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LTL Freight QuotesFedEx Freight Edition for Prestashop |
FedEx Freight is the freight operating unit of FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. FedEx Freight is the largest LTL carrier in the United States. It offers a variety of LTL freight services throughout the United States and Canada, and to Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. If you don’t have a FedEx Freight account number, contact them at 800-463-3339, or register online.
Features
Displays negotiated LTL shipping rates in the shopping cart.
Provides quotes for shipments within the United States and to Canada.
Define a custom label to identify the LTL freight rate in the cart.
Elect to display carrier transit times with rate estimates.
Define multiple warehouses.
Identify products that drop ship from vendors.
Product specific shipment parameters: weight, dimensions, freight class.
Option to set a product’s freight class automatically through the built in density calculator.
Support for variable products. Shipment parameters can be set differently for each product variation.
Options for how to include the residential delivery charge.
Options for how to offer lift gate delivery charge.
Option to mark up shipping rates by a set dollar amount or by a percentage.
Works seamlessly with other quoting modules published by Eniture Technology.
Current version: 1.1.1
Requirements
A FedEx billing account number.
A FedEx shipper account number. This is particular to FedEx freight enabled accounts. It may or may not be the same as your billing account number.
Your username and password to FedEx.com.
Your FedEx API Authentication Key.
FAQ’S
How do I get a FedEx Freight account number?
Call FedEx at 800-463-3339, or register online.
Where do I find my FedEx username and password?
Contact FedEx Freight customer service (800-463-3339) or the FedEx account manager assigned to your account.
How do I get a license key for the module?
You must register your installation of the module, regardless of whether you are taking advantage of the trial period or purchased a license outright. At the conclusion of the registration process an email will be sent to you that will include the license key. You can also login to eniture.com using the username and password you created during the registration process and retrieve the license key from the My Licenses tab.
How do I change my module license from the trial version to one of the paid subscriptions?
Login to eniture.com and navigate to the My Licenses tab. There you will be able to manage the licensing of all of your Eniture Technology modules. Refer to the Documentation tab on this page for more thorough instructions.
How do I install the module on another website?
The module has a single site license. To use it on another website you will need to purchase an additional license. If you want to change the website with which the plugin is registered, login to eniture.com and navigate to the My Licenses tab. There you will be able to change the domain name that is associated with the license key.
Do I have to purchase a second license for my staging or development site?
No. Each license allows you to identify one domain for your production environment and one domain for your staging or development environment. The rate estimates returned in the staging environment will have the word “Sandbox” appended to them.
Why isn’t the module working on my other website?
If you can successfully test your credentials from the Connection page (Modules > Modules & Services > Installed Modules > LTL Freight Quotes module Configure button > Connection Settings) then you have one or more of the following licensing issues: 1) You are using the license key on more than one domain. The licenses are for single sites. You will need to purchase an additional license. 2) Your trial period has expired. 3) Your current license has expired and we have been unable to process your form of payment to renew it. Login to eniture.com and go to the My Licenses tab to resolve any of these issues.
Why are the shipment charges I received on the invoice from FedEx Freight different than what was quoted by the app?
Common reasons include a difference in the quoted versus billed shipment parameters (weight, dimensions, freight class), or additional services (such as residential delivery) were required. Compare the details of the invoice to the shipping settings on the products included in the shipment. Consider making changes as needed. Remember that the weight of the packing materials is included in the billable weight for the shipment. If you are unable to reconcile the differences call FedEx Freight customer service (800-463-3339) for assistance.
Why do I sometimes get a message that a shipping rate estimate couldn’t be provided?
There are several possibilities:
The most common reason is that one or more of the products in the shopping cart did not have its shipment parameters (weight, dimensions, freight class) adequately populated. Check the settings for the products on the order and make corrections as necessary.
The city entered for the shipping address may not be valid for the postal code entered. A valid City+State+Postal Code combination is required to retrieve a rate estimate. Contact us by phone (404-369-0680) or email (support@eniture.com) to inquire about Address Validation solutions for this problem.
Your shipment exceeded constraining parameters of FedEx’s web service.
The FedEx web service isn’t operational.
Your FedEx account has been suspended or cancelled.
There is an issue with the Eniture Technology servers.
Your subscription to the application has expired because payment could not be processed.
There is an issue your server.
How do I determine the freight class for my product(s)?
