LTL Freight Quotes
ABF Freight Edition for WooCommerce
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The ABF LTL Freight Quotes plugin retrieves your negotiated LTL freight rates, takes action on them according to the plugin settings, and displays the results as shipping options in the WooCommerce cart and checkout page. ABF Freight Systems is a subsidiary of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCB). Headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, it provides a variety of freight and logistics services, including less-than-truckload (LTL). If you don’t have an ABF Freight account, contact them at 800-610-5544.

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Setup Tutorial & Demo (7 min)

Features
Requirements
FAQ'S
Documentation
Installation & User’s Guide
If you are taking advantage of a trial subscription, the plugin will stop working when the trial period ends. Be sure to read the Managing Your Eniture API Key section to learn how to upgrade your subscription.
Overview
Setting up the plugin consists of the following steps:

Download the installation file.
Install the plugin application file.
Activate the plugin.
Get your ABF Freight API ID
Connect the plugin
Quote settings
Identify your warehouse and drop ship locations
In-store pick up settings.
Local delivery settings.
Shipping rules
Identify pallet sizes (or handling units).
Enable the plugin.
Configure your products.
Other information contained in this guide:

Logs.
What your customer sees.
What you see.
Managing your Eniture API Key.
Shipping with FreightDesk Online
Using Validate-Addresses.com
1. Download the Installation File
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On the Features tab of this webpage (you’re currently on the Documentation tab) is a list of available subscription plans and a description of the features included in each one. Click on the green button associated with the plan you want to subscribe to. The image below shows where to click to sign up for a monthly subscription to the plugin’s Basic Plan. There is also a button for a free 15 day trial beneath the name of the plugin at the top of the page.

GlobalTranz LTL Freight Quotes for Woocommerce Choose Subscription

You will be presented with a registration form. The email address and password you enter will serve as your credentials to eniture.com. Use these to gain access to your customer dashboard where you can download the plugin installation file, manage your licenses and update your payment information. When you download the plugin installation file, be sure to save it to a familiar location. You will need to navigate to the file during the installation process.

Note:
If you obtained the plugin installation file from the WordPress Plugin Directory, you still need to select a subscription package and complete the registration form.
2. Install the Plugin Application File
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Login to the WordPress dashboard as the website administrator.

In the left sidebar, hover your mouse over the Plugins menu to display the sub-menu options.

Select Add New from the sub-menu options. The Add Plugins page will load.

At the top of the Add Plugins page, click on the Upload Plugin button.

upload_plugin
Controls will appear in the middle of page that will allow you to chose and install the plugin application. Choose the Choose File button, navigate to the location where you saved the installation file and select it.

choose_file
Click the Install Now button.

WordPress will display information about the installation progress at the bottom of the page. The plugin has been installed once the message Plugin installed successfully is displayed.

3. Activate the Plugin
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Once the plugin has been installed, it must be activated. If you are still on the same page that you were on at the end of Step 2, you can click the Activate Plugin link on the bottom of the page.


If you’ve already navigated away from that page, select Installed Plugins from the Plugins menu.

installed_plugins
Locate the LTL Freight Quotes – ABF Freight Edition plugin on the list and click the Activate link.


4. Obtain an ABF Freight API ID
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To successfully connect the app to ABF Freight you need an API ID. If you don’t have one, access the API Registration form (https://arcb.com/apps/api). You’ll need to log in to the site to access the form.

ABF API Registration Form
Complete the form and afterward, copy the API ID you are given. You’ll use it later.

5. Connection settings
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Select Settings from the WooCommerce menu.

woocommerce_settings
Click on the ABF Freight tab to gain access to the plugin configuration settings. Using the links at the top of the page, select Connection Settings.

ABF LTL freight quotes for WooCommerce - Connection Settings
ID	Enter the API ID you retrieved in Step 4 here.
Eniture API Key	Enter the API Key you obtained from Eniture Technology. If you don’t have one, click the link to the right of this field to obtain one.
Related documents:
How To Obtain Your Eniture API Key
Where To Find Your Eniture API Key

ABF rates my freight on weight and…	The commodity/shipment level details required to get shipping quotes will depend on your tariff (pricing agreement) with ABF. Check the tariff document to confirm which setting is required for your account, or contact ABF to inquire.
Freight class
Choose this setting if freight class is the central factor, in addition to weight, in determining your freight charges. This is the most common (and preferred) choice.

Freight class and NMFC number
Choose this setting if both freight class and NMFC number, in addition to weight, is required to get a freight quote. The requirement to provide both is common if there has been a history of billing disputes related to the proper classification of freight.

Freight class and dimensions
Choose this setting if dimensions, in addition to freight class, determine your freight charges. If this is the case, you may need to also install the Pallet Packing add-on plugin to obtain accurate shipping quotes.

Freight class, NMFC number, and dimensions
Choose this setting if freight class, NMFC number, and dimensions are required to get shipping quotes. This is uncommon. If this is the case, you may need to also install the Pallet Packing add-on plugin to obtain accurate shipping quotes.

The plugin’s API Key will be tied to a subscription. The Trial Plan will give you 15 days of free access to the Basic Plan. Two other plans are available; the Standard Plan and the Advanced Plan. The features associated with each plan are listed on the Features tab of this web page. Each plan is available for a monthly or yearly subscription rate. To manage your Eniture API Key, including which plan is associated with it, see the section titled Managing your Eniture API Keys. at the end of this User’s Guide.

When you’re done save your connection settings and then test them by clicking on the Test Connection button at the bottom of the page. A message will display at the top of the page letting you know if the plugin succeeded in establishing a connection to the ABF Freight servers. If you receive an error, confirm the values you entered and try again. Be particularly attentive to capitalization. Most of the information you enter on this page is case sensitive.

6. Quote Settings
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If you don’t have visibility to the plugin’s navigation menu, select Settings from the WooCommerce menu.

woocommerce_settings
Click on the ABF Freight tab to gain access to the plugin configuration settings. Using the links at the top of the page, select Quote Settings.

Quote Settings for ABF LTL Freight Quotes plugin
Label As	Identify how you want the quote labeled in the checkout process. A common choice for this field is “LTL Freight” or “ABF Freight”. If left blank quotes will be labeled “Freight”.
Don’t sort shipping methods by price	By default, the plugin will sort all shipping methods by price in ascending order. Check this box to disable this behavior. When checked, shipping methods will be ordered in the order they are listed in the WooCommerce Shipping Zones settings.
Delivery Estimate Options	Don’t display delivery estimates
Only the shipping rate for the enabled services will display when this option is selected.
Display the estimated number of days until delivery
The estimated days until delivery will be displayed after each enabled service name and before the rate estimate.Weekend days and holidays are included in the estimate. For example, if an overnight shipment is quoted with a ship-date of a Thursday, the estimated number of days until delivery will be one. But if the same overnight shipment is quoted with a ship-date of a Friday, the estimated number of days until delivery will be three to include Saturday and Sunday; and provided that the following Monday is not a holiday.The shipment date will be the date of the order, unless you are using the Order Cut Off Time or Fulfillment Offset Days feature to adjust the shipment date.
Display estimated delivery date
The date and time of the estimated delivery date will be displayed after each enabled service name and before the rate estimate.Weekend days and holidays are accounted for. For example, if an overnight shipment is quoted with a ship-date of a Friday, the estimated delivery date date will be the following Monday, provided that the following Monday is not a holiday.The shipment date will be the date of the order, unless you are using the Order Cut Off Time or Fulfillment Offset Days feature to adjust the shipment date.
Cut Off Time & Ship Date Offset	The Standard Plan is required to use these features. If you aren’t on the Standard Plan the words Standard Plan required will be displayed. Click on the Standard Plan required text to upgrade your plan and gain access to these features.
The features are only relevant if you have Show Delivery Estimates enabled. Workdays are Monday through Friday except for the public holidays on which the carrier does not provide pick up service.

Order Cut Off Time
Enter the cut off time for orders.

When the plugin requests shipping quotes, it identifies a shipment date. The estimated delivery date is dependent on the ship date. The cut off time allows you to postpone an order’s shipment date by one workday. Orders received before the cut off time are quoted using the order date as the ship date. Orders received after the cut off time use the next workday as the ship date.

Fulfillment Offset Days
Enter the number of days to offset the ship date.

When the plugin requests shipping quotes, it identifies a ship date. The estimated delivery date is dependent on the ship date. This setting allows you to postpone the ship date by a specified number of workdays.

Example 1
If an order is received before the Order Cut Off Time on the 5th of the month and the Shipment Offset Days is set to 2 days, then the ship date will be the 7th day of the month (assuming the 5th, 6th and 7th are all business days).

Example 2
If an order is received after the Order Cut Off Time on the 5th of the month and the Shipment Offset Days is set to 2 days, then the ship date will be the 8th day of the month (assuming the 5th, 6th and 7th are all business days).

What days do you ship orders?
Identify the days of the week on which you ship orders. The ship date used for the rate request will be modified accordingly, which may affect the expected delivery date.

Always quote residential delivery	When checked, the quotes returned will always include the carrier’s residential delivery fee.
Auto-detect residential addresses	Through the use of an add-on plugin titled Residential Address Detection, Ship To addresses are checked against database records from the USPS. When the address is identified as residential, the residential delivery fee is included in the rate estimates. If the message “Click here to add the Residential Address Detection module.” is present, then the addon plugin is not installed. Click on the link to install it if you’d like to use this feature. (Learn more)
The settings below display only if the Residential Address Detection plugin is installed.
Auto-renew
Choose a plan that best meets your needs. (View available plans.)

The credit card associated with quote plugin license will be billed immediately and the plan will become your current plan. Your choice will be retained for the auto-renew option. You can change your auto-renew selection at any time. Plans automatically renew at the end of every monthly billing cycle or upon the depletion of the current plan. To prevent a renewal, choose Disable from the list of options.
Current plan
Displays information about the current plan and the start and end dates of the current subscription period.

Current usage
Displays information about the consumption of the current plan. The date shown is the UTC timestamp of the last time a residential address detection event occurred.

Suspend use
Checking this box temporarily suspends the Residential Address Detection plugin. It does not permanently disable it and if the current monthly billing cycle expires, a new plan will be activated. To disable the plugin, deactivate it or choose Disable from the Auto-renew drop down.

Default unconfirmed address types to:
Select Residential or Commercial. In rare cases the plugin my be unable to confirm the address type. This occurs when a match for the address can’t be found in the USPS database. Invalid addresses are the most common reason for this. In extremely rare cases an address may be valid, but the match found in the USPS database has a low confidence metric. Choose how you want addresses treated in these cases.

Address type disclosure
Inform the shopper when the ship-to address is identified as residential address
Choose this setting if you want the shopper to be informed that the ship-to address has been identified as a residential address. (The residential address delivery fee will be included in the shipping quotes.)
Don’t disclose the ship-to address type to the shopper
Choose this setting if you don’t want the shopper to be informed that the ship-to address has been identified as a residential address. (The residential address delivery fee will still be included in the shipping quotes.)
Do not return rates if the shipping address appears to be a post office box
Enable this setting if you don’t want the plugin to present shipping quotes when the ship-to address appears to be a post office box. Addresses in the United States will rely on metadata provided by the USPS for this determination. String matching, which is less reliable, will be used for addresses in other countries.

Lift Gate Delivery	Always quote lift gate delivery
When checked, the returned quotes will include the carrier’s lift gate delivery fee.
Offer lift gate delivery as an option
An additional option for LTL freight will be offered that includes the lift gate delivery fee.

