LTL Direct Guide

LTL Direct provides bookable LTL rates within your application, for a complete pricing-through-tracking solution without ever having to leave your site. Tracking and reporting information can be retrieved includes: tracking data, Bill of Lading and cost updates. Shipment and location information will be sent to uShip via API. Multiple rates and carrier details (or a single rate, if desired), each with a unique bookable ID are returned to the Shippers system via API. Shippers can then book a rate and pay via Pay-on-Terms or credit card. Shipment status is available for use in a TMS, dashboard, or in-house shipping system.

LTL Direct is a great solution for Integration Partners where:

A system already contains the electronic LTL shipment data and is able to display rates
You have a TMS with many customers but no reliable, bookable LTL rates
You do not want to pay or manage logistics for your referred shippers
You want to streamline your company's own LTL shipments and manage your own account
You do not want to hold external uShip credentials or account data in your system
You want to book without having to leave your application

LTL Direct supports both an integration Partner model, and a Referrer model. Details of each integration type are below:

Integration Partner:

One example of an Integration Partner is a Manufacturer who wants uShip for their LTL shipments. The Partner connects their shipping platform to uShip via API. They also create an account on the uShip website and add a method of payment. This allows the Partner to rate shipments, book, pay, and track all from inside their shipping platform.

Referrer Model:

One example of the referrer model is a Transportation Management System (TMS) that has many shipping customers. The TMS system owner connects their platform to uShip via API with a single integration giving all of their shipping users access to LTL rates via uShip.

In this example, every Shipper on the TMS sets up an individual account with uShip including a method of payment. This one time account setup will allow uShip to bill shippers directly. This also allows uShip to assist shippers directly whenever there are questions or issues with shipments. The Referrer maintains the API connection and the TMS platform, and the Shippers book and pay for their shipments through the TMS. The Shippers contact uShip about any questions related to shipments or billing.

How it works

This is one example of what a shipper might expect when using a shipping platform connected to uShip LTL Direct:

Logs into their shipping application
Adds details about the shipment (Origin, Destination, Dimensions, Weight, Other shipment details like loading dock)
Sends the information to uShip for rating
Reviews the rate(s) in their shipping application
Selects individual rate and completes booking process
Receives notification and email of successfully booked shipment
Receives shipment tracking and cost updates in their shipping application
If any problems comes up during the shipment, the shipper can contact the uShip LTL Operations team for expert assistance

Authentication

Key: Authorization -- Value: Bearer {key value}

LTL Direct requires an API connection into an appropriate shipping platform. Software developers should register for an an account here: https://www.ushipsandbox.com

After creating a sandbox account, please generate sandbox key here: https://www.ushipsandbox.com/api-key-generation

After the testing is completed uShip will provide production API keys.

The uShip API Support Engineer is available to answer any questions that arise during the integration. If questions arise please email mfort@uship.com (Matthew Fort).

Registration and Payment Method Setup

Every LTL Shipper needs to set up a uShip account and add a method of payment.

For LTL Referrers a method of payment is not needed. In the Referrer model the referrer connects their platform to uShip via API only. Their shipping users are the ones that set up an account and add a method of payment.

Create an account: https://www.uship.com/register/

When logged in, add a payment method: https://www.uship.com/profile_paymentmethod.aspx

Getting Rates

Ensure you've created your API Key at ww.ushipsandbox.com/api-key-generation, and add it to the request headers as Authorization --> Bearer {value} (Production key generation here)
Create a rate request with POST v2/rateRequests. In the location header of the response, you will see a /raterequests/{rateRequestID}/rates. Copy this URI for the next step.
Retrieve your rates with GET /rateRequests/{rateRequestID}/rates. You will retrieve multiple rates with distinct rate IDs and details on each carrier. Copy the rate ID for the desired carrier for booking.

For a complete list of returned fields to get rates, and examples of returned rate responses, please see our technical reference for LTL Direct API.

Below are the required fields for obtaining rates via POST v2/rateRequests:

Commodity
Handling unit
Length
Width
Height
Weight
Quantity
Earliest Pickup Date
Latest Pickup Date
Pickup Zip Code
Pickup Location Type
Delivery Zip Code
Delivery Location Type

Booking a Rate

Accept and book your rate with POST /v2/rates/{rateId}/acceptance. (ensure to provide your paymentMethodId with acceptance call)
The carrier will accept your rate and details can be viewed within your uShip account.
Payment terms may vary depending on the integration; please contact your uShip partnerships team member for more details.

Tracking

Once an LTL shipment has been booked on uShip.com, tracking, BOL, delivery documentation, and cost information can be returned via API to your TMS system. This allows you to keep your shippers on-platform and populate dashboards or tables with the relevant load information for each respective shipment. Below are the list of shipment updates that the shipper will receive:

Likewise, you are able to receive the status update, last updated time, a uShip-hosted tracking page that can be accessed without authentication, carrier name, as well as item information, delivery contact information and any reference numbers attached.

For a complete list of returned fields and examples, please see our LTL Direct API technical reference document.

uShip provides two methods for retrieving tracking updates, outlined below:

Webhooks

Our push-based method for receiving tracking updates is executed using webhooks. Integrators will subscribe to uShip's webhooks to get real-time tracking updates. For a complete list of returned fields and example payloads, please see our LTL Direct API technical reference document.

Direct Calls to the API

Our pull-based method for receiving tracking updates should be done using direct calls to the listing API. ntegrators do not need to store tracking and reporting updates as they come in. Rather, this information can be retrieved based on user or system interaction. To pull listing and shipment information, integrators will need to use the GET /v2/listings/{listingId} and GET /v2/listings/{lisingId}/track methods. For a complete list of returned fields and example payloads, please see our LTL Direct API technical reference document.

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