases for Limit to Carrier Rules within an RLD Template are numerous. Some common use cases include the following:
Limit shipments strictly to USPS when the receiver’s address is identified as a PO Box.
Limit shipments to a specific regional carrier (e.g., OnTrac, LaserShip) when the destination zone falls strictly within their localized coverage map.
Force shipments through a specific carrier when a specific account tag is present to ensure business volume quotas for negotiated contract discounts are met.
