Shipping Automation

Carriyo's Shipping Automation feature allows you to easily assign shipments to your preferred carrier using flexible automation rules.

If your business utilises multiple carriers for different shipping needs, Carriyo's automation rules can streamline the carrier selection process. An automation rule is a set of conditions that help pick the right carrier. You can create multiple rules in the order of importance, and Carriyo will use the first rule that matches your shipment.

For best results, it is recommended to place more specific rules higher in the priority list and less specific rules lower in the priority list.

Applying Automation Rules

You have the option to manually select a carrier or have Carriyo's automation rules do it for you. If no carrier is specified during booking, Carriyo will apply the automation rules to choose the carrier for you.

When booking a shipment through the Carriyo API, if you would like to use the automation rules, you must not include the "carrier_account" element in your shipment request while creating or confirming your shipment.

Simple Use Case

For example, a business may want to use one carrier for same-day deliveries in Dubai, another carrier for other deliveries in Dubai, and a different carrier for the rest of the UAE. To meet this requirement, you can create 3 automation rules to select the carrier for each type of delivery. Carriyo's automation engine will go through the rules one by one, in the order of priority. Once it finds a rule that matches, it will assign the shipment to the chosen carrier.

Shipping Automation

  1. The first rule applies to shipments with the following characteristics:
    • The dropoff location is in the United Arab Emirates,
    • The dropoff city is Dubai, and
    • The delivery type is Same Day.
    • Any shipment that meets all of these criteria will be assigned to the chosen carrier.
  2. The second rule applies to shipments with the following characteristics:
    • The dropoff location is in the United Arab Emirates,
    • The dropoff city is Dubai,
    • Regardless of the delivery type.
    • Note that this rule is only used if the shipment does not match the first rule.
  3. The third rule applies to shipments with the following characteristics:
    • The dropoff location is in the United Arab Emirates,
    • Regardless of the dropoff city,
    • Regardless of the delivery type.
    • It's important to note that this rule is only applied if the shipment does not match the first two rules.

Complex Use Cases

While the example provided earlier was basic, Carriyo's automation engine is highly advanced. It allows you to choose a carrier based on a wide range of shipment attributes, and you can create multiple rules to implement your carrier selection strategy.

For instance, if you're shipping to multiple countries and have different carriers for each, you can use a combination of conditions such as pickup location, dropoff location, shipment value, delivery type, payment method (cash on delivery or prepaid), number of parcels, parcel weight, and dimensions to make your carrier selection. This can be easily accomplished by creating automation rules that take all these conditions into account.

Cheapest Carrier

You have the option to assign multiple carriers to an automation rule and let Carriyo automatically select the cheapest carrier. Carriyo will consider the cost profiles you have set up for each carrier and choose the most cost-effective option from the list you've provided. If your subscription plan includes access to the Carrier Costing feature, you can set up cost profiles for your carriers, and Carriyo will determine the cheapest one for you.

Custom Attributes

If your subscription plan allows, you can create custom attributes in addition to using the standard shipment attributes. This can be useful when automating carrier selection. For instance, if the items you ship are heat-sensitive, you can add a custom attribute to indicate this and use it in the automation rules to select a carrier that offers cold transportation.

Daily Limits

You can limit how often a rule is applied each day by setting a daily limit. This can be helpful when working with carriers that have operational capacity limitations or specific agreements in place.

Carrier Capacity

Besides automation rules, you can also set limits for carriers that work in conjunction with the automation rules. If you want to know more about carrier capacity, you can find more information in our Help Center.

Carrier Network

You can also set a network of countries, cities and areas for a carrier, that can be used along with the automation rules to gain more control over the automation process. If you want to know more about carrier network, you can find more information in our Help Center.