Understanding Carrier Manifests in ShipHero

A Carrier Manifest is a comprehensive document provided to a shipping carrier at the end of the day during pickup. It lists every individual package included in a shipment, acting as a master list for the driver and the carrier sorting facility. ShipHero streamlines this process by automating most manifest tasks to ensure accuracy and speed.

Key Benefits:

• Proof of Handover: It serves as a receipt that the carrier has officially taken possession of your packages.
• Faster Scanning: Instead of scanning individual boxes, a driver can scan a single barcode on the manifest to accept the entire batch.
• Compliance: Certain carriers require a Driver Manifest Summary to initiate the transit process.
• Insurance and Tracking: For many services, the manifest triggers the first Accepted tracking event, which is vital for customer satisfaction and insurance claims.

How to Generate Manifests in ShipHero

ShipHero offers two ways to handle manifests: Manual Generation for when you need control, and Automatic Generation for hands-off workflows.

Manual Manifest Generation

1. Navigate to the Orders > Manifests page.
2. Click the Create Manifest button.
3. Select your Carrier and Warehouse from the dropdown menu.
4. Select the Date for the shipments you wish to include.
5. Click Generate.

NOTE: If you do not see a carrier listed in the drop-down option then generating manifests for that carrier are not supported. Carriers that DO NOT support manifests include: UPS, Amazon Shipping variants, Generic Label carriers, Zone Skipping carriers (last-mile labels are manifested automatically), FirstMile and other aggregator carriers.

Automatic End-of-Day Generation

ShipHero includes an automatic generator that triggers at 10 PM and 11 PM automatically based on the account's timezone or at a carriers fixed automated manifest time. 

Most carriers do NOT have a fixed automated manifest time, the only carriers with fixed end-of-day hours are Endicia USPS at 4:00 AM UTC and Shippo USPS at 3:00 AM UTC

Viewing Generated Manifests

All manifests (both manual and automated) appear on the Orders > Manifests page. However, there is no distinction or filter to separate automated from manual manifests in the UI.

You can filter the page by Carrier and the Manifest date.

Available columns on the page include: Manifest/PO Number(s), Carrier, Warehouse, Manifest Date, and Creation Date; along with the option to print. 

Carrier Requirements and Support

The following table outlines how different carriers interact with the ShipHero manifest system: