Every parcel is now rate-shopped across five carriers by weight, dimensions and destination. The winning label prints itself within seconds, tracking lands back on the order, and the brand shaved 14% off its annual shipping spend without switching a single contract.
Typical results
5
Carriers rate-shopped per parcel
10 sec
From packed to printed label
100%
Parcels on the best rate
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
The warehouse shipped everything with whichever carrier felt right — usually the same one, whatever the parcel. Heavy stock pots went out on tariffs priced for envelopes, remote addresses triggered surcharges nobody saw coming, and comparing rates by hand took four minutes per parcel, so it simply never happened. Shipping quietly became the third-largest cost in the business.
Before and after
Carrier choice & label per parcel
−96%Parcels on the best rate
2.4×Annual shipping spend (indexed)
−14%The automation
We connected the store to five carrier APIs through Make. The moment an order is packed, the automation weighs the parcel data, pulls live rates by weight, dimensions and destination, applies each carrier's surcharge rules, and picks the cheapest option that still meets the promised delivery date. The winning label prints at the packing station in about ten seconds, and the tracking number is pushed back onto the order and out to the customer.
How it works
- 01
Order packed
The packer confirms weight and box size, firing the rate-shop.
- 02
Rates pulled live
Five carrier APIs return live prices for the exact weight, dimensions and destination.
- 03
Rules applied
Surcharges, delivery promises and carrier cutoffs filter the list to the true cheapest option.
- 04
Label prints
The winning label prints at the packing station in about ten seconds.
- 05
Tracking synced
The tracking number posts back to the order and the customer gets notified.
Starts from
- Packed parcels
- Destination & dimensions
Delivers
- Winning label prints
- Best-rate carrier
- Tracking to customer
The impact
Annual shipping spend dropped 14% on identical volumes, and the share of parcels shipped on the best available rate went from 41% to 100%. Carrier choice and label printing fell from four minutes to ten seconds per parcel, and surcharge surprises disappeared from the monthly carrier invoices.
Questions about this automation
How does the automation pick the cheapest carrier?
When a packer confirms weight and box size, the flow requests live rates from each connected carrier for that exact weight, size and destination. It adds known surcharges, such as remote-area or oversize fees, removes any option that misses the promised delivery date or the day's pickup cutoff, and selects the lowest remaining price.
Does the packing station need new hardware?
Usually not. Labels print to the thermal printer already at the station, and weight and dimensions can be typed in or read from a connected scale. The packer's screen shows the chosen carrier and price, and a manual override is available for special cases such as fragile items or customer requests.
Can we keep our existing carrier contracts and negotiated rates?
Yes. The automation reads rates from each carrier account the business already holds, so negotiated discounts are included in every comparison. New carriers can be added as another connection later. This is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages, starting with the busiest carriers and destinations.