The easiest thing to do is to contact your FedEx Freight representative and ask for assistance. However, the official source is the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) directory maintained by the National Motor Freight Transportation Agency (NMFTA.org). You can purchase a hard copy of the directory or obtain an online subscription to it from their web site.
How does the density calculator work?
The density calculator will calculate a freight class by performing a calculation using the product weight and dimensions as inputs. In most cases the returned freight class will match the product’s (commodity’s) freight class as recorded in the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) directory. However, this is not always true and in the event there are differences, the freight class recorded in the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) directory takes precedence. An incorrectly identified freight class can result in unexpected shipping charges and even fees. You are solely responsible for accurately identifying the correct freight class for your products. If you need help doing this, contact your FedEx Freight representative for assistance.
Installation & User’s Guide
If you are taking advantage of a trial subscription, the module will stop working when the trial period ends. Be sure to read the Manage Your License section to learn how to upgrade your subscription.
Overview
Setting up the plugin consists of the following steps:
Other information contained in this guide:
1. Download the Installation File |
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Choose a subscription package by clicking on it. You will be presented with a registration form. The email address and password you enter will serve as your credentials to eniture.com. Use these to gain access to your customer dashboard where you can download the module installation file, manage your licenses and update your payment information.
Select the Downloads tab and click on the Download code link to retrieve the module installation file.
Save the file to a familiar location. You will need to navigate to it to install the module.
2. Install the Module |
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Login to Prestashop.
Choose Modules and then Modules & Services from the navigation menu.
Click on the Installed Modules tab and then the UPLOAD A MODULE button.
Drag the module installation file into the upload box or choose the select file link to navigate to the file and retrieve it.
The module will self install.
3. Obtain a FedEx API Authentication Key |
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To successfully connect the app to FedEx Freight you need a FedEx API Authentication key. If you don’t have one, sign into the FedEx Developer Resource Center (click here) using your FedEx.com username and password.On the left hand side of the page, click on FedEx Web Services then locate and click on the link for Move to Production.
Click on the Get Production Key button in the Moving to Production section.
On the Application Profile page, answer the questions with the following responses, and then click the Continue button.
| Do you intend to resell your software? | No |
| Please check the box to each type of FedEx web services you intend to use in your integration solution: | Check the option for FedEx Web Services for Shipping |
| Please indicate whether you are a developing your FedEx integration solution as a Corporate Developer or as a Consultant. | Corporate Developer |
On the License Agreement page click the I Accept button to advance to the next step.
The next two steps will ask you to provide information about your company’s account and contact information, and your developer info. On the Developer Info page enter the name and contact information of the person or firm who performs most of the work and maintenance on your website.
When you complete the steps you will be delivered to the Confirmation page. Your Production password will be emailed to you. The Confirmation page will contain your Authentication Key and your Meter Number. Record all of these values. You will use them to establish the connection to FedEx Freight in the next step.
4. Configure the Module |
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Select Modules and then Modules & Services from the PrestaShop menu.
Click on Installed Modules and then locate the module in the list of installed modules. Click on the Configure button.
4a. Connection Settings |
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| Billing Account Number | Your FedEx billing account number. This is always the main account number on the account and is almost always the account number you would use if you were shipping a parcel shipment. If you don’t have one please contact FedEx. |
| Meter Number | The Meter Number received when you completed the process for obtaining the Authentication Key in the previous step. |
| Password | The Production Password that was emailed to you when you completed the process for obtaining the Authentication Key in the previous step. |
| Authentication Key | Your FedEx API Authentication Key. This is the Authentication Key you retrieved in Step 2 of these instructions. |
| Shipper Account Number | FedEx Freight identifies a specific account number for what it refers to as the “Shipper Account Number”. Often it is the same as the Billing Account Number, but not always. If you aren’t sure, contact FedEx Customer Support. |
| Billing Address | The billing address on record for the main FedEx account. |
| Physical Address | The physical address associated with the Shipper Account Number. |
| Third Party Account Number | FedEx Freight will issue a different account number if your shipments have origin and destination addresses that don’t match the address on file. This is common if you tend to drop ship items from vendors to customers or suppliers. If you have one of these account numbers, enter it here. |
| License Key | The license key is issued by Eniture Technology to registered users only. If you don’t have a license key, click the link beneath this field to obtain one. |
When you’re done save your connection settings and then test them by clicking on the Test Connection button at the bottom of the page. A message will display at the top of the page letting you know if the plugin succeeded in establishing a connection to the FedEx Freight servers. If you receive an error, confirm the values you entered and try again. Be particularly attentive to capitalization. Most of the information you enter on this page is case sensitive.
