How to configure Purolator (PUROLATOR) in techSHIP [Guide]

The Purolator integration supports:

• Void

• Rate Shop

• Track History, through techTRACK with the required carrier credentials

• 3rd Party Billing

• Collect (COD)

• Flexible Address Validation

• Return Labels, created with the outbound shipment

• Time in Transit, when returned with carrier rates

• Label References

• Dangerous Goods

• Signature Required

• Shipment Consolidation and Pickup Requests

Information to be Provided

Have the following credentials and account information available before connecting to Purolator:

Purolator E-Ship Online and Purolator E-Ship Web Services require separate registration. An online shipping-portal login alone does not establish web-service access.

Obtaining a Merchant Activation Key

The account owner must complete the registration and request the credentials.

Register for Web Services

Skip registration if you already have a Purolator E-Ship Web Services account.

1. Open the Purolator E-Ship Resource Centre.

2. Open the registration form.

3. Select the Merchant profile.

4. Complete the company and profile information.

5. Accept the terms and conditions and submit the registration.

Activate the account using the link emailed by Purolator.

Request the Activation Key

1. Sign in to the Purolator E-Ship Resource Centre and open the activation-key request form.

2. Select techSHIP as the e-commerce platform.

3. Enter the Purolator courier account number.

4. Complete the requested contact information.

   

5. Confirm the account-holder verification.

6. Accept the terms and conditions.

7. Submit the request.

Use the activation key and setup information emailed by Purolator to complete the Baseline Account configuration below.

The merchant setup registered for techSHIP does not require a customer API password for shipping. If using your own corporate production key, have Purolator activate and certify it before production use.

For techTRACK event retrieval, provide carrier credentials with both a key and password authorized for tracking. A merchant shipping token alone does not satisfy the tracking connection.

Specifications and Constraints

Operational Details

This integration handles Small Parcel shipments using Purolator domestic, US, and international services. Choose a service available for the account and shipment route.

Commercial Invoice (CI): For international shipments, techSHIP requests the customs invoice from Purolator and retrieves the returned PDF. Provide accurate item descriptions, quantities, unit values, countries of origin, and harmonized codes in the order's package lines, together with the client customs settings described below.

• Rate Shopping and payer: Rate retrieval is skipped when the effective Payment type is Receiver or Third Party. Use an explicit eligible service for these shipments.

• Return scope: Return labels are requested when creating the outbound shipment. Ad hoc return shipments are not supported through this carrier.

• Package-specific references: Use ZPL labels and enable Redistribute Labels on the Baseline Account so each package receives its own reference values.

• Dangerous Goods documents: The integration processes supported DG shipments, but does not request the Purolator Dangerous Goods Declaration Report. Arrange any required declaration separately before shipping.

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

Purolator Credentials

• Courier Account #: Enter the Purolator courier account number associated with the connection.

• User key: Enter the key issued through Purolator E-Ship Web Services.

• Use customer own api key: Enable this when connecting with your own corporate production key.

• User password: When Use customer own api key is enabled, enter the API key password. Leave the own-key option disabled for the merchant setup registered for techSHIP.

Sender Address

Complete the Sender address group with the warehouse's induction details. Company, Street, Street number, City, State/province, Postal, Country, Pickup location, and Contact email are required by the carrier-specific form.

Pickup and Consolidation

• Pickup mode: Select the arrangement used for this account. Per Batch requests pickup when the batch is finalized.

• Consolidate mode: Select User finalize to submit shipment consolidation when finalizing, or Carrier auto-finalize when consolidation is handled by Purolator.

• Pickup open time, Pickup close time, and Pickup ready hours: Where these account fields are available, configure the warehouse pickup window and preparation time. Portals using centralized pickup scheduling manage these values through their pickup configuration.

Labels Tab

Supported output formats: PDF, PNG, and ZPL. Purolator labels are retrieved as PDF or ZPL; PNG output is converted from ZPL. PDF handling distinguishes thermal labels from letter-size documents according to the configured Size.

Enable Redistribute Labels for this connection. Purolator returns multiple package labels together; redistribution separates them and applies package-specific values to ZPL references.

For package or carton references, use ZPL. If PDF output is needed after those values are applied, enable Convert ZPL to PDF.

Disable PDF Label Recovery is located on the Baseline Account's Carrier tab. Enable it only when PDF shipping-label recovery should be suppressed; it does not suppress customs-invoice retrieval.

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

Service and Billing

• Service code: Select the default service or [Use Order] to retain the order's service selection.

• Override WMS Service Code: Enable this when the account's selected service must replace the service supplied by the Integrated system.

• Sender name and **Contact phone