How to configure TST-CF (TSTCF) in techSHIP [Guide]

The TST-CF integration supports:

• Rate Shopping and carrier-provided transit estimates.

• Shipment booking, pickup confirmation, and PDF Bills of Lading.

• Shipper, consignee, or bill-to payment selection.

• Freight classification, city validation, and supported accessorial requests.

• Client-specific tariff selection for rate estimates.

Information to be Provided

Specifications and Constraints

Operational Details

The connection supports Canadian domestic and Canada–United States shipments. Domestic United States shipments are rejected.

The carrier returns a PDF Bill of Lading, a PRO number, and pickup confirmation information. The BOL is stored with the first package and applies to the shipment. The PRO number is assigned to its packages.

Carrier manifests and signature requests are not supported. Dangerous-goods booking is not implemented by this connection.

Configuring a Baseline Account

A Baseline Account serves as the fundamental connection point between techSHIP and the carrier's system. It acts as a template that holds the credentials and fundamental properties required to process shipments.

The techSHIP AI Assistant is available from the Carrier page for supported Carrier configuration tasks. For detailed conceptual information and advanced configuration, refer to 📄 techSHIP AI Assistant: Overview & Availability [Information].

Adding a Carrier

Before adding an account, you must ensure the Carrier entity is available for your location.

1. Click My Carriers from the left menu under the Carriers category.

2. Click Add Carrier.

   

3. Select the desired Carrier.

You may encounter additional messages depending on the carrier status or your plan:

• Subscription Required (⭐): If the carrier has a star icon, you will see a message stating "To use this carrier, a subscription upgrade is required." Press Contact to Upgrade to proceed.

  

• Carrier Suspended: If the carrier has not been used for an extended period, you will see a message stating “This carrier is currently on hold...” Click Request Assistance to reactivate it.

  

• Setup Fee Waived: If a carrier from the same carrier group is already installed in your location, you can add this carrier without incurring additional fees.

  

4. If needed, update the carrier Name.

5. Click Add Carrier.

   

If the purchase confirmation appears, complete the following steps:

• Review the purchase notice and any applicable charge information.

• Optionally enter a PO Number.

• Select I am authorized to complete this purchase on behalf of my organization.

• Click Purchase to confirm the Carrier addition.

Once the Carrier is added, you will be automatically redirected to the Carrier page to continue setting it up.

6. Enter the Code of the Carrier as it appears in your host system.

The Code of the Carrier must match exactly the value defined in the host system. Any discrepancy (including casing or extra spaces) may prevent the carrier from working correctly.

7. Click Save.

   

If your facility utilizes the centralized Pickup Schedule, we highly recommend adding this new carrier to your calendar now. While not required to process labels, this ensures accurate induction metrics for your Insights dashboards. To learn more, see 📄 Understanding the Centralized Pickup Schedule & Expected Induction Logic [Information].

Adding a Baseline Account

From the Carrier page, click Add Account to create a new Baseline Account.

You will be redirected to the Baseline Account page to complete the setup.

Entering incorrect values will prevent the system from generating shipping labels.

General Tab

In the General tab, define the administrative properties:

• Name: Enter a descriptive name for the account.

Enter a descriptive name based on unique properties. E.g.:

• Carrier Name - Account Number (CarrierX - 123456789)

• Carrier Name - Consolidator Name (CarrierY - MyConsolidator)

• Carrier Name

• Usage: Select the most suitable option:

  • Test: Used for sandbox or onboarding purposes.

  • Production: Used for live shipping.

Keep the Status field set to its default Active value. An account must be Active to remain fully editable. For detailed conceptual information on account statuses, refer to 📄 How to Inactivate and Activate a Carrier Baseline Account [Step-by-Step Guide].

Carrier Tab

Enter Login, Password, Authorization, and Requestor on the Baseline Account.

Complete the sender address and configure Pickup open time, Pickup close time, Pickup ready hours, and Weekends mode. Set Tax Exempt only when applicable.

Labels Tab

This connection returns a PDF BOL, rather than individual parcel shipping labels. Use the BOL document output for printing.

Finalizing the Setup

Once you have entered the required information, click Save.

