We have recently seen a spike in requests from our customers asking us if UPS SurePost is supported within our software. We checked the UPS Developer Kit APIs for Rates and Service Selection, Shipping, Time In Transit, Address Validation, etc but couldn’t find any mention about Sure Post there. Does it have it’s own API?
After speaking with a UPS Rep David (who seemed to actually really know his stuff), here is what I found out:
Me:
“Is UPS SurePost basically the same as UPS Ground but with the negotiated rates instead of the standard public rates? For example, when Pro Bow now prints a UPS Ground Label via your Shipping API is it now considered SurePost?”
David:
“Depending on what type of Agreement they have with Surepost the rates can vary. The basic structure is the ground commercial rate with the Residential Surcharge waived, the Delivery area Surcharge and Extended area Surcharge are also reduced to $1.00 and $1.50 respectively. The target packages are 1-9lbs with a cube no larger than 1728c.i. and less than $100.00 in value. The service goes via our ground network to the final zip code then delivered to USPS office for final delivery this adds an additional day in transit times.
Surepost only works with our World Ship or Campus Ship platforms not with UPS.com, also customer needs to have one of our Thermal Printers as they have the dual barcode UPS and USPS already built in for label processing. If integrating with your shopping cart they will need these for it to work properly. Incentive Discounts will vary depending on the size of opportunity. [Some customers are not considered] Sure Post as it is a different service level and needs to be assigned by the UPS Representative once an agreement has been reached”…
[Surepost does have its own API when printing shipping labels]
It appears UPS SurePost does have it’s own API used in conjunction with the UPS Shipping API. Here is a list of valid UPS Service Codes:
92= UPS SurePost® Less than 1 lb ,
93 = UPS SurePost® 1 lb or Greater ,
94 = UPS SurePost® BPM ,
95 = UPS SurePost® Media
More information about SurePost Service Codes and Weight Limits can be found here.
Enabling UPS SurePost within SEO-Cart
The UPS SurePost option has been added to SEO-Cart under Shipping Settings->UPS Shipping. This method is available when printing UPS shipping labels. SurePost labels include both the UPS and USPS tracking numbers/barcodes on the label.
Enabling UPS Negotiated Rates
If you would like for your customers to receive the same rates you have negotiated with UPS, go to SEO-Cart->Configure->Shipping Settings->UPS Shipping and enable the checkbox for “Enable UPS negotiated rates for customer rating and service selection if available” and save your changes. This will automatically include the Negotiated Rates Indicator during the UPS Rate and Service Selection request and all available discounted rates will be used instead of the standard public UPS rates.
Negotiated rates are enabled by default when printing a UPS shipping label within SEO-Cart.