Understanding Arranged Freight Delivery for LTL Shipments
I am really confused about the language used for "Delivery options for freight-shipping template - Arranged Freight Delivery" where it states: "This option requires you, or your carrier, to contact the customer via phone or Buyer-Seller Messaging within 2 business days of the order being placed, to set up a delivery appointment time".
If you know LTL Freight most shipments don't and cannot ship within 2 business days. How can a seller schedule a delivery with a customer before the pallet has even shipped or a Bill of Lading having been created? LTL Freight is NOT an exact science - far from it. There are issues related to weather, traffic, trucking lanes etc etc. How can a seller commit to delivering a shipment on a specific date (and time) before it has made it to the Local Distribution Center which is where the call is typically made to the customer to schedule delivery?!
Normally a freight shipment leaves within 3-5 business days, tracking is provided and the customer receives a phone call from the carrier once the shipment is ready to be delivered normally 2-10 business days after - depending on origin and destination. If a shipment goes from CA to ME it is literally impossible to schedule delivery in advance.
Another issue is that many carriers use Final Mile delivery companies. So for example R+L Carriers will hand over a shipment to a different smaller / local carrier to handle the final mile delivery.
And another issue is if let's say an order comes in on a Friday - the second business days is a Monday - how in the world is a seller expected to call and schedule delivery with a customer if the carrier is not even close to shipping the LTL shipment and especially when there's a weekend (or maybe a holiday) in the middle.
LTL Freight shipments are just not as accurate as one would think (or wish for) - even parcel shipments cannot predict 100% in advance when a shipment would be delivered. Normally you see the word "estimated" for a delivery date - so how could one expect to schedule a delivery date of a freight shipment within 2 days of receiving that order.
What is Amazon really asking for within the 2 business days. Do we have to enter and commit to the delivery date after speaking with the customer? Do we have to provide tracking? How can someone provide tracking information if a Bill of Lading hasn't even been created?
Can someone who actually knows something advise on how all this works?
Can someone assist here?
Understanding Arranged Freight Delivery for LTL Shipments
I am really confused about the language used for "Delivery options for freight-shipping template - Arranged Freight Delivery" where it states: "This option requires you, or your carrier, to contact the customer via phone or Buyer-Seller Messaging within 2 business days of the order being placed, to set up a delivery appointment time".
If you know LTL Freight most shipments don't and cannot ship within 2 business days. How can a seller schedule a delivery with a customer before the pallet has even shipped or a Bill of Lading having been created? LTL Freight is NOT an exact science - far from it. There are issues related to weather, traffic, trucking lanes etc etc. How can a seller commit to delivering a shipment on a specific date (and time) before it has made it to the Local Distribution Center which is where the call is typically made to the customer to schedule delivery?!
Normally a freight shipment leaves within 3-5 business days, tracking is provided and the customer receives a phone call from the carrier once the shipment is ready to be delivered normally 2-10 business days after - depending on origin and destination. If a shipment goes from CA to ME it is literally impossible to schedule delivery in advance.
Another issue is that many carriers use Final Mile delivery companies. So for example R+L Carriers will hand over a shipment to a different smaller / local carrier to handle the final mile delivery.
And another issue is if let's say an order comes in on a Friday - the second business days is a Monday - how in the world is a seller expected to call and schedule delivery with a customer if the carrier is not even close to shipping the LTL shipment and especially when there's a weekend (or maybe a holiday) in the middle.
LTL Freight shipments are just not as accurate as one would think (or wish for) - even parcel shipments cannot predict 100% in advance when a shipment would be delivered. Normally you see the word "estimated" for a delivery date - so how could one expect to schedule a delivery date of a freight shipment within 2 days of receiving that order.
What is Amazon really asking for within the 2 business days. Do we have to enter and commit to the delivery date after speaking with the customer? Do we have to provide tracking? How can someone provide tracking information if a Bill of Lading hasn't even been created?
Can someone who actually knows something advise on how all this works?
Can someone assist here?
0 replies
TaylorR_Amazon
Hello @Seller_veV3MguQv7nvo, I want to admit that this subject is not my strong suit, but I can offer some resources and research any remaining questions that you have.
You can define coverage areas for these services:
- Create a service shipping template, with $0 shipping price.
- Assign the service shipping template to all SKUs that you want to sell locally with services.
- Go to Service Settings, and then on the Local regions tab, click Add service region.
- Select the Service Shipping template in the Associated Ship Template drop-down. This will link your Services to the Products associated with this template.
- Enter your coverage area name. For example, “Downtown Seattle”.
- Enter your ZIP code, select your driving distance, and then click Search. A list of all the ZIP codes within your selected driving distance automatically populates.
- Click Show All ZIPs at the top of the map to see the location of all the ZIPs. Deselecting a ZIP code from the list removes it from your coverage area and it will turn red on your map.
- Select the days and hours of operation for your coverage area.
- Select the product families (Refrigerators, Beds, Grills, etc.) on the left side of the screen, and enter prices for the services you are able to offer for the selected items in this coverage area.
- Click Save.
You are able to reschedule deliveries if necessary, however, you will need to keep your reschedule rate under 2%. Review the Service performance requirements linked.
I see that you opened a case with Seller Support about this. Feel free to reopen that case and/or let me know if you have any questions.