Always include lift gate delivery when a residential address is detected
Displays only if the Residential Address Detection plugin is installed.
When enabled, if a residential delivery address is detected the lift gate delivery fee will be included in the shipping rate estimate. In such cases, the option to Offer lift gate delivery as an option will be suppressed, even if enabled. Enabling both the Offer lift gate delivery as an option setting and the Always include lift gate delivery when a residential address is detected setting allows commercial customers to choose whether or not lift gate service is needed while always requiring it for residential customers.

Limited Access Delivery	Always quote limited access delivery
When enabled, quotes for LTL freight will always include the limited access delivery service.
Offer limited access delivery as an option
When enabled, the shopper will be offered additional options that will include limited access delivery service.

Hold At Terminal	The Advanced Plan is required to use this feature. If you aren’t on the Advanced Plan the words Advanced plan required will be displayed. Click on the Advanced plan required text to upgrade your plan and gain access to the feature. (Learn more about Hold At Terminal service.)
Only quote Hold At Terminal service
When enabled, the only option returned by the ABF app will be Hold At Terminal service.

Offer Hold At Terminal as an option
When enabled, Hold At Terminal service will be offered as an option in addition to the shipping rates normally quoted by the app.

Adjust the price of the Hold At Terminal option
The quoted amount will be the same as a quote to the ship to address if it were a commercial address and would not require lift gate delivery (the “standard LTL rate“). This will be a more economical option for customers who would otherwise be subject to the residential address and/or lift gate delivery fee(s). If you want the amount quoted for the Hold At Terminal option to be different than the standard LTL rate, use this field to modify the rate. The adjustment will be interpreted as dollars and cents unless it is follow by a % sign.

Handling Unit	Weight of Handling Unit
Enter in pounds the weight of your pallet, skid, crate or other type of handling unit you use. The amount entered will be added to shipment weight prior to requesting a quote.
Maximum Weight per Handling Unit
Enter in pounds the maximum weight that can be placed on the handling unit. If the total weight of the cart exceeds this value, the weight of additional handling units will be added as needed. For example, if the maximum weight is 500 LBS, and the total weight of the cart is 1200 LBS, the weight of the handling units added to the shipment shall be 3 times the weight entered in the Weight of Handling Unit field. (=roundup(1200/500,0)*Weight of Handling Unit)

Handling Fee / Mark Up	Increases the amount of the returned quote by a specified amount prior to displaying it in the shopping cart. The number entered will be interpreted as dollars and cents unless it is followed by a % sign. For example, entering 5.00 will cause $5.00 to be added to the quotes. Entering 5.00% will cause each quote to be multiplied by 1.05 (= 1 + 5%).
Enable Logs	Enable the checkbox to have API transactions logged on the Logs page. The plugin’s navigation will only display an entry for Logs when this setting is enabled. The page will contain as many as 25 of the most recent transactions.
Show WooCommerce shipping options	(Yes|No) Permit or prevent the display of shipping rates from other plugins.
Return LTL freight quotes when an order’s shipment weight exceeds the weight threshold	When checked, the LTL Freight Quote plugin will return quotes when an order’s total weight exceeds the weight threshold, even if none of the products have settings to indicate that it will ship LTL. To increase the accuracy of the returned quote(s), all products should have a freight class or accurate weights and dimensions.
Weight Threshold for Freight Quotes
Enter in pounds the weight threshold for LTL freight. When the order’s weight is greater than or equal to the threshold, the LTL Freight Quote plugin will return a quote if the setting is enabled (enabled by next setting). Default = 150 LBS.

Continue to display parcel rates when the weight threshold is met.
Recommended. Choose this option if you want parcel rates to continue to display even after the weight threshold for LTL freight is met.

Suppress parcel rates when the weight threshold is met.
Choose this option if you parcel rates to be suppressed when the weight threshold for LTL freight is met. Requires the installation and use of one of Eniture Technology’s Small Package Quotes plugins.

Checkout options if the plugin fails to return a rate	Choose what you want to happen if the plugin fails to return a rate and no other shipping estimates are provided by an alternate source. You can choose to allow the shopper to complete the checkout, or prevent the shopper from doing so. Be sure to identify the message you want presented to the shopper.
7. Define Warehouse and Drop Ship Locations
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If you don’t have visibility to the plugin’s navigation menu, select Settings from the WooCommerce menu.

woocommerce_settings
Click on the ABF Freight tab to gain access to the plugin configuration settings. Using the links at the top of the page, select Warehouses.

Click the Add button in the appropriate sections to add warehouse and drop ship locations. On the Basic Plan you can define one warehouse and multiple drop ship locations. To define multiple warehouse locations you must be on the Standard Plan or higher.

Warehouses should have a complete inventory of all products not otherwise identified as drop shipped items. If you have more than one warehouse defined, the warehouse closest to the shopper will be used to retrieve shipping rate estimates. You should define at least one warehouse, even if all of your products are drop shipped. This insures that quotes will be returned in the event the drop ship location was overlooked when the product entry was created.

Drop ship locations usually represent vendors that supply items that you don’t inventory. These items are shipped directly to your customer on your behalf. When an order includes drop shipped items the shopping cart will display a single figure for the shipping rate estimate that is equal to the sum of the cheapest option for each shipment required to fulfill the order.


Steet Address	Optional. Enter the street address for the location. This will be displayed along with the city, state, and postal code when the setting for in-store pick up is enabled.
ZIP	Enter the postal code for the location. Enter only the five digit ZIP Code for US addresses.
City	The plugin will attempt to prefill the City based on the postal code. Edit it if the prefilled value is incorrect.
State	The plugin will attempt to prefill the State based on the postal code. Edit it if the prefilled value is incorrect.
Country	The plugin will attempt to prefill the Country based on the postal code. Edit it if the prefilled value is incorrect. Use only the two character standardized country code.
Handling Fee / Mark Up	Increases the amount of the quote received for this location by a specified amount prior to displaying it/them in the shopping cart. The number entered will be interpreted as dollars and cents unless it is followed by a % sign. For example, entering 5.00 will cause $5.00 to be added to the quotes. Entering 5.00% will cause each quote to be multiplied by 1.05 (= 1 + 5%).
Note: The app has four settings that can be used to mark up shipping quotes. They are applied to shipping quotes in the following order: 1) Product-specific Mark Up (Product settings); 2) Location-specific Handling Fee / Mark Up (Warehouse settings); 3) Service-specific Mark Up (Quote settings); and 4) General Handling Fee / Mark Up (Quote settings).
7a. In-store pick up settings
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The Advanced Plan is required to use this feature. If you aren’t on the Advanced Plan the words Advanced plan required will appear adjacent to the settings header, and the fields associated with the feature will be inaccessible.