After you save the Baseline Account, check whether the Registration tab or a registration status badge is available.

If neither is available, the Carrier does not use this Registration workflow in techSHIP. If registration is still pending, open the Registration tab and press Registration, then complete 📄 How to Register a Carrier Baseline Account [Step-by-Step Guide] before creating shipments.

From the Carrier page, you can now see the Baseline Account listed with the administrative status Active. The Active status is separate from the account's registration status.

The Baseline Account configuration is now saved. You can continue with Configuring a Client Account below to assign the Baseline Account to a specific Client.

Configuring a Client Account

Adding an Account

Before adding a Client Account, ensure that the Client has been created. For instructions creating a Client, see: 📄 10 - How to create a Client profile [Step-by-Step guide].

1. Click Clients from the left menu under the Clients section.

2. Click the Edit icon for the desired Client.

   

3. Click Add Accounts.

   

4. Optionally, use the Search box to search by Baseline Account Name or Carrier.

5. Select the Baseline Accounts that will serve as the foundation for your new Client Accounts.

6. Click Add Accounts.

   

   A toast notification will confirm the accounts were successfully assigned. Click the Refresh icon if recently added accounts are not displayed.

   

7. Click Edit on each newly created account.

   

8. Configure the available options in each tab (except Carrier).

   

For complete instructions on configuring this settings, see 📄 How to configure the Billing Account General Options tab [Step-by-Step guide].

Carrier Tab

Configure the Client Account:

• Service code, Package type, and Default contents description: Select the shipment defaults.

• Class and NMFC: Enter the freight defaults. Package freight class takes precedence over order and client defaults.

• Broker Name: Supply the applicable broker.

• Tariff code (CTF): Enter the tariff provided by TST-CF. This field is in the Service section, after Broker Name.

• Payment Type: Select the party responsible for payment and complete the freight billing address when needed.

• City validation: Choose Strict Validation - default, Cautious Autocorrect, or Aggressive Autocorrect according to the intended correction policy.

• In Pickup requestor, complete Name, Email, and Phone (Emergency).

Tariff code (CTF) is applied to rate-estimation requests. Leading and trailing spaces are removed, and letters are converted to uppercase. An empty value is omitted; no Baseline Account tariff is used as a fallback.

Specifying Rate Shopping Service Codes

Use the enabled service codes:

For configuration guidance, see Include or exclude Service Codes when Rate Shopping [Step-by-Step Guide].

Label References

The carrier-specific reference controls are in the Client Account's Carrier tab: Customer Reference Number, Bill of Lading Number, and PRO Number. These supply freight-request references; they are not three parcel-label reference lines.

For reference-expression guidance, see Using order References in your labels [Step-by-Step guide].

Finalizing the Setup

Once you have entered the required information, click Save.

With the account configured and requirements verified, you can now proceed to process orders as described below.

Configuring an Order

The steps described in this section are not required for carrier setup, and they are offered as an optional review if further order-level configuration is required.

Follow the UI Navigation steps in 📄 05 - How to edit an order’s information - [Step-by-Step guide], using the carrier-specific values provided in this guide.

Review Service code, Contents description, Class, and NMFC in the order's carrier-specific settings.

Configure Appointment and Appointment datetime, Residential, Stackable, Heat Required, Inside Pickup, Inside Delivery, Liftgate at Pickup, Liftgate at Deliver, and Limited Access Delivery when applicable.

Pickup confirmation number is read-only and populated after processing.

Click Save to apply the order changes, then continue with the standard shipping workflow.

Troubleshooting

• MULTICTF rate error: Obtain the correct tariff from TST-CF, enter it in the Client Account's Tariff code (CTF), save, and request rates again.

• Unexpected tariff: Check the Client Account used by the order; the tariff does not inherit from the Baseline Account.

• City/postal mismatch: Correct the address or review City validation before requesting rates again.

• Domestic United States shipment rejected: Use a carrier connection that supports the lane.

• Invalid pickup or shipper phone: Supply a valid 10-digit telephone number.

• BOL missing or customer-service response: Review the carrier error and contact TST-CF with the shipment and pickup details.