This will update your system from Version or 8.7 or 8.8 to Version 8.9. The primary features in this update are:
UPS rating modifications, effective July 1, 2013
UPS International enhancements
Carrier Billing Reconciliation feature
Special Drop-Off types: FedEx RMA and FedEx SmartPost
Published rate display option on Rate Comparison screen
LSO to Mexico now online
Added in Version 8.9.3: USPS changes for Priority/Express Mail (see page 6)
For more information, see What’s New in Version 8.9, beginning on page 3.
Run the Update
If you haven’t already run the update, follow the steps below.
PostalMate network users: Every station must be updated one at a time, starting with the Master.
You don’t have to do anything to get the update file—it will automatically download to your computer when it’s available, and a notification will appear:
1. Close PostalMate on all workstations. When prompted, do a PostalMate backup.
2. Click on the notification message. An update screen will display.
3. Click on the “Update now” button.
4. Follow the steps in the install wizard until complete.
Running the update has automatically changed the Published rates for UPS in your system—“Standard” rates are now replacing “Daily Rates (see page 3 for details). To set your Wholesale and Retail UPS rates you can use the Quick Rate-Setting Utility:
1. From PostalMate’s main menu, choose Edit > Shipping Rates > Quick Rate-Setting Utility.
2. Follow the instructions in the wizard. As always, you’ll have the option of applying your existing markups to establish your new Retail rates.
Set up for new FedEx drop-off types
Two new FedEx drop-off types have been added (see page 5 for details).
1. From PostalMate’s main menu, choose PostalMate Settings.
2. Select “Drop-Off Settings” on the left.
3. Select “FedEx RMA“ from the drop-down list of services, and enter the following:
Compensation amount. This is currently $1.00.
RMA log-in User and Password. This is so that PostalMate can automatically log you into the FedEx Returns website when you process one of these drop-offs (see page 5).
Normally this will be your FedEx Ground account number, preceded by leading zeroes to equal 11 digits total. Therefore if your FedEx Ground account number was 999999999, then both your User and Password here would be 00999999999.
4. Select “FedEx SmartPost” from the drop-down list. Enter the compensation amount, which is currently $0.75.
This section contains a summary of the major changes and enhancements included in Version 8.9.
UPS rating modifications
These changes are all effective on July 1, 2013.
Standard rates replace Daily rates. As per new UPS policy, Published rates for UPS in PostalMate are now UPS “Standard” rates, as opposed to UPS “Daily” rates. For Ground and International services there are no differences between the two; for all other services, Standard rates are slightly different—some are lower and some are higher.
ASO Incentive Level discounts revised. Discount percentages are revised for all ASO Incentive Levels, and are now based on the Standard rates as described above. In general, depending on the service, after applying the new discounts the majority of your wholesale rates will be lower than before; for some services they’ll be higher.
Custom discounts. If your location has discounting from UPS that does not conform to the ASO Incentive Level program, or is not part of a franchise contract, you can now enter your discount percentages into PostalMate. For instructions see TechNote “Setting Up Custom UPS Discounts.” Custom discounting is unusual, so this feature does not apply to most stores.
UPS International enhancements
Note: All three new features below require that your system to be set to use the “UPS web services” interface introduced in version 8.8 (not the old WorldShip interface). See TechNote “Setting Up UPS Web Services” for details.
Commitments: Delivery date and time commitments are now displayed on the Rate Comparison screen for UPS international services. (In some cases commitment data may not be available.)
Signature options. Delivery Confirmation with Signature and Delivery Confirmation with Adult Signature are now available for international services as well as domestic. These will be selectable from the Package Details screen at the end of the shipping process.
Extended Area Surcharge. This surcharge is now added in Rate Comparison automatically when appropriate, as determined from the destination postal code.
There’s now an easy way to reconcile billing from carriers. Here’s how it works:
1. From PostalMate’s main menu, choose Tools > Reconcile Carrier Billing. This will display the new “Reconcile Carrier Billing” screen.