In-store pick up can be offered as an option in the checkout process based the shopper’s postal code or proximity. It will only be offered if the feature is enabled and only one stocking location (warehouse or drop ship location) is involved in providing a quote. The settings for In-store pick up are visible on the page used to add or edit a warehouse or drop ship location.



Enable in-store pick up	Check the box to enable the in-store pick up feature.
Offer if address is within (miles)	The distance in miles within which you’d like to offer in-store pick up. The distance is route miles (driving distance). Leave blank if you don’t want to use distance to determine if in-store pick up should be offered. If both distance and postal codes are used as evaluation criteria, in-store pick up will display if either is satisfied.
Offer if postal code matches	The postal codes to which you’d like to offer in-store pick up. Enter only the five digit ZIP Code for US addresses. Leave blank if you don’t want to use postal codes to determine if in-store pick up should be offered. If both distance and postal codes are used as evaluation criteria, in-store pick up will display if either is satisfied.
Checkout description	The description to use to identify the option in the checkout process. The most obvious candidate is In-store pick up, but you can make it anything you’d like.
Phone number	Enter the phone number to display in the description of the in-store pickup option.
7b. Local delivery settings
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The Advanced Plan is required to use this feature. If you aren’t on the Advanced Plan the words Advanced plan required will appear adjacent to the settings header, and the fields associated with the feature will be inaccessible.

Local delivery can be offered as an option in the checkout process based the shopper’s postal code or proximity. It will only be offered if the feature is enabled and only one stocking location (warehouse or drop ship location) is involved in providing a quote. Local delivery can display as a free option or have a charge associated with it. Other shipping options provided by the app can be suppressed when local delivery is to be offered. The settings for Local delivery are visible on the page used to add or edit a warehouse or drop ship location.



Enable local delivery	Check the box to enable the local delivery feature.
Offer if address is within (miles)	The distance in miles within which you’d like to offer local delivery. The distance is route miles (driving distance). Leave blank if you don’t want to use distance to determine if local delivery should be offered. If both distance and postal codes are used as evaluation criteria, local delivery will display if either is satisfied.
Offer if postal code matches	The postal codes to which you’d like to offer local delivery. Enter only the five digit ZIP Code for US addresses. Leave blank if you don’t want to use postal codes to determine if local delivery should be offered. If both distance and postal codes are used as evaluation criteria, local delivery will display if either is satisfied.
Checkout description	The description to use to identify the option in the checkout process. The most obvious candidate is Local delivery, but you can make it anything you’d like.
Local delivery fee	Enter the amount to charge for local delivery. Leave blank to offer local delivery for free.
Suppress other rates	Check the box to show only the option for local delivery when the criteria for doing so (distance or postal code) is met. Leave unchecked to have local delivery offered in addition to the shipping options normally displayed by the app.
8. Shipping Rules
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You can use Shipping Rules to modify the behavior of the plugin. To introduce a rule, click the Add Rule button and afterward complete the form to implement the rule.

Rule Name	Enter a name for the rule. The name is for your convenience. It will not be seen by your custoomers.
Type	Select the rule type. The following options are available:
Hide Methods – If the criteria of the filters are met, the shipping estimates normally provided as options by the plugin will be suppressed.
Override Rates – If the criteria of the filters are met, the shipping estimates normally provided will be replaced according to the settings.
Liftgate Weight Restrictions – If the weight of a product or pallet exceeds the weight entered, an option for liftgate delivery will not be presented to the website visitor, even if it is enabled in the Quote Settings.
Apply to	Some rule types may not provide an option on how to apply the rule.
Cart
Choose this option if you want the shipping rule to apply to the entire Cart.

Shipment
Choose this option if you want the shipping rule to apply only to individual shipments. For example, the app is capable of combining shipping quotes from multiple ship-from locations. If you want the rule to apply only to the shipments that meet the rule filter(s), then choose this option. If you want the rule to apply to all the shipments if any of the shipments satisfy the rule filter(s), then choose the option for Cart.

When the Type is “Hide Methods”	No other settings apply to this rule type. If the rule filter is met and it applies to the “Cart”, then the app will not present shipping quotes during checkout. If the rule filter is met and it applies to the “Shipment”, then the quotes for the shipment will not contribute to the sum of the shipping rates retrieved for the other ship-from locations.
When the Type is “Override Rates”	Service
Select the service for which you want to override the rate for.
Service Rate
Enter the dollar amount of the rate that will replace the service when the rule filter(s) are met.

When the Type is “Liftgate Weight Restrictions”	Weight Threshold
Enter the maximum weight in pounds for a handling unit’s weight if the option to offer liftgate delivery is enabled. If an item in the Cart or a handling unit exceeds the weight, the option for liftgate delivery will not be presented.
Filters	Filter Name
Enter a name for the filters you want to implement. The name is for your convenience. It will not be seen by your customers.
Filter by weight
Enable the checkbox if you want to use the weight of the cart as a criteria for the application of the rule. Enter the range for the weight in the From and To fields. The value entered in the From field will be included in the criteria. The value entered in the To field will be excluded from the criteria. If you enter “From 100” “To 150”, then a Cart with a total weight of 100 LBS will trigger the rule while a Cart with a total weight of 150 LBS will not. Consider the “To” field as the “Up to” value.

