In this article
Talk to our experts- Routing guide
- A routing guide is a document a retailer provides to its suppliers to standardize how routing instructions are interpreted and processed, so every shipment follows the same rules. It tells the shipper which carrier and service level to use and where to send the freight, based on the shipment's origin, destination, weight, size and type.
Also called: retailer routing guide
How it works
A routing guide is the retailer's set of shipping instructions for suppliers. GS1 US, the standards organization, defines it as a document provided by the retailer to the shipper to standardize the interpretation and processing of routing instructions and to ensure consistent compliance.
GS1 US says routing guides were originally developed to convey how to determine the carrier for collect freight, and that they are typically embedded within a retailer's vendor compliance manual. It adds that misinterpretation of routing instructions by the shipper often results in expense offsets to the shipper and lost sales for the retailer.
A retailer may have one or more routing guides. Separate guides may be needed for different merchandise types, freight terms (collect or prepaid) or divisions. GS1 US publishes a standard Routing Guide Template so retailers can present the rules the same way, and notes that the guideline is voluntary, not mandatory.
What it contains
In the GS1 US template (Guidelines for the Routing Guide, Release 2.0, January 29, 2016), a routing guide has a header and four body sections:
- Header: the routing guide name, division, merchandise type, freight terms, guide number and release, and publish and effective dates. The effective date should be at least 15 days after the publish date.
- Initial Ship From/Ship To: the shipment origin by country, state or ZIP code, and the destination, which is either specified on the purchase order or derived from a store to distribution center cross-reference.
- Shipping parameters: handling unit type and count, weight, cube, linear feet of trailer and shipment type, such as reefer.
- Revised Ship To: a new destination, such as a consolidator, used for second pass routing.
- Routing information: the carrier, its SCAC (Standard Carrier Alpha Code), the service level, a contact, carrier priority, and whether routing is dynamic.
Static vs dynamic routing
A static routing guide contains routing instructions that remain constant for a specific period of time. Dynamic routing determines the routing requirements on a per-shipment basis, with the shipping information communicated by EDI or other electronic means. X12 has a transaction set for each side of that exchange:
Dynamic routing over EDI
The supplier requests routing instructions and gives general information about merchandise that is ready to be shipped.
Routing instructions are communicated to the supplier for that specific shipment.
The supplier ships with the carrier, SCAC and service level the instructions name.
Example
A supplier is ready to ship 20 cartons to a retailer's distribution center. Each carton measures 25 x 30 x 35 inches. Using the GS1 US cube formula:
- Cube per carton: 25 x 30 x 35 = 26,250 cubic inches, and 26,250 / 1,728 = 15.19 cubic feet
- Total cube: 20 x 15.19 = 303.8 cubic feet
Suppose the guide's line for that origin sends shipments under 200 cubic feet to one carrier and larger ones to another. At 303.8 cubic feet, the supplier tenders the freight to the second carrier at the service level that line lists.
On Shopify
A routing guide keys on where an order is going. In Shopify B2B, that destination comes from the buyer's company location: when a B2B customer checks out, the shipping and billing addresses are pre-filled according to the information in the company profile, and customers have the option to enter a purchase order number for the order. A buyer assigned to more than one company location selects which location they are ordering for before adding items to the cart.
How Uncap helps
Uncap's Shopify EDI integration guide notes that enterprise buyers require EDI because it removes the manual handling risk that creates chargebacks, payment delays and routing errors. The integration should create Shopify orders with the correct company assignment, pricing from the right catalog, ship-to location and PO number.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is a routing guide?
A routing guide is a document a retailer provides to its suppliers to standardize the interpretation and processing of routing instructions and to ensure consistent compliance. It names the carrier, SCAC and service level to use for each combination of origin, destination and shipment size.
What are routing instructions?
Routing instructions specify how a shipment will be moved: the carrier, its SCAC, the service level and a contact. They can sit in a static routing guide or arrive per shipment, for example in an X12 EDI 754, which communicates routing instructions to a supplier for a specific shipment.
How do you use a routing guide?
A routing guide built on the GS1 US template is read from left to right and from top to bottom. Find the entries for your Ship From country, state and ZIP code, then work from the most specific instruction to the least specific. A blank field does not apply to the routing instruction.
