Apparatus, systems and methods for online, multi-carrier, multi-service parcel shipping management determination of ratable weight for multiple carriers

摘要

The present invention provides apparatus, systems and methods that apply, in response to a request by any particular user of a plurality of users, each Carrier's rules for determining a ratable weight, including calculating a “dimensional weight” according to physical dimensions and weight of a particular parcel, and determining a “billable weight” according to physical dimensions, dimensional weight and actual weight of a particular parcel. The present invention provides apparatus, systems and methods that determine, in response to a request by any particular user of a plurality of users, whether each of the plurality of Carriers supports shipping the particular package. For each of the Carriers that support shipping the particular parcel, the present invention applies the Carrier's parcel shipment pricing rules to the ratable weight of the particular parcel and to other factors regarding the Shipper's shipping requirements in order to determine a price that each Carrier would charge for shipping the particular parcel.