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No Shipping Methods Available at Checkout: How to Fix Missing Rates

When no shipping methods appear at checkout, it usually means ShipperHQ couldn’t return a valid rate for the current cart and destination. This is most often caused by missing product data, a rule or carrier restriction, or a configuration mismatch. Below is a breakdown of the most common causes, grouped by area, to help you quickly identify what’s blocking rates and how to resolve them.

Before You Start (Quick Checks)

Before diving into troubleshooting, please confirm:

  • Your ShipperHQ configuration is enabled/live
  • Your platform integration is connected and active
  • Your carriers are enabled and active
  • The issue isn’t platform-side (for example: a checkout outage, custom checkout template errors, or third-party app conflicts)

Product Data & Cart Configuration Issues

These are some of the most common causes of missing rates:

  • Missing product weight or dimensions: required for all Live Rate carriers (UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, etc.): Add weight and dimensions to all shippable products
  • Products not assigned to a Shipping Group: especially important when using custom rate tables, shipping group/rules restrictions, freight, or mixed product types
  • Cart exceeds carrier limits: For example:
    • UPS Small Parcel max weight (typically 150 lbs)
    • Max package count or girth limits
  • Oversized or freight-only items without an LTL carrier configured
    • Solution: Create a Shipping Group (e.g. Oversized or LTL) and mark it as freight.
    • Girth exceeded, but no freight/LTL fallback is configured
  • Mixed Shipping Groups without rules allowing them to ship together: Create a merge rule or assign compatible Shipping Groups
  • Non-shippable items (e.g. digital products and/or subscription products) blocking the cart

Shipping Rules & Rate Logic

Shipping rules are powerful, but misconfigured rules can suppress all or some methods:

  • A hide all methods rule is suppressing some or all methods for the cart in question: review your hide rules.
  • Conflicting rules
    • Two or more rules blocking the same cart scenario
  • Min/max thresholds not met
    • Cart value, weight, quantity, or dimensions fall outside rule limits
  • Customer-specific rules don’t match
    • Customer groups and tags, or login state don’t match the rule conditions e.g. hide rates for customers not logged in
  • No matching rate row
    • Table Rates or MatrixRates don’t contain a row for the cart’s:
      • Zone
      • Weight
      • Price
      • Shipping Group

Carrier & API-Related Issues

Carrier setup issues can also prevent rates from returning:

  • Invalid or expired carrier credentials
    • Re-enter credentials in the carrier settings
  • Unsupported service requested
    • Example: International services are not enabled on the carrier account
  • Carrier API downtime or timeouts
    • Try again later or check the carrier’s service status
  • Required special services are missing
    • Examples: Saturday delivery, COD, hazmat, liftgate
    • If required by a rule but not enabled on the carrier, rates will fail
  • Carrier restricted by location
    • At the carrier level (country/region limitations)
    • Or via Shipping Rules limiting where the carrier can appear

Shipping Zones & Coverage

Rates won’t return if the destination isn’t covered correctly:

  • Destination not included in any Shipping Zone
    • Check country, state, and ZIP/postcode coverage
  • Origin zone mismatch
    • No valid origin → destination pairing
  • Remote or excluded areas
    • Common examples:
      • Alaska / Hawaii excluded by a US48-only setup
      • Rural ZIP codes excluded
  • PO Box address
    • Some carriers (e.g. UPS, FedEx) don’t support PO Boxes

Address & Validation Issues

Address formatting issues can prevent carriers from returning rates:

  • Invalid characters or formatting
    • Often caused by browser autofill
  • ZIP / City mismatch
    • Especially common with US addresses
  • Residential vs Commercial flag mismatch
  • Address validation not enabled
    • Or not permitted on the carrier account
  • Remote area surcharges not supported
    • Carrier settings may not allow these destinations

Common Diagnostic Messages (Grouped)

You may see messages like the following in logs or Shipping Insights:

Address & Validation

  • Invalid Origin/Destination Country or State

  • City, State, or ZIP is missing

  • ZIP / City mismatch

  • Address validation not enabled or permitted

Carrier & Limits

  • No shipping methods found for carrier

  • Carrier connection error or timeout

  • Max weight, package, or shipment limits exceeded

  • No pickup locations found

  • Could not find the requested carrier

Rules & Configuration

  • Shipping prevented by a user-defined rule

  • No valid rates or dates found

  • No carriers configured for this origin

  • No merged rates found

  • Missing rates for carrier groups

System & Integration

  • Google API Key not present

  • Carrier sandbox/live mode mismatch


These messages usually point directly to what’s blocking rates.

Troubleshooting Tips

To narrow down the cause quickly:

  • Use the Test Your Rates tool
    This is the fastest way to see why rates were suppressed
  • Test with a simpler cart
    • Try one product at a time to isolate the issue
  • Temporarily disable rules
    • Helps confirm whether a rule is blocking rates
  • Test a known-good address
    • Use a standard, non-remote address to rule out zone issues