Filter by price
Enable the checkbox if you want to use the price of the cart as a criteria for the application of the rule. Enter the range for the price in the From and To fields. The value entered in the From field will be included in the criteria. The value entered in the To field will be excluded from the criteria. If you enter “From 100” “To 150”, then a Cart with a total price of $100 will trigger the rule while a Cart with a total price of $150 will not. Consider the “To” field as the “Up to” value.

Filter by quantity
Enable the checkbox if you want to use the quantity of items in the cart as a criteria for the application of the rule. Enter the range for the quantity in the From and To fields. The value entered in the From field will be included in the criteria. The value entered in the To field will be excluded from the criteria. If you enter “From 10” “To 20”, then a Cart containing 10 items will trigger the rule while a Cart with 20 items will not. Consider the “To” field as the “Up to” value.

Filter by product tag
Enable the checkbox if you want to use the product tag of items in the cart as a criteria for the application of the rule.

Available
Enable this checkbox if you want the rule to be applied. Disable it if you want to keep the rule settings for future use, but you don’t want to actively apply it.

9. Identify Pallet Sizes
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The Pallet Packaging plugin is an optional add-on plugin that will allow you to identify the sizes of the pallets or other types of handling units that you inventory. If the pricing tariff you have with your LTL freight provider uses freight class and weight to determine your shipping rates (as is most frequently the case), you don’t need the Pallet Packing plugin to get accurate LTL freight quotes. However, if your LTL provider has you on a density-based pricing tariff then you’ll need to install the Pallet Packaging plugin. The plugin will determine which of your pallets should be used to ship the contents of the shopping cart and provide the overall dimensions of the handling unit (which will include the contents of the cart) to your LTL freight provider so that it can provide an accurate shipping rate. When the Pallet Packaging plugin is installed, you can identify:

The sizes of the pallets or other types of handling units you inventory.
The rotational property of the items for placement on the pallet or other type of handling unit.
Items that ship as their own handling unit. (Aren’t placed on a pallet or handling unit with other items.)
The packaging solution is saved as a step-by-step graphical illustration which you can access from the Order Details page. Use the step-by-step instructions to pack the order exactly as it was quoted.

Pallet packaging solution for Woocommerce Pallet Packing plugin
If you already have the Pallet Packaging plugin installed, Pallets will appear as an option in the plugin navigation menu. If it doesn’t and you want to use this feature, go to the Pallet Packaging product page where you can learn more and download the plugin installation file.

Pallets In LTL Freight Quotes Navigation Menu
Click on Pallets in the LTL Freight Quotes navigation menu to access the Pallet Packaging user interface. Below is an excerpt from the Pallet Packaging User’s Guide to assist you with populating the associated settings.

Auto-renew	Choose a plan that best meets your needs. The credit card associated with quote plugin license will be billed immediately and the plan will become your current plan. Your choice will be retained for the auto-renew option. You can change your auto-renew selection at any time. Plans automatically renew at the end of every monthly billing cycle or upon the depletion of the current plan. To prevent a renewal, choose Disable from the list of options.
Current plan	Displays information about the current plan and the start and end dates of the current subscription period.
Current usage	Displays information about the consumption of the current plan. The date shown is the UTC timestamp of the last time a packaging solution was identified.
Suspend use	Checking this box temporarily suspends the Pallet Packaging plugin. It does not permanently disable the feature and if the current monthly billing cycle expires, a new plan will be activated. To disable the plugin, deactivate it or choose Disable from the Auto-renew drop down.
To add a pallet, click the Add Pallet button. A popup will display prompting you to enter the following information:
Nickname	Enter a nickname for the pallet. The nickname will be used to identify the pallet in the graphical illustration of the packaging solution.
Length	The length of the pallet in inches.
Width	The width of the pallet in inches.
Height	The height of the pallet in inches.
Pallet Weight	The weight of the pallet in pounds.
Max Height	The maximum height the pallet is allowed to reach, entered as inches.
Max Weight	The maximum weight the pallet is rated to hold, entered as pounds.
Pallet Fee	If you want to add a fee to the shipping quote for the pallet, enter the amount here.
Available	Check this box to make it available for the packaging solution calculations.
10. Enable the Plugin (WooCommerce 3.0 or later only)
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Select Settings from the WooCommerce menu.

woocommerce_settings
Click on the Shipping tab and select the option for Shipping Zones.


The shipping method needs to be added to a shipping zone. If an appropriate shipping zone isn’t already defined, click the Add shipping zone button and define one.


Now add the shipping method to the zone. Click on the “+” inline with the shipping zone…


…select the ABF Freight option from the drop down list of shipping methods…


…and click on the Add shipping method button.

Repeat this process for each shipping zone you want to the app to return quotes for. You should test each zone to make sure the geography defined by the shipping zone is supported by the app.

11. Product Settings
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Navigate to your product list in the WordPress Dashboard by selecting Products from the Products menu.

products_products
Select the product you want to ship LTL freight from the list. Once you’re on the Edit Product page, locate the Product Data region and click on the Shipping option to access the product’s shipping characteristics.


Weight	Enter the weight of the product in pounds.
Dimensions	Enter the dimensions of the product in inches.
Shipping Class	If you have the Small Package Quotes plugin installed and you want the product to be quoted as shipping parcel, select the No shipping class option.
If you have the LTL Freight Quotes plugin installed and you want the product to be quoted as shipping LTL freight, select the LTL Freight option.

Enable Drop Ship Location	This option will only be visible if there are drop ship locations defined. Refer to Step 5c: Define Warehouse and Drop Ship Locations for instruction on how to define drop ship locations.
Check this box if this product ships from a drop ship location.

Drop Ship Location	This option will only be visible if there are drop ship locations defined. Refer to Step 5c: Define Warehouse and Drop Ship Locations for instruction on how to define drop ship locations.
If the product is drop shipped, select the drop ship location from the list of options.

