Parcel shipping
Parcel shipping: software that rate‑shops every package
Many small businesses pay retail for parcels because the carrier's own software only shows the carrier's own price. Shipping software fixes that: it takes each package, asks every carrier and service what it would charge to deliver it by the date you need, and prints the label for the cheapest answer. The discount comes from commercial pricing, which the software gives you access to without a contract of your own.
This section covers Insert Ready Dispatch and Cloud9 Express, the shipping platforms we sell on their own. If you are not sure where to start, send us a month of invoices for the free spend analysis. FP Parcel Shipping, which comes with a PostBase meter, has its own page under support.
Insert Ready Dispatch
Your UPS, FedEx and USPS rates against ours, on every package.
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Cloud9 Express
Multi-carrier shipping software with discounted rates.
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Free spend analysis
Send us a month of invoices; we show you the savings.
View →Rate shopping and commercial pricing, in plain terms
Carriers publish a retail price for each service and weight. Large shippers rarely pay it; they pay commercial pricing, negotiated on volume. Shipping software pools many small shippers under one account, so each of them gets the lower tier from the first package.
Rate shopping is what the software does with those prices. For each package it takes the weight, the dimensions, the destination and the day it has to arrive, and lists every carrier and service that meets the deadline, cheapest first. You pick one, or set a rule so it picks for you. Dimensional weight is where the surprises hide: a light, bulky box is charged for the space it takes on the truck rather than what it weighs, and a rate shop is the only practical way to see which carrier treats that box best.
FP Parcel Shipping
FP Parcel Shipping is FP Mailing Solutions' online shipping application. It walks the user through a shipment step by step, prints a label with tracking, and qualifies the shipment for USPS Commercial Plus Pricing and USPS cubic rates without a USPS contract of your own. FP says Commercial Plus Pricing saves up to 40 percent on Priority Mail and up to 16 percent on Priority Mail Express compared with retail.
Every shipment lands in a searchable tracking dashboard, and the application emails the recipient the tracking details automatically. It starts as a USPS tool and scales: UPS, FedEx and DHL can be added so the same screen compares all four for the date and time the parcel has to arrive.
It also supports USPS Ground Advantage, the domestic ground service that delivers in two to five business days with tracking and a base level of insurance included, priced by weight up to 70 pounds, and with none of the residential or delivery-area surcharges that UPS and FedEx add.
- Step-by-step label creation with tracking
- USPS Commercial Plus Pricing and cubic rates
- Searchable tracking dashboard; recipients emailed automatically
- Optional UPS, FedEx and DHL for multi-carrier comparison
- USPS Ground Advantage supported, domestic to all 50 states, military bases and territories
- Connects a scale and a label printer through FP's Cloud Bridge (installation guide below)
How to choose
- You ship mostly USPS and want the simplest possible tool: FP Parcel Shipping.
- You want client or matter number chargebacks on every package, with your own UPS, FedEx or USPS rates shown next to IRD's: Insert Ready Dispatch.
- You want shipping rules that pick the carrier for you, or LTL and truckload freight quotes alongside your parcels: Cloud9 Express. Cloud9 Express and Insert Ready Dispatch are both multi-carrier systems.
- Any of the above: send a month of invoices for the free spend analysis and let the numbers decide.
Watch
Insert Ready Dispatch: compare every shipment
Overview · Automated Mailroom · 2:10 · captions
FP Parcel Shipping introduction
Overview · FP Mailing Solutions on YouTube
Why size matters for shipping
Overview · FP Mailing Solutions on YouTube
Brochures, downloads and links
Questions we get asked
What is USPS Commercial Plus Pricing?
A USPS price tier below retail that large shippers qualify for on volume. FP Parcel Shipping and Cloud9 Express give a small shipper the same tier from the first package because the software provider holds the volume. FP's own figures for Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express are on this page; the exact difference for your parcels is what the free spend analysis shows.
Can I ship with UPS, FedEx or DHL, or only USPS?
Yes. FP Parcel Shipping starts as a USPS tool and adds UPS, FedEx and DHL as options. Cloud9 Express compares USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL side by side from the start, lets you use your own carrier accounts if you prefer, and adds LTL freight carriers for pallets. Insert Ready Dispatch compares UPS, FedEx and USPS, with your own rates next to IRD's discounted rates.
What is USPS Ground Advantage?
USPS's domestic ground service: delivery in two to five business days to all 50 states, military bases and U.S. territories, with tracking and a base level of insurance included and more available. It is priced by weight up to 70 pounds and carries no residential or delivery-area surcharges. FP Parcel Shipping supports it.
I already use FP Parcel Shipping. Where are the how-to videos?
On our Support page, under FP Parcel Shipping: thirteen short FP videos covering adding postage, connecting a scale, setting up a label printer, address books, onboarding UPS and FedEx accounts, batch processing and refunds.
Related
- Free spend analysisSend us a month of invoices; we show you the savings.
- FP Parcel Shipping videosThirteen FP how-to videos for FP Parcel Shipping: add postage, connect a scale, set up a label printer, import addresses, add UPS and FedEx, request a refund.
- Postal scalesFP scales that weigh, rate and connect to your meter.
- USPS ratesFirst-Class, extra services, Priority Mail and Ground Advantage prices as published by USPS, with the date they took effect and the date we last checked them.
Not sure which one saves more?
Send us one month of carrier invoices. We run the same shipments through our discounted rates and show you the difference, shipment by shipment, at no cost and with no obligation.