Shipping Rules can be configured on the Company/Rules page via the Shipping Approval Rules card.
Once enabled, the Allow Order Import Without Approval setting will be defaulted to on. By default, this feature allows users to import an order even if it requires approvals so they can rate shop and retrieve rates. However, the user cannot ship the order until all necessary approvals have been met.
When this setting is disabled, users will not be able to import the order at all. If they attempt to do so, they will receive an error message.
The rules execute in the order they are structured within the grid. They apply when an order is created, except for the shipping cost rule, which only takes effect during shipping from the Quote/Ship page.
Add/Edit Settings
Enabling Enable Rule activates the rule, allowing it to trigger once the specified criteria are met.
When Stop Processing Additional Rules is enabled, the system stops processing further approval rules once this rule has been met. If disabled, the system continues checking for additional applicable approval rules.
The Use Rule In setting determines which pages the rule will apply to.
The Rule Criteria allows users to define the field name, operator, and field value that must be met for the rule to trigger.
For User Requires Approval, Hazmat Approval, and International Approval, the rule will function correctly by setting the operator to Equal To and the field value to True.
User Requires Approval means any order or shipment created by a system user will require approval before proceeding.
Require Shipping Approval (User Manager Setting) applies only when Shipping Approval Rules are enabled and a User Requires Approval rule exists. When enabled, the shipping approval rule will trigger when the user submits an order or shipment. When disabled, if a User Requires Approval rule exists, this user will be exempt from approval requirements.
Hazmat & International Approval checks whether the product details in an order or shipment have Hazmat or International Approval marked. If approved, no further action is required. If not approved, the system will trigger an approval request. See: Product and Packaging.
International Compliance Rule ensures that if enabled for Order Management, the HTS code will not be required when creating or editing an international order. However, when rate shopping or shipping, the system will still enforce compliance logic.
Rule Approvers determine which users receive an email or notification when approval is needed. This can be assigned to specific users or the requester's manager(s) by enabling Manager Approval. See: How Do I Manage User Access?
Rule Decline Reason allows predefined decline reasons for approvers when rejecting an order or shipment. A maximum of 15 options can be set.
Email Flow
When a user submits an order or shipment for approval, they will receive an email summarizing the transaction along with the specific approval rules that were triggered.
Once a user receives an email to approve a shipment, the email will include a URL directing them to the appropriate page. If the approval is for an order, the link will take them to the Edit Order page. If the approval is for a shipment, it will direct them to the Quote/Ship page.
When the transaction is approved by all approvers needed, or has been rejected, a user will get an email notifying them of the approval status.
Order Management
If an order has been submitted for approval, the user will not be able to quote or ship the transaction.
If approvals are enabled for Order Management, a new column will be displayed with either approved, rejected, pending, or N/A status options.
While an order is in Pending status, a user can navigate to the order at any time to check the current status of approvals and see where it is in the approval process.
The approval status page displays the rule name, the current status (indicating who needs to approve the rule or what has already approved it), and the order number.
If a rule includes a decline reason, when a user selects Decline, they will be prompted to choose from the predefined decline reasons before finalizing the rejection.
If no decline reasons are set, the system will display a confirmation modal to ensure the user wants to decline the order.
If a shipment has multiple approval rules, rejecting any one of them will result in the entire transaction being rejected.
If any part of the order is edited or changed while it is still in Pending status, all previous approvals will be canceled, and a new approval request will be sent out.
If Allow Order Import Without Approval is disabled, the user will not be able to import the order into Quote/Ship until all required approvals have been completed.
Quote/Ship
If a user creates or edits an order that requires approval, one of two things will happen when the order reaches the Quote/Ship screen:
If the approver has approved the shipment, the user can proceed with Quote/Ship and process the shipment as usual.
If the shipment has not been approved, the system will block the shipment from processing and prompt the user to enter the approval password before proceeding.
If an order is imported into Quote/Ship from a live import or from Orders, and no approval was initially requested, but the shipment meets an approval requirement set at the company level, the system will block the user from shipping.
The approver has two options to allow the shipment to proceed:
Approve the shipment, which will automatically process it.
The user can manually enter the approval password in the modal to override the block.
The approver will receive both an email and a notification within FreightPOP to review and approve the shipment.
While a shipment is in Pending status, users can navigate to the order at any time to check the current approval status and see where it is in the approval process.
The approval status display shows the rule name, the current status (indicating who needs to approve the rule or what has already approved it), and the order number.
If the rule includes a decline reason, when a user clicks Decline, they will be prompted to select from the predefined decline reasons before finalizing the rejection.
If they do not have decline reasons, it will give them a confirmation modal to ensure they want to decline the order. If the shipment has multiple rules on the transaction, as soon as one is rejected, the whole transaction is rejected.
If something within the shipment has been edited or changed while the shipment is still in pending mode then the previous approvals will be cancelled, and a new approval will be sent out.
If Allow Order Import Without Approval is disabled, a user will not be able to import the order into Quote/Ship until all approvals have been met.
Notifications
The approval notification is sent only to users configured to receive the approval email. When a user successfully submits an approval request, they receive a notification with the message that reads: "Shipment ID (or Order Number) ___ was successfully submitted for approval" along with a link to the shipment or order.
When the requester’s shipment is approved or declined, they receive a notification:
If Approved: "Shipment ID (or Order Number) ___ was approved by _____ (user who approved)" with a link to the shipment or order.
If Declined: "Shipment ID (or Order Number) ___ was declined by _____ (user who declined)" with a link to the shipment or order. If a decline reason is provided, it will be included in the message.
The link in the notification directs the user to the appropriate page, either the Order page or Quote/Ship, similar to the email notification.
Auto Delete Orders with Rejected Status
Within the Shipping Approval Rules card on the Company Rules page, the Auto Delete Orders with Rejected Status rule can be turned on. When on, the Delete After (days) field becomes writeable and a value is required.
Once saved, a nightly service runs to check for any open orders on the Orders page with a Shipment Approval Status as Rejected and checks how long that order has consecutively held that status. Any time the set threshold of days is met, the system deletes said order from Orders.