Freight Classification	This option will only be visible if the LTL Freight Quotes plugin is installed.
Select the freight class for the product from the list of options. If you utilize both small package (parcel) and LTL freight shipping methods, you should identify the freight class for all products, even those that normally ship small package (parcel).

The last option in the list of freight classifications is Density Based. In most cases this is an industry accepted alternative for identifying the freight class of an item or shipment. Validate the returned quotes if using this setting. There are exceptions in the NMFC Freight Classification Directory that can render the density calculator results invalid for particular commodities. To be used successfully the product must have its weight and dimensions populated in the Shipping sub-panel.

NMFC	Enter a value in this field only if ABF requires it for your account.
Enter the NMFC number for the commodity.
Markup	Use this field to modify the shipping quotes returned by the plugin. Enter a dollar amount (e.g. 1.00 or -1.00) to increase or decrease the shipping quotes. The amount of the adjustment will be multiplied by the quantity of the item in the Cart. Enter a percentage (1.0% or -1.0%) to have a percentage of the item’s price added to or subtracted from the shipping quotes. When a percentage is entered and there is more than one of the item in the Cart, the percentage will be applied to the extended price (quantity x price).
Note: The app has four settings that can be used to mark up shipping quotes. They are applied to shipping quotes in the following order: 1) Product-specific Mark Up (Product settings); 2) Location-specific Handling Fee / Mark Up (Warehouse settings); 3) Service-specific Mark Up (Quote settings); and 4) General Handling Fee / Mark Up (Quote settings).
Nested item	The Advanced Plan is required to use this feature. If you aren’t on the Advanced Plan the words Advanced plan required will appear adjacent to the settings header, and the fields associated with the feature will be inaccessible.
Enable this checkbox if the item can be stacked into another identical item when it is shipped. An example would be 13 gallon trashcans or plastic cups. When this setting is enabled, the Freight Class is always Density Based.

Nesting percentage	This setting is only relevant if the Nested item setting is enabled.
Enter the percent of the item that can be nested inside of another identical item. For example, if an item is 10 inches in height and after stacking two together the total height is 11 inches, the stacking percentage is 90%. (11 inches = 10 inches + (10 inches x 90%))

Nested dimension	This setting is only relevant if the Nested item setting is enabled.
Identify the dimension (length, width or height) on which the nesting occurs.

Maximum nested items	This setting is only relevant if the Nested item setting is enabled.
Enter the maximum number of items you’ll allow in a single stack of nested items.

Stacking property	This setting is only relevant if the Nested item setting is enabled.
Select Maximized or Evenly. If your Maximum nested items is 6, and there are 7 items in the cart, then the Maximized option will result in one stack of 6 and one of 1. If the Stacking property is set to Evenly, it will result in one stack of 4 and one of 3.

If your product is a Variable Product, set the shipping parameters for each product variation on the Variations page.

When you are done click the Update button located in the Publish widget located at the top right of the page.

Logs
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The Quote Settings page contains the Enable Logs setting. When enabled, the plugin’s navigation will include a link to the Logs page. Up to 25 of the most recent transactions will appear on the Logs page. The Response column shows the outcome of each transaction. Click on a transaction’s response result to view its details.

When viewing the transaction details, click on the “+” symbols to expand the level of detail and “–” to collapse it. A basic understanding of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) will be useful when viewing the logs.

Related document:
Using Logs In Quoting Plugins From Eniture Technology

What Your Customer Sees
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To facilitate the successful conclusion of an online purchase the plugin always attempts to return an estimate of shipping charges. If multiple products are in the shopping cart and some are missing weight, dimensions or both, the plugin will use what is available to obtain the shipping rate estimates. For example, if you have two products in the shopping cart and the first has weight and dimensions and the second does not, the shipping rate estimate will be based solely on the first product. The plugin will fail to return shipping rate estimates only when none of the products in the shopping cart have weights or dimensions recorded. Please note that shipping rate estimates will be increasingly inaccurate the more omissions there are to the weight and dimensions of products in the shopping cart.

The shopping cart won’t display shipping rate estimates the first time the shopper views the shopping cart because it isn’t aware of the ship to address. The user will be prompted to click on the Calculate Shipping Cost link to provide this information.

Appearance of shopping cart when viewed by a shopper who is not logged in to the website.	Appearance of the shopping cart after the user clicks on the Calculate Shipping link.
	
After the user provides the ship to information, the shopping cart will display the shipping rate estimate based on the settings entered in the plugin.

Appearance of shopping cart when viewed immediately after the ship to information is provided.	
	
If the plugin is unable to display shipping rate estimates, a message will display. Typical reasons why a quote may not be displayed include: 1) Insufficient data on the products in the shopping cart, such as weight or dimensions or freight class; 2) Invalid credentials due to a password change, an expired license, or a suspended account; 3) An invalid or incomplete ship to address was provided; or 4) The carrier’s web service is not operational.

Appearance of shopping cart when the plugin is unable to display shipping rate estimates.	
	
What you see.
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The plugin populates shipping related information in the Additional Order Details widget on the Order Details page. The content of the widget falls into two categories: 1) Shipment Origin & Services; and 2) Shipment Content.

LTL Freight Quotes Additional Order Details

Shipment Origin & Services

This information block will identify the shipment origin, the selected carrier service and a list of any additional services (such as residential delivery) associated with the shipment. A separate Shipment Origin & Services information block will appear for each shipping location that will participate in fulfilling the order. This is particularly useful for stores with multiple warehouses and drop ship locations.

Shipment Content

A Shipment Content information block is presented beneath each Shipment Origin & Services information block. It identifies the products that were quoted as shipping from the location.

Managing Your Eniture API Key
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You can manage your Eniture API Key by signing into eniture.com with the email address and password you entered when you registered for the plugin. After you sign in, My Account will be added to the navigation menu. Click on it to access the Dashboard for your account.

my_account
Use the links below to navigate to documents in the knowledge base related to common topics of interest.