2. Select a carrier and the date range that corresponds to your bill from the carrier. You’ll see a list of packages:
3. Check the dollar amount for each package against what’s on your bill. If the amount matches (or is close enough to satisfy you), check the “OK” box; if not, check “Discrepancy.” Later after the discrepancy is resolved you can come back to this screen and update the status to “OK.”
4. When done, click OK. This will update the reconciliation status for all packages that you’ve checked.
To see how charges were calculated in PostalMate, select the desired package and
click here. (Please note that PostalMate does not break out fuel surcharges separately.)
This will generate a spreadsheet that lists the packages shown on the screen.
Other filtering choices:
Unchecked only
OK only
Discrepancies only
If you enter the charge from the invoice here, the amount of the
discrepancy will be shown
You can optionally enter whatever notes you like here
Special Drop-Off Types: FedEx RMA and FedEx SmartPost
Two new FedEx drop-off types are now supported. They both work a bit differently than most drop-offs, and are a bit trickier to handle. PostalMate will help guide you through processing them via a new “Special Drop-Off Type” screen.
FedEx RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization). Your customer walks in with an RMA number issued by the merchant, but no label for the package. To get the label you must log into the FedEx Return System Website. Then you enter or scan the bar code on the label, and PostalMate will determine whether it’s Ground or Express.
FedEx SmartPost. Final delivery on this service is by the USPS. Your customer’s package label says “SMARTPOST” in the upper right corner, and it has a USPS bar code on it. It may or may not have a FedEx bar code in addition. All you need to do is scan or enter the bar code on the new screen.
In both cases, you’ll begin as with any other drop-off. Then from the main Drop-Off screen, just click the “Special” button, and the new screen will pop up. Select the appropriate type and follow the instructions on the screen. When you close the window whatever packages you’ve recorded there will appear on the main drop-off screen.
(Continued on page 6)
Click here to bring up the screen shown on the right
For FedEx RMAs, clicking on the link will take you to the FedEx Returns website and
log you in automatically
If you select FedEx SmartPost, the information on this screen
will adjust accordingly Click here to add package to the main drop-off screen for recording
You can choose to have the selected service’s Published rate discreetly appear on the Rate Comparison screen as shown here. To enable:
1. Select Tools > Options > Shipping Settings.
2. Click on the “Other” tab.
3. Check “Show Published Rate for selected service.”
LSO changes and enhancements
This affects only locations that use LSO, which is available in Texas, and certain parts of Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
LSO to Mexico online. This service previously required manual completing a paper air bill. Now these shipments utilize web services, which means that everything is done within PostalMate, and a ramp-ready label is generated.
Branding changes. The carrier’s name has officially been changed from “Lone Star Overnight” to “LSO,” and a new logo has been introduced, as shown on the left.
USPS Priority/Express Mail changes
The USPS is making the following changes effective on July 28, 2013; they are reflected in PostalMate immediately upon running the update.
Service name changes. For marketing purposes, the USPS has decided to include Express Mail under the Priority Mail branding, resulting in name changes for several services. In a nutshell, the term “Express Mail” is now “Priority Mail Express.” This is reflected on PostalMate’s Rate Comparison screen and elsewhere. Be aware that this will make it a bit more challenging to distinguish between “regular” Priority Mail and Express. This is a name change only; service levels for Express are not changing.
Delivery days on labels. If you use the Endicia Label Server online shipping interface, the expected delivery day will now appear on the labels. For Priority Mail this is not a guarantee.
Insurance. The USPS is now offering the first $50 of coverage at no charge for domestic Priority Mail services. If you use the USPS as your insurer, this rule will be applied in PostalMate.
Rules among third-party insurers will vary. For Shipsurance, the first $50 will be free; for declared values over $50, you’ll be charged for the entire declared value amount (however the total insurance charge will still be far less than the USPS charge would be). For Endicia Parcel Insurance, the first $50 will not be free; their standard rating will apply as before (which is significantly less than the USPS charge would be).
The published rate for the selected service in this
example is $13.00
If you’re still using the old DAZzle interface—which will be discontin-ued soon—you’ll need to update to the latest version or you’ll still be
