How to Set Up FedEx

Overview

This articled covers how to connect FedEx parcel services (including Home Delivery, Ground, Express, Hold at Location, SameDay City and Air Freight services) or FedEx Ground Economy to your ShipperHQ account.

Requirements

When connecting a FedEx Account with your negotiated rates to ShipperHQ, you’ll need certain information that will allow ShipperHQ to connect to the FedEx servers and obtain a rate quote:

• FedEx Account Number
• The address and phone number associated with your FedEx Account Billing
• FedEx Ground Economy Hub ID (only if setting up FedEx Ground Economy)

Steps To Add This Carrier

1. Go to the Carriers page in the ShipperHQ dashboard
2. Click + New to add a new carrier
3. Select Live Rate Carrier
4. Search for and select FedEx or FedEx Ground Economy
5. Name this carrier (this name will be the name your customers see in the Checkout.)
6. You have two options for getting live rates from FedEx
   1. Standard List Rates
      Will not require you to enter any credentials and rates will be based on FedEx’s publish list rates. If you choose Standard List Rates click “Finish” and proceed to configuration. At any time, you can return to this carrier and enter your own account credentials to receive your negotiated rates.
   2. Use My Own FedEx Account Rates
      If you choose to use your own account, you will follow the rest of these instructions and click ‘Validate‘.
      1. 1. Enter your FedEx Account Number and contact information
         2. Enter your Address (this must be the pickup address on file with FedEx for your account)
         3. If setting up FedEx Ground Economy, you’ll be able to enter your Hub ID
         4. Click Validate

      If you receive an error message instead of a success message, click the “Or, Try Credentials Again” and double-check the info you’ve entered. See the troubleshooting steps below for more information.

7. Success! Your FedEx carrier has now been added to your list of carriers in ShipperHQ.

FedEx Address Validation Service

ShipperHQ supports a variety of features around address validation including the ability to validate the address entered by your customers in the checkout, automatic address type lookup, and address suggestion. Address Validation is completely optional, but if you’d like to add it to your checkout process, you can enable the Address Validation or Dynamic Address Type Lookup Advanced Feature on ShipperHQ, using one of your Advanced Feature slots.  Enabling Address Validation or Type Lookup will result in fewer orders being sent to incorrect addresses and reduce charges from carriers for invalid addressing and address type.

Learn how to enable and manage the ShipperHQ Address Validation Advanced Feature…

FedEx Air Freight

FedEx Air Freight is a different service to FedEx LTL. It’s used to ship items over 150lbs or that exceed 70″ in height or 119″ in length or 80″ in width both internationally and domestic.

The methods are FedEx International Priority Freight, FedEx International Economy Freight or FedEx 1, 2 or 3 Day Freight and FedEx First Freight for domestic shipments.

To get started create a standard FedEx carrier following steps above.

Configure FedEx Carrier for Air Freight

In the package settings of the new FedEx carrier, ensure you set the Maximum Per Package Weight to be at least 151 lbs, in reality, you will probably want to set it much higher than this. FedEx Air Freight will allow this value to be up to and including 2200 lbs.

If any of your freight boxes are over 60 inches in any measurement, you will need to set the oversize Oversize Length Threshold to something higher than the default of 60″
You will also need to ensure you select the relevant freight methods listed above.

FedEx International Ground

FedEx International Ground shipping is a specific FedEx Method used for shipping from the US to Canada and, from Canada to the US.

In ShipperHQ, this method will be displayed as FedEx Ground, rather than FedEx International Ground.

The appropriate rates and surcharges, however, will still be applied in the quotes returned for US/Canada Ground shipping. 

There are a couple of scenarios where some additional settings may be used to account for the method title at checkout, along with specific shipping rules. 

1. To create shipping rules that are specific to International Ground service, a work-around can be used to set rules on FedEx Ground combined with a Zone set to Canada (for US merchants) or to the US (for Canadian merchants).
2. In order management software, such as ShipStation, the shipping method will not automatically map to FedEx International Ground. On most order management software, a common work-around is to set up rules that map FedEx Ground to International Ground for appropriate shipments (e.g. ShipStation Automation Rules)
3. On the eCommerce website, customers will always see FedEx Ground in the cart, checkout, product page, order page, etc… even when they may be expecting FedEx International Ground. Another workaround can be used to change the method title by creating a duplicate FedEx carrier that is restricted to only Canada (for US merchants) or to the US (for Canadian merchants) and use the Custom Method Naming advanced feature in ShipperHQ to rename the method to be displayed at checkout. 

Troubleshooting

FedEx Account Validation

In order for your live rate carrier to access live rates, you will need to enter the necessary information for FedEx. ShipperHQ will then verify this information with FedEx.

Validation, simply means that ShipperHQ was able to access the shipping account related to the information that you entered and retrieve rates.

If validation fails, the credentials you have already entered will still be saved so they will populate the form when you return. You can:

1. 1. Choose to try validation again and double-check that the information you entered is correct.
   2. Skip validation for now and complete it later. You will be reminded to complete validation later to get rates.
   3. Contact us if you are struggling to validate your carrier and you believe the credentials you are using are correct. We will be happy to help get you validated.

FedEx Rate Discrepancies

ShipperHQ connects to your FedEx account by generating FedEx credentials as described above which means that the shipping rates and options available through ShipperHQ should match the rates you get through FedEx ShipManager, FedEx.com, or any other tool you use to get rates or print labels for FedEx.

If you find that your rates through ShipperHQ are not matching what you expect to receive from FedEx, there are a number of troubleshooting steps that you can take to determine why this may be the case.

If you determine that the response from FedEx themselves, FedEx Web Services Support can be contacted at websupport@fedex.com