What package data do you need?

Real dimensions and weight at the moment a label would print. Cartonization (a model picks the box upfront) or a pre-pack scan (the operator scans the box before printing the label) feed the service. Without real package data, no rate-shop can tell you the real cheapest.

Which carriers and parcel types do you compare?

FedEx (Ground, Home Delivery, One Rate, Envelope, Express variants), UPS (Ground, Simple Rate, SurePost, Express variants), USPS (Priority, Cubic, Priority Flat Rate, First Class, Connect Local), DHL eCommerce, and regional carriers like LSO, OnTrac, Veho, and Better Trucks where you have accounts. Add carriers as you add accounts.

How does the choice reach our label printer?

That is part of the discovery conversation. Most clients have an integration path that delivers the chosen carrier and service into their existing label flow. Some need a small layer to bridge the gap. Either way, the rate-shop service is the same; only the delivery mechanism differs.

When is this worth building?

Rough thresholds. At 500+ shipments per day with varied packaging or mixed carrier accounts, the recoverable cost usually clears six figures per year. Below that, the ROI depends on whether you are already using the right carrier-specific parcel types (FedEx Envelope, USPS Cubic); if not, the savings can be material at lower volumes too.

Do you handle FedEx One Rate, USPS Cubic, and similar flat-rate options?

Yes; these are first-class options in the comparison. Each is rated against your real package alongside per-pound services. The service picks whichever wins on real cost for that shipment.

Carrier rate automation

Rate-shop every shipment across every carrier and parcel type

FedEx One Rate, FedEx Envelope, USPS Cubic, USPS Priority Flat Rate, UPS Simple Rate, regional carriers, your negotiated accounts. Each unlocks a cheaper rate for the right shipment. We compare them all using your real packs.

See the math on your shipments

The problem

Carrier-specific parcels are where the savings live

Each carrier has parcel types that unlock cheaper rates for the right shipment. Picking the right combination of carrier and parcel, on real package data, is where rate automation pays off. Doing it by hand at scale is not realistic.

Carrier-specific parcel types

FedEx One Rate, FedEx Envelope, USPS Cubic, USPS Priority Flat Rate, UPS Simple Rate. Each unlocks cheaper rates for the right shipment; ignored, your rate quote misses the savings.

Service-level nuance

Ground is not Home Delivery. Express is not Priority. The cheapest "ground" rate is often a residential variant priced differently. Comparing the wrong service levels picks the wrong winner.

Real DIMs change everything

A 12x9x6 box rates differently across every carrier. DIM-weight thresholds, oversize triggers, residential surcharges. Quoting a default package gets you a number; quoting the actual pack gets you the real cheapest.

Rates drift quarterly

Negotiated rates change. Surcharges change (peak fees, fuel, address corrections). A weight band that picked carrier A last quarter picks carrier B today, but the rule has not been updated.

Operators choose by habit

Without automation, the senior packer's preferred carrier wins by default. The cheaper option goes unused because nobody is measuring; the savings die in the box. On a recent 53-rule ShipStation tenant we audited, only 18 rules were actually firing; the rest were legacy cruft nobody had deleted.

Manual rate-shop does not scale

At 100 orders a day, a packer can spot-check rates. At 1,000+, every order ships on whichever carrier the rule picked first; the long tail of savings goes unrealized.

The solution

Compare every carrier and parcel type, pick the real cheapest

Cartonization or a pre-pack scan tells the rate-shop service the actual box, weight, and contents. The service queries every eligible carrier API in parallel, tries every parcel type that fits, includes all the surcharges, and returns the carrier-and-parcel combination that wins on real cost.

Real packs, real rates, every parcel option

For each shipment the service knows the actual dimensions, weight, destination, and contents. It queries FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL eCommerce, and any regional carriers in parallel. For each carrier, it tries every parcel type that fits: One Rate, Envelope, Cubic, Priority Flat Rate, Simple Rate, Ground, Home Delivery, regional flat rates. It compares real prices including residential, large-package, fuel, and zone surcharges, then returns the carrier-and-parcel combination that wins.

Every carrier's parcel types in one comparison
Real package dimensions per shipment
Parallel carrier API calls
DIM-weight, surcharges, and zone all included
Carrier-account-aware (negotiated rates, third-party billing)
Audit log of every rate decision

Every carrier's parcel types

FedEx One Rate, FedEx Envelope, USPS Cubic, USPS Priority Flat Rate, UPS Simple Rate, regional flat rates. The service knows which parcel unlocks the cheapest rate per carrier per shipment.

Real package data

Dimensions and weight from cartonization or a pre-pack scan. The rate quote matches what will actually ship, not a default.

Parallel carrier APIs

FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL eCommerce, and regional carriers queried in parallel. The comparison happens in tens of milliseconds, not seconds.

Regional carriers included

LSO, OnTrac, Veho, Better Trucks, USPS Connect Local, and others where you have accounts. Regional carriers often beat national rates on metro lanes; we make sure they are in the comparison.

Surcharge-aware

Residential, large package, fuel, address correction. Baked into the comparison; the rate you see is the rate you pay.

Audit log

Every rate decision logged with the inputs, the alternatives, and the choice. Carrier-mix shifts surface in your data, not on the next invoice.

See the math on your shipments

Schedule a call

The outcome

Every shipment ships on the cheapest viable carrier and parcel

Shipping cost as a percentage of order value drops. Carrier-mix shifts surface in your reports, not as a surprise on the invoice. Operators stop guessing; the system picks. One merchant on a similar setup estimated $200K per year recoverable. A different shipper at ~218 packages/day on a multi-channel order hub feeding ShipStation was paying ~60% more per ounce on USPS than on a negotiated UPS contract in the residential 1-5 lb band where most of their volume sat; one rate-shop preset change recovered ~$38K/yr.

Cheaper

Real-package, real-parcel rate-shop catches savings hidden in the surcharges

Visible

Every carrier choice logged, so cost shifts show up in your reports

Hands-off

Operators stop guessing carrier and parcel; the system picks; they pack and ship

Ready to stop overpaying carriers?

Bring a recent carrier invoice to an intro call. We will show you what a real-package, real-parcel rate-shop would have picked, line by line.

Schedule a call