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Shipping Providers, Labels and Delivery Options

Creating carrier labels from QrX, UPS Payment On Delivery label sets, delivery options like Signature Required, live tracking, and test mode.

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Written by Hayko

Shipping Providers, Labels and Delivery Options

This article explains how to connect carriers in PortalX, which label options exist, what the UPS delivery options do and why a shipment can be blocked.

Shipping Providers

Go to Settings > Operations > Shipping Providers (permission Manage Shipping). The list shows each provider account with its display name, carrier, channel, contract type (Own contract or QrX priced), default method and whether it is active.

Available carriers include UPS, PostNL, DHL, DPD, GLS, bpost, CIRRO, PACKS, Peddler, Dynalogic and In-house delivery. UPS and PostNL have a guided settings form; other carriers use a technical settings field that QrX usually sets up for you.

  1. Click Add Provider.

  2. Choose the shipping provider (this cannot be changed later), a display name, optionally a merchant channel (leave empty to use the account for all channels) and optionally a sender address.

  3. Keep Active on. Inactive accounts cannot be used for new shipments.

  4. Save. You can then add Method Profiles: the services you ship with, each with a name, a code you can use in API calls and the carrier service code. One profile can be the default.

UPS

  • Your own UPS contract: enter your Client ID, Client secret, Account number and Shipper number. You can switch test mode on or off yourself.

  • QrX UPS Payment On Delivery: the account is managed by QrX. Only printing preferences can be changed. Test mode can only be switched by QrX support; UPS charges apply when test mode is off.

  • Test mode and live orders: a UPS or PostNL method in test mode creates sandbox labels that do not ship. It cannot be chosen for a live order that already has a payment link; in the shipping method list it is greyed out with a short note. Use a test transaction to try it out, or ask QrX support to switch the account to live.

  • Label format: Standard (4x6), which is the UPS label plus a separate QrX payment label, or Extended (4x8 combined), with the QrX payment panel inside one label. Choose PDF or ZPL.

  • Carrier document copies and Print carrier documents with labels, for example a commercial invoice for customs lanes. For lanes outside the EU the invoice is on by default when you never changed this setting and a packing slip or document printer is set, and it holds the HS code, origin, description and value of every order line. See "Customs Data and Dangerous Goods Checks on Shipments".

  • UPS dangerous goods agreement (only on your own UPS contract): switch it on only when your UPS contract has a dangerous goods agreement. Parcels with dangerous goods, for example lithium batteries, are then declared to UPS on UPS Standard within the EU, with the UPS dangerous goods declaration of each stock item. See "Customs Data and Dangerous Goods Checks on Shipments".

  • UPS Track Alert: real-time tracking. On a QrX-managed account it is set up by QrX. With your own contract, click Show webhook setup and copy the values into your UPS Developer app under UPS Track Alert.

QrX's UPS contract (QrX UPS Payment On Delivery) cannot ship dangerous goods. An order with dangerous goods never gets a label on it: choose another shipping method for such orders.

PostNL

  • Choose Your own PostNL contract or, when offered, the QrX PostNL account.

  • For your own contract enter your customer number, customer code, environment (Sandbox or Production) with its API key, and label format (PDF or ZPL).

  • Verify checks your account by reserving one barcode. No label or shipment is created.

  • PostNL labels are currently available for parcels within the Netherlands (domestic parcels and domestic returns).

  • A PostNL return label can take at least 10 minutes to become available.

Delivery Options (UPS)

  • Signature on delivery: none, signature required or adult signature.

  • Direct Delivery Only: delivered to the recipient address only, no rerouting to an Access Point.

  • Saturday delivery.

For QrX UPS Payment on Delivery, signature and Direct Delivery Only are always on, because UPS requires them. You set delivery options when creating a transaction, when assigning a shipping method, or automatically with shipping rules.

Age-Restricted Products (16+ / 18+)

In the product editor you can give a product a minimum age of 16+ or 18+ (field Minimum age). QrX then handles the carrier side of orders with a line linked to such a QrX product: orders from the QrX app, and Public API, Shopify, import or manual orders whose lines carry the QrX product (product id). Lines that are not linked to a QrX product do not count: they get no automatic UPS adult signature and no warning. The age of an order is the highest minimum age of its linked products.

  • 18+ with UPS: the label automatically gets UPS adult signature. The UPS courier checks the recipient's ID at the door. This also applies on your own UPS contract, and even when the shipping method, a shipping rule or the delivery options say no signature. UPS charges its usual adult signature surcharge, the same as when you choose adult signature yourself.

  • 16+: no adult signature is forced. UPS has only one adult level, so the courier does not check the age of a 16+ order. PortalX shows a warning on these orders.

  • Other carriers, such as PostNL, GLS, Peddler and Packs: they cannot check age at the door through QrX. PortalX shows a warning on the order and at the pack station. The label is still created, and you are responsible for the age check.

See "Managing Transactions in PortalX" for the Age check on the order and for pickup orders.

Selling age-restricted goods through orders that are not linked to a QrX product? Set UPS adult signature on the shipping method, or check the ID yourself.

Surcharges

If your shipping price excludes fuel, PortalX shows the base price, the fuel surcharge and the final price. Until the label exists, the live fuel surcharge is added at label creation. A residential surcharge works the same way. Invoices show fuel surcharges as a separate line.

Why a Shipment Can Be Blocked

  • "This shipping lane is not allowed for this price assignment": the destination is not in your price agreement.

  • "Cannot exceed max ... kg": the parcel is heavier than your agreement allows.

  • "No valid customer shipping price is defined for this shipment" or "Configure a customer shipping price": no price is set up for this lane or method.

  • "Transaction amount must be higher than the shipment cost.": the order amount must be higher than the final shipping price.

  • "The label was not bought: this order has dangerous goods that its carrier or shipping method does not allow.": a dangerous goods rule blocks the carrier or shipping method. Change the shipping method, or override the block at the pack station.

  • "This order has dangerous goods. QrX's UPS contract cannot ship them: choose another shipping method.": change the shipping method, for example to your own UPS contract with the dangerous goods agreement or to another carrier.

  • "The UPS dangerous goods declaration is incomplete for item ...", "UPS dangerous goods can only be declared on UPS Standard within the EU." or "This parcel holds more than one dangerous-goods item.": complete the item, use UPS Standard within the EU, or ship each dangerous goods item in its own parcel.

Accounts on your own contract are never blocked by QrX pricing; QrX only creates the label.

Delivered but Unpaid (UPS)

When a UPS parcel is delivered but not paid, the transaction shows Delivered, unpaid and later Delivered, unpaid legal. Expand the row to see the payment recovery roadmap.

When to Contact Our Support Team

  • You need a new carrier, lane or shipping price set up.

  • You want test mode switched on or off for a QrX-managed UPS account.

  • Labels keep failing for a carrier account that you verified.

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