4b. Quote Settings |
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| Label As | Identify how you want the quote labeled in the checkout process. A common choice for this field is “LTL Freight” or “FedEx Freight”. If left blank quotes will be labeled “Freight”. |
| Quote Service Options | Select the freight services you’d like presented during the checkout process. |
| Show Delivery Estimate | When checked, the carrier’s estimated transit time will be displayed. |
| Always include residential delivery fee | When checked, the quote returned will always include the carrier’s residential delivery fee. |
| Automatically detect residential addresses | This is visible only when the Auto-detect residential addresses module is installed. This is an optional pay per use feature. When enabled, the module will lookup the Ship To address in a database updated monthly with data from the USPS. If the address is a residence, the rate shown in the checkout process will include the carrier’s residential delivery fee. Enabling this feature makes the inclusion of the residential delivery fee dynamic. It will be excluded from rates for commercial addresses and included in rates for residential addresses. FedEx Freight’s residential delivery fee for 2018 is $130. |
| Auto-renew | This is visible only when the Auto-detect residential addresses module is installed. Enable the Automatically Detect Residential Addresses feature by selecting a plan. Plans are billed to the same credit card used to pay for the subscription to the FedEx LTL Freight Quotes module. To ensure continuous operation, the next subscription will begin when the current one expires or is depleted, which ever comes first. To disable the feature, select the Disable option in the dropdown. |
| Current Subscription | This is visible only when the Auto-detect residential addresses module is installed. Provides information on the current subscription, when it began and when it expires if it isn’t depleted first. |
| Current Usage | This is visible only when the Auto-detect residential addresses module is installed. Provides information on how much of the current subscription has been used. A UTC timestamp is provided to identify the last time a lookup was performed. |
| Suspend automatic detection of residential addresses | This is visible only when the Auto-detect residential addresses module is installed. Suspends the execution of the automatic detection of residential addresses programming. This does not cancel the subscription to the feature or prevent renewals. This setting is typically used during testing and trouble shooting when it is desirable not have the feature operational. |
| Always include lift gate delivery fee | When checked, the quote returned will always include the carrier’s residential delivery fee. |
| Offer lift gate delivery as an option | When checked, an additional option will be presented to the shopper that will include the lift gate delivery fee. The shopper will be able to choose between options that exclude or include lift gate delivery. |
| Always include lift gate delivery when a residential address is detected | This is visible only when the Auto-detect residential addresses module is installed. When checked, if a residential delivery address is detected the lift gate delivery fee will be included in the shipping rate estimate. In such cases, the option to Offer lift gate delivery as an option will be suppressed, even if enabled. Enabling both the Offer lift gate delivery as an option setting and the Include lift gate delivery when residential delivery is detected setting allows commercial customers to choose whether or not lift gate service is needed while always requiring it for residential customers. |
| Handling Fee / Mark Up | Increases the amount of the returned quote by a specified amount prior to displaying it in the shopping cart. The number entered will be interpreted as dollars and cents unless it is followed by a % sign. For example, entering 5.00 will cause $5.00 to be added to the quotes. Entering 5.00% will cause each quote to be multiplied by 1.05 (= 1 + 5%). |
| Discounts | Choose the option that reflects how your discounts are provided. If you’re uncertain, sign into FedEx.com and retrieve an LTL freight quote. Under the rate estimates will be a note with the heading, “More information about your results:” The note will confirm if an incentive discount is being extended, and the discount percentage. Enter the discount percentage into the Quote Settings page. If you don’t see this note, then you have negotiated LTL freight rates. |
| Return FedEx Freight quotes when an order’s parcel shipment weight exceeds 150 LBS | When checked, the LTL Freight Quote plugin will return quotes when an order’s total weight exceeds 150 lbs (the maximum permitted by FedEx and UPS), even if none of the products have settings to indicate that it will ship LTL. To increase the accuracy of the returned quote(s), all products should have accurate weights and freight classes. |
4c. Define Warehouse and Drop Ship Locations |
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Click the Add button in the appropriate sections to add warehouse and drop ship locations. Warehouses should have a complete inventory of all products not otherwise identified as drop shipped items. If you have more than one warehouse defined, the warehouse closest to the shopper will be used to retrieve shipping rate estimates. You should define at least one warehouse, even if all of your products are drop shipped. This insures that quotes will be returned in the event the drop ship location was overlooked when the product entry was created.