How Do I Get The Plugin Installation File?
How To Upgrade From A Trial To Paid Subscription
Change The Domain For Your API Key
How To Add Your Staging Site
How To Update Your Username Or Password
How To Update The Email Address For Billing Receipts
Can I Use The Plugin On A Different Website?
How To Update Your Credit Card On File
How To Use PayPal As An Alternate Payment Method
Shipping with FreightDesk Online
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Shipping for e-commerce stores can be divided into two general challenges:
How capture the cost of shipping on orders placed online.
How to ship the order, including how to create the shipping label (or Bill Of Lading in the case of LTL freight), schedule the carrier to pick up the shipment, and update the customer with the tracking number.
Quoting plugins, like this one, provide a solution for the first challenge. What are your options for the second challenge?

Option 1 – The carrier’s website: You can log into the carrier’s website and manually enter all of the relevant information. Carrier websites are free to use since the carrier makes money when you use them to deliver an order. However, if you have more than a handful of orders each day this approach is time consuming and ripe for data entry errors which can be costly to correct.

Option 2 – Use a plugin with “print-label” capabilities: It’s possible to find a plugin for certain shipping providers that will both generate quotes during the checkout process, and allow the merchant to print a shipping label. These plugins have very limited functionality and are usually an acceptable option only for merchants with very simple shipping needs and a low volume of shipments. They also require that the individuals responsible for preparing shipments have access to the ADMIN area of WooCommerce, which is not an acceptable arrangement to many merchants.

Option 3 – Cloud-based Shipping Platforms: The next step up in capability are cloud-based shipping systems that will connect to your online store and retrieve the details of your orders, thereby eliminating the need for much of the manual data entry. Many of these shipping systems have arrangements with postal and parcel carriers that can provide the merchant with significant discounts. Where these systems excel is in the efficiency of the fulfillment process. That translates in to a much higher volume of shipments per unit of time. These systems are relatively inexpensive and the reduction in the amount of labor and time it takes to ship your orders will pay dividends.

Option 4 – FreightDesk Online: FreightDesk Online (freightdesk.online) is also a cloud-based shipping system. It enjoys all of the benefits of other cloud-based offerings but expands the solution in two ways:

It makes use of the detailed information collected by Eniture Technology’s quoting plugins (like this one) such as the packaging solution and the additional services included in the shipping option chosen when the order was placed.
It provideds merchants access to more than two dozen LTL freight providers in addition to the typical postal and parcel integrations offered by other cloud-based solutions.
These expanded capabilities will deliver you closer to true “click-and-ship” shipping than any other alternative, whether you’re shipping with a postal carrier, a parcel carrier, or an LTL freight provider.

How to connect your WooCommerce store to FreightDesk Online
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First, if you don’t already have one, register for a FreightDesk Online account (https://freightdesk.online/register). You can connect multiple online stores to FreightDesk Online, even if they use different e-commerce platforms, so you don’t have to create separate FreightDesk Online accounts for each one.

The pricing for FreightDesk Online is á la carte. You’ll be able to pick a separate plan for parcel (and postal) shipments, and for LTL freight shipments based on the anticipated volume for each type of shipping. Your monthly subscription rate will be comprised of these two selections. You can begin a 30-day trial of both types of shipping by selecting Trial in the corresponding dropdown fields on the registration form.

After you complete the registration process, log into FreightDesk Online. Click on your avatar located in the top right-hand corner of the browser window. Copy your FreightDesk Online ID which will be located below your company name.

Location of FreightDesk Online ID
Return to the plugin settings and click on the FreightDesk Online tab. Enter your FreightDesk Online ID and click the Connect button.

WooCommerce Plugin Connect To FreightDesk Online
Complete the connection by granting any permissions that you’re prompted for.

Next, return to FreightDesk Online. Navagate to Settings > Connections. Locate the store in the list of Connected Marketplaces and click on its Show/Edit link. Update the marketplace’s connection settings using the instructions below.

FreightDesk Online Edit Marketplace User Interface for WooCommerce
Nickname	Enter a nickname you’d like to use to represent the connection to this store. Be aware that the nickname will be used to identify the store if you enable FreightDesk Online’s shipment tracking email notifications. It is used as the value for the “{Merchant}” mail-tag.
Marketplace URL	This field will be prefilled with the URL of the store that was connected to FreightDesk Online. You can not edit this field. To disable the connection, chose the Inactive Marketplace status option at the bottom of the page.
Order Import Status	This setting is used to filter which orders are imported into FreightDesk Online. Processing is typically the only order status enabled.
Order Shipped Status	Choose Completed if you want an order status seen in WooCommerce to be automatically updated to “Completed” when the shipping label or Bill Of Lading is printed. If you’d prefer to manually update the order status in WooCommerce, choose the option Don’t update the order status.
Order Shipped Status for Delayed PRO Number Assignment	You can ignore this setting if you won’t be connecting Worldwide Express to FreightDesk Online as an LTL freight provider. If you will be, then please read the information provided on-screen and install the add-on plugin. The add-on plugin will add “PRO Pending” as an additional order status in WooCommerce and will delay the order status from being updated to “Completed” until after a PRO number becomes available for the shipment. This is usually by 10:30 AM Eastern Time the next business day.
Auto Import Orders	Enable this setting if you’d like newly placed orders with the status(es) you identified in the Order Import Status setting to be automatically imported in to FreightDesk Online. The alternative is to initiate the import manually each time using the
Marketplace Status	Select Activate Marketplace to enable the store’s connection to FreightDesk Online. To disable it, choose Inactive Marketplace.
When you’re done editing your marketplace settings, click the Test Connection button to verify the connection to the store, and then Update to save the settings and return to the Settings > Connections page.

