Desperately need to calculate freight shipping rates!

[AFemaleProdigy]

Hello,

 

I have been trying for over a month now to get help with the default PS fedex carrier module because it is not calculating freight shipping.  Even thought the freight option is there, it does not work.  No one will help me.  I give up on that module.  And I am pretty disappointed at the lack of customer service by PS in this department.

 

Does anyone know of any other shipment modules that will calculate freight for any of the major US carriers such as UPS or Fedex?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

 

[Naldinho]

I stopped using the free Fedex module because of the limitation on calculating everything as one box which for heavy products quickly breaks FedEx Ground and FedEx Express.

During the time I used the module I think I got FedEx Freight to work once. I've concluded that I must have imagined it because despite trying to get it to work I've never been able to.

I switched my FedEx Ground and FedEx Express module to the one from PrestoChango. It is considerably better than the free module but it also does not do freight shipping.


I am a big fan of FedEx for both Ground and Express but when it comes to freight their prices are ridiculous -- like 3 and 4 times as much as other LTL options. My solution for freight was to use another module from PrestoChango called Localized Shipping and quotes from a local LTL carrier to create a spreadsheet of the cost for different weights to different postal codes. It worked great although it did take several hours to set up.We ship in Canada and the United States. I've only done Canada. I expect when I do the United States it will take a couple of days at least.

[AFemaleProdigy]

Thank you for the reply.  It is frustrating that no one has had any luck with the PS fedex module freight option.  I feel like it has not worked in years and no one from PS cares.  From looking at how long people have been asking in the forums about the freight option and not once has anyone had a solution or even a response for these people.  I am pretty disappointed with PS support right now.

 

I have reached out to other vendors for a solution too and cannot find any at all.  

[Bill Dalton]

I recommend you try http://www.presto-changeo.com/en/10-shipping-modules For $100 your problem is solved and you get support!

[AFemaleProdigy]

I recommend you try http://www.presto-changeo.com/en/10-shipping-modules For $100 your problem is solved and you get support!

 

Bill,

 

I already talked to them.  None of their modules offer freight rates.  

 

Thanks though!

[Naldinho]

The Presto-Chango module is how I dealt with freight. Just today in a different discussion of freight shipping I discovered that there is an LTL option that has an API but at the time I was setting up shipping I didn't know that so I used Localized Shipping to do it manually.

Basically your two options are:

1) Find a carrier that has an API and odds are that no module will exist so write one or hire someone to write you one.

2) Used Localized Shipping from Presto-Chango and manually create a freight option -- how much work that will be depends on how willing your LTL carrier is to give you rates. If they will send you a file with your rates to all your destinations for different weights you're golden and the whole thing will take less than an hour. If they won't share data and you have to extract it or worse estimate it then it will take longer. 

 

A third option would be to find a module that works for freight but  if you do it is going to be something like FedEx freight. That will make your shipping way too high. FedEx come in at three to four times what I pay for LTL shipping elsewhere. 

How big and heavy are the products you are shipping? 

Edited July 14, 2016 by Naldinho (see edit history)

[Bill Dalton]

AFemaleProdigy, Yeah my bad, I didn't read your post close enough and confused Freight with just normal FedEx.

[AFemaleProdigy]

The Presto-Chango module is how I dealt with freight. Just today in a different discussion of freight shipping I discovered that there is an LTL option that has an API but at the time I was setting up shipping I didn't know that so I used Localized Shipping to do it manually.

 

Basically your two options are:

 

1) Find a carrier that has an API and odds are that no module will exist so write one or hire someone to write you one.

 

2) Used Localized Shipping from Presto-Chango and manually create a freight option -- how much work that will be depends on how willing your LTL carrier is to give you rates. If they will send you a file with your rates to all your destinations for different weights you're golden and the whole thing will take less than an hour. If they won't share data and you have to extract it or worse estimate it then it will take longer. 

 

A third option would be to find a module that works for freight but  if you do it is going to be something like FedEx freight. That will make your shipping way too high. FedEx come in at three to four times what I pay for LTL shipping elsewhere. 

 

How big and heavy are the products you are shipping? 

 

I am willing to pay someone if they will make me a module or make the default fedex carrier work.  I am not able to code a module to that extent myself.

 

Manually adding rates would be concerning, since rates can change at any time.  I want something with real-time auto updating rates.

 

We can switch to UPS if we can find a freight module.

 

They are shipping large furniture like beds and couches.

[Naldinho]

I just responded to your other topic and now it seems like my response there was wrong since you actually do need LTL.

Basically you need to find a LTL supplier that has good rates and an API. I use Manitoulin and while their rates are great they do not have an API so no live rates. In the States you would have more options and you should be able to find someone who has good rates and an API. As I said in my post in the other thread you don't want to use FedEx because on a current order I am paying under $1100 to Manitoulin but the same order to ship on FedEx Freight would be over $4000.

Once you have a freight carrier then you just need to make / have made a module that will fetch prices from their API.

