How carriers work in ASM
ASM gets live shipping prices by asking carriers for a quote while your shopper is at checkout. This article explains where those quotes come from, which carriers you can use, and how a carrier connects to your shipping methods.
Where a live rate comes from
When a shopper reaches checkout, ASM:
- Packs the cart into boxes, using your product weights and sizes.
- Asks each carrier your shipping methods use for a price, from your origin address to the shopper's address.
- Applies your shipping rules and markups to each price.
- Sends the final list of methods and prices to your checkout.
Step 2 uses the carrier account details you save in Settings → Carriers. If a carrier can't be reached, or rejects your details, that carrier's methods are missing from checkout.
For the full picture, see How ASM calculates a shipping rate.
Carriers and shipping methods are separate
These are two different things in ASM:
- A carrier is the company and your account with it, set up once in Settings → Carriers.
- A shipping method is what the shopper picks, such as "UPS Ground" or "Freight delivery", set up in Shipping Rules.
A method only gets a live price if it's linked to a carrier service and that carrier is connected. You can connect a carrier without offering any of its methods yet. See Add a shipping method.
Your own rates, or published rates
Most carriers quote with your own account, so shoppers see the prices you actually pay, including any discount you've negotiated.
UPS and FedEx let you choose:
- Use Published Rates — the carrier's standard list prices.
- Use My Negotiated Rates — your account's discounted prices.
You still need to connect your own UPS or FedEx account for either choice.
USPS works without an account
Every store gets USPS rates through ASM's own USPS connection. You don't enter a USPS login. See Set up USPS rates.
Which carriers you can use
- UPS, FedEx and USPS are on every store.
- Every other carrier (DHL Express, Canada Post, freight carriers such as Estes or Old Dominion, and shipping platforms such as ShipStation) appears when its add-on is turned on for your store. Add one from the Billing page or ask support.
See Connect a carrier account.
Kinds of carriers
Parcel carriers ship boxes: UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL Express, Canada Post, Purolator and others. Most need your account number and an API key or login.
LTL freight carriers ship pallets: TForce Freight, FedEx Freight, Estes, Saia, Old Dominion, R+L Carriers and others. They also need a freight class and may add services such as a liftgate. See LTL freight in ASM.
Shipping platforms quote several carriers through one account: ShipStation, Veeqo, Worldwide Express / Unishippers and others. See Connect ShipStation and Connect Veeqo.
How you connect
Carriers connect in one of three ways:
- Sign in with the carrier. UPS and TForce Freight open their own sign-in page. You log in there and approve ASM.
- API keys. FedEx and FedEx Freight give you an API key and secret from their developer site. You paste them into ASM.
- Login details. Most other carriers give you a username, password or account number for their rating service.
How you know it works
- Test connection on a carrier's card asks that carrier for a real quote with your saved details. It doesn't need any shipping rules. See Test a carrier connection.
- Labels on the carrier tiles tell you when a carrier needs attention, such as "Not connected" or "Check account". See Carrier labels explained.
- The Carrier Status page shows whether each carrier is answering, and whether your own account is failing. See The Carrier Status page.