In the Carrier Allocation settings, you can select one of four different rules to define how the carrier should be selected for auto-allocation.
These rules are:
Click on the rule that you want to learn more about to see the relevant article.
Cheapest carrier
Using this rule will allocate the cheapest available carrier to the order. This is based on the rate zones configured for the carrier in the cost management section ( see freight settlement ).
Info: When the allocation rule is "cheapest carrier", the system will automatically turn off the auto-apply rates feature on the order form after it applied the carrier.
You can also define how much time the first cheapest carrier has to accept the order before it is assigned to a backup carrier. The can be the next cheapest carrier if the checkbox "Use next cheapest carrier" below is selected.
Backup Carriers:
By clicking
You can add Backup Carriers, which will be assigned to the order in case the cheapest carrier rejects confirmation or the acceptance time expires. This works only when the option "Use next cheapest carrier" is disabled!
For Backup carriers, you can also define acceptance time which works the same way as for the carrier - if it's rejected or time expires, the order is assigned to another backup carrier and so on.
In case there are no more Backup carriers available for allocation, the system will fire an 'Allocation failed' alert.
Finally, at the bottom of the 'Rules' window, there are three checkboxes, which serve different functions when enabled.
Auto activate TO: When enabled, the TO will be activated automatically upon carrier assignment
Pending allocation: When enabled, this will move the order status to 'Pending allocation' upon carrier assignment. This means that all carrier-facing e-mails (such as order confirmation) will be blocked until manually released by a Control Tower user.
Restrict carriers: When enabled, this option allows only the carriers in this allocation method to be assigned to the order. It means that it will not be possible to manually select a different carrier than one of those that are defined in this rule.