In a different topic I was discussing freight  with a fellow PrestaShop user and he sells RV parts so is using FreightCenter.com They are a freight aggregator and they have an API. I am going to switch my freight quotes to using prices from freight center as it is much better to have real-time live prices than to rely on manually entered static prices. Since a quick search didn't turn up any modules for PrestaShop that fetch prices from their API I'm likely going to have to write my own (I'm going to take a better look to see if I can find one I can just buy first) but I likely won't get to that for a few months. If you still don't have a solution then you're welcome to it for free.

There are a lot of people who will write you a module for $ on here. Some do excellent work, some suck. Prices are all over the place as well. Be cautious of people who are too low because their work is often not the greatest and there might be language issues in communicating with them. That said also be aware that some people work on the model that doing a job for 4x the fair price is optimal as long as they only lose less than 3 in 4 prospective clients.  

[AFemaleProdigy]

I appreciate the information!  It has been really hard getting help with this matter.  I do not usually post in multiple threads, but I had to get someone to notice.

 

Yes, LTL is necessary.  We are open to other carriers, if it makes sense and works in the US.  I will check out FreightCenter, but it won't help me without a module.  I have mentioned before that I will gladly pay for a module, but no one has stepped up.  If you figure something out, I would greatly appreciate the help!

[Naldinho]

There is a Job Offers section where you can post asking for people to quote on making you a module. You can also try all the standard hire someone to code for you sites -- Elance, oDesk, Freelancer, [spam-filter], etc.

I've never contracted out for a module so I can't give any recommendations. I'd look for their posting history and personal sites -- if they have been helpful and seem to know what they are talking about plus they have highly rated modules for sale then they are going to be able to make you something.

With LTL the two big issues is that most eCommerce software caters to the a market that mostly doesn't need LTL so it isn't provided as a feature. The second issue is that most LTL carriers are still in the 80s when it comes to technology -- only a handful have APIs so even if people wanted to build shipping modules there just isn't that many carriers that provide data.

I've never used freight center. I just found out about it a few days ago from another member is a discussion of how to implement freight into PrestaShop. I'm happy with Manitoulin and have no reason to switch except except for the lack of API. The static data is close enough and on anything that requires a skid I have enough margin that even if I lose money on shipping I won't care but I'd still prefer to have real-time accurate shipping prices. I took a quick look at Ship Center and they seem to be trying to make is easy for eCommerce integration so it wouldn't be hard for someone to write a module. The other thing is that any of the carriers that Ship Center pulls prices from also have to have an API so odds are they make that API available to customers so you could use any of those carriers as well if you prefer dealing with a company directly.

[AFemaleProdigy]

There is a Job Offers section where you can post asking for people to quote on making you a module. You can also try all the standard hire someone to code for you sites -- Elance, oDesk, Freelancer, [spam-filter], etc.

 

I've never contracted out for a module so I can't give any recommendations. I'd look for their posting history and personal sites -- if they have been helpful and seem to know what they are talking about plus they have highly rated modules for sale then they are going to be able to make you something.

 

With LTL the two big issues is that most eCommerce software caters to the a market that mostly doesn't need LTL so it isn't provided as a feature. The second issue is that most LTL carriers are still in the 80s when it comes to technology -- only a handful have APIs so even if people wanted to build shipping modules there just isn't that many carriers that provide data.

 

I've never used freight center. I just found out about it a few days ago from another member is a discussion of how to implement freight into PrestaShop. I'm happy with Manitoulin and have no reason to switch except except for the lack of API. The static data is close enough and on anything that requires a skid I have enough margin that even if I lose money on shipping I won't care but I'd still prefer to have real-time accurate shipping prices. I took a quick look at Ship Center and they seem to be trying to make is easy for eCommerce integration so it wouldn't be hard for someone to write a module. The other thing is that any of the carriers that Ship Center pulls prices from also have to have an API so odds are they make that API available to customers so you could use any of those carriers as well if you prefer dealing with a company directly.

 

Thank you for the input.  Hopefully I can find a solution.

[AFemaleProdigy]

Well, I finally got it working.  What a nightmare!  I created a post to help others...

 

https://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/544144-fedex-carrier-important-notes-about-freight-shipping/

[Naldinho]

Congratulations. 

I would still be concerned about the cost. Customers are insane about shipping. I've had billion dollar companies complain about a couple of hundred dollars on shipping and when it comes to LTL FedEx is one of the most expensive options. 

In your tutorial you mention the stupid Free Shipping thing that happens when someone who is not logged in / has not entered a address -- there are a half-dozen topics on that with various degrees of solutions. Basically you just need to edit a couple of lines to get rid of it. It is a pain though since most people are not comfortable editing core files.
 

With Freight Center after I signed up for an account so I could check their API -- I've since received three voice messages from a sales person. I don't like that. I know it is supposed to be good business practice to peruse warm leads but personally I've always been turned off by stuff like that.