Drop ship locations usually represent vendors that supply items that you don’t inventory. These items are shipped directly to your customer on your behalf. When an order includes drop shipped items the shopping cart will display a single figure for the shipping rate estimate that is equal to the sum of the cheapest option for each shipment required to fulfill the order.
5. Carrier Settings |
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Prestashop creates a “carrier” entry for every possible shipping method variant. If you consider “LTL freight” as the base variant, four entries are created:
- Base variant
- Base variant + residential delivery
- Base variant + lift gate delivery
- Base variant + residential and lift gate delivery
These entries are created automatically when the module is installed and don’t require any further action on your part. However, if you’d like to see or edit these entries, use the Prestashop menu to navigate to Shipping > Carriers…
The shipping method variants will be listed. You can click on any entry to edit it but we strongly advise against editing the entries associated with the LTL Freight Quotes module. Doing so may have an adverse impact on the module’s performance.
6. Product Settings |
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Navigate to your product list by selecting Products from the Catalog menu.
Select the product you want to ship LTL freight from the list. Once you’re on the Edit Product page, click on the Shipping option in the page navigation menu and enter the product weight.
Next, click on the Modules option in the page navigation menu.
Locate the module placeholder card and click on the Configure button.
On this page you’ll identify parameters that are specific to the module. Make the appropriate selections.
| Enable drop ship location | Check this box only if the item will be drop shipped. If left unchecked, the warehouse closest to the Ship To address will be used as the origination point for the freight quote. |
| Drop ship location | If you indicated that the item will ship from a drop ship location, identify the location from which the item will ship. |
| Shipping Class | If you have one of the Small Package Quotes modules installed and you want the product to be quoted as shipping parcel, select the No shipping class option.
If you want the product to be quoted as shipping LTL freight, select the LTL Freight option. |
| Freight class | Select the freight class for the item from the list of options. If you utilize both small package (parcel) and LTL freight shipping methods, you should identify the freight class for all products, even those that normally ship small package (parcel).
The last option in the list of freight classifications is Density Based. In most cases this is an industry accepted alternative for identifying the freight class of an item or shipment. Validate the returned quotes if using this setting. There are exceptions in the NMFC Freight Classification Directory that can render the density calculator results invalid for particular commodities. To be used successfully the product must have its weight and dimensions populated on the Shipping page. |
When you are done click the Save button located at the bottom of the page.
What Your Customer Sees |
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To facilitate the successful conclusion of an online purchase the module always attempts to return an estimate of shipping charges. If multiple products are in the shopping cart and some are missing weight, dimensions or both, the module will use what is available to obtain the shipping rate estimates. For example, if you have two products in the shopping cart and the first has weight and dimensions and the second does not, the shipping rate estimate will be based solely on the first product. The module will fail to return shipping rate estimates only when none of the products in the shopping cart have weights or dimensions recorded. Please note that shipping rate estimates will be increasingly inaccurate the more omissions there are to the weight, freight class, and dimensions of products in the shopping cart.
Managing Your License |
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You can manage your license by signing into eniture.com with the email address and password you entered when you registered for the module. After you sign in, My Account will be added to the navigation menu. Click on it to access the Dashboard for your account.
The most common uses of the Dashboard are to upgrade a trial subscription to a paid subscription, change the URL registered to a license, or to identify the URL of a staging or development site.
Upgrade to a paid subscription
If you fail to upgrade your trial subscription to a paid subscription before the trial expires, the module will stop working. To upgrade, click on the My Licenses tab, locate the license, and click the Pay Now button.
Choose one of the subscription packages and then enter the information for your payment method. Your module will be automatically renewed at the end of each subscription period unless you return to the Dashboard and cancel the subscription.
Change the URL registered to a license
The license allows you to use the module on a single website. To use the module on additional websites, you must purchase additional licenses. You can change the URL registered on a license at any time. To do so, click on the My Licenses tab, locate the license, and click the Edit button. Enter the new URL into the Licensed Domain field and then click the Update button.
Identify a staging or development site
The license will allow one staging or development site. Quotes returned to staging site will have the word “Sandbox” appended to them. To identify a staging site, click on the My Licenses tab, locate the license, and click the Edit button. Enter the new URL into the Staging Domain field and then click the Update button.