Now that you’ve connected FreightDesk Online, unfulfilled orders can be imported in to FreightDesk Online for processing. To view them, log into FreightDesk Online and click on Orders in the navigation menu. If you have the Enable Auto Import Orders setting enabled, your orders will populate automatically. If not use the Import Orders button to manually initiate the process.

You’ll need to connect your shipping providers before you can start shipping your orders using FreightDesk Online. Connecting your shipping providers is also done on the Settings > Connections page. You can find a quick start guide in FreightDesk Online by navigating to Help > Getting Started. Short instructional videos are also sprinkled through FreightDesk Online. Click on the movie camera icon to view the video.

Using Validate-Addresses.com
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Validate-Addresses.com is a cloud-based application that validates the ship-to address on online orders. The validation happens after the order is received so there isn’t additional friction during the checkout process that could increase the Cart abandonment rate. Shipping to an invalid address is costly. Shipping providers charge hefty fees to follow up on and correct undeliverable addresses, and additional transportation charges will be incurred if the shipment has to be redirected to a different terminal for delivery. If the shipment is returned to the shipper, the transportation charges will double in addition to the fees. Validate-Addresses.com costs as little as 1¢ per order and can be the difference between making money, or losing hundreds of dollars on an order.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
– Benjamin Franklin
How does Validate-Addresses.com work?

As soon as the order is placed, the order status is set to Pending Address Validation (a new order status that will be added to your store) until after Validate-Addresses.com confirms that the ship-to address is valid. If the ship-to address is valid, then the order status is changed to Processing and the order notes are updated to document that the ship-to address was good. The time between an order being placed and the validation of the ship-to address is typically 2 to 3 seconds.

Validate-Addresses.com can be configured to automatically email the customer if the order’s ship-to address is invalid, provide the customer with options on how to correct it, or the option to confirm it as entered. If the customer corrects the address, the address is rechecked. If the corrected address is valid, or if the customer confirmed the address as entered, the order status in WooCommerce is updated to Processing and the order notes are updated to document the event. The merchant’s involvement in this process is completely hands off. The order status will remain Pending Address Validation until the address is corrected or confirmed so the merchant knows not to ship the order.

There will be times when an order’s ship-to address can’t be validated and the customer fails to respond to the email notices about the invalid ship-to address. (You can configure these notices to reflect your brand and customize the message.) In these cases the merchant can contact the customer and if the outcome is favorable, override the Pending Address Validation status in Validate-Addresses.com. Afterward, the order status in WooCommerce will be updated to Processing, and the address will be added to the merchant’s address book so that future orders using the address won’t be flagged as invalid.

How to connect your WooCommerce store to Validate-Addresses.com
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Register for a Validate-Addresses.com account (https://validate-addresses.com/register). You can connect multiple online stores to Validate-Addresses.com, even if they use different e-commerce platforms, so you don’t have to create separate accounts for each one.

After you complete the registration process, log into Validate-Addresses.com. Navagate to Settings > Connections. On the Connections page, click on the +Add Marketplace button. A modal will appear on the right side of your screen. Click on the tile that represents WooCommerce. Enter the URL of your store and then click the Connect bottom located at the bottom of the modal.

Click the Approve button to grant the permissions requested by Validate-Addresses.com. You’ll need to log into the WordPress site if you aren’t being recognized as an authorized user.

If you aren’t redirected to the Settings > Connections page, use the navigation menu to arrive there. You should see your store listed in the list of Connected Marketplaces. Click on its Show/Edit link located in the right margin of the page. Update the marketplace’s connection settings using the instructions below.

Validate Addresses Connection Settings for WooCommerce
Nickname	Enter a nickname you’d like to use to represent the connection to this store.
Marketplace URL	This field will be prefilled with the URL of the store you entered to initiate the connection. You can not edit this field. To disable the connection, chose the Inactive Marketplace status option at the bottom of the page.
Import orders with a status of…	This setting is used to identify the orders are to be imported into Validate-Addresses.com. Processing is typically the only order status enabled.
Change the order status of unvalidated addresses to…	The installation of a plugin is required to set an order’s status to Pending Address Validation while the validation of the ship-to address is pending. You can use this link to download the installation file or the link provided in the onscreen instructions. Simply install the plugin. No additional setup is required.
After validating the address, change the order staus to…	Select how the order status should be updated once the ship-to address has been validated. Processing is the most common choice.
After validating the address, add the following to the order notes…	Enter the text you’d like inserted into the order notes when Validate-Addresses.com succeeds at validating the address.
When an unverified address is confirmed by the customer, add the following to the order notes…	Enter the text you’d like inserted into the order notes when Validate-Addresses.com is unable to validate the address but the customer confirms it to be correct as entered.
When an unverified address is confirmed by the merchant, add the following to the order notes…	Enter the text you’d like inserted into the order notes when Validate-Addresses.com is unable to validate the address but the merchant (you) intend to ship the order to the ship-to address entered.
Marketplace Status	Select Activate Marketplace to enable the store’s connection to Validate-Addresses.com. To disable it, choose Inactive Marketplace.
When you’re done editing your marketplace settings, click the Test Connection button to verify the connection to the store, and then Update to save the settings and return to the Settings > Connections page.

Now that you’ve connected Validate-Addresses.com, orders that meet your settings will automatically propagate the system. Orders that have ship-to addresses that were validated, corrected, or confirmed will appear on the Validate-Addresses.com History page and their status will appear as Processing on the WooCommerce Orders page. Orders with ship-to addresses that require attention will appear on the Validate-Addresses.com Orders page and their status on the WooCommerce Orders page will be Pending Address Validation. Use the Validate-Addresses.com Orders page to work on the ship-to address of orders that require attention.

To enable the ship-to address correction/confirmation process, which begins with an email to the customer when an invalid address is provided, you must first configure your outbound mail server settings. In Validate-Addresses.com navigate to Settings > Email Setup. Afterward, navigate to Settings > Email Template to customize the content of the email your customer will receive.