Last Mile Labels

Glossary

Shipping terms, explained

Every term you will meet in the product and on a carrier's site, in one sentence each.

Your account

Wallet: The prepaid balance every label is paid from. You top it up by card; labels debit it, voids credit it back.
Ledger: The line-by-line record of every wallet debit and credit, with the order and tracking number for each.
Account number: The 16-digit number on your dashboard that identifies your organization to support.
Daily spend cap: An optional ceiling on label spend per calendar day, so a bad import or automation cannot empty the wallet.
Organization: Your store or business inside Last Mile Labels. Users, addresses, orders and the wallet belong to it.

Orders and labels

Order: A customer purchase that needs shipping: who it goes to, what is in it, and the package it ships in.
Shipment: A label bought for an order. It carries the carrier, service, tracking number, cost and tracking history.
Label: The printed document the carrier scans. Ours are 4 × 6 inch PDFs that print on thermal or laser printers.
Void: Cancelling a label the carrier has not scanned. The carrier approves it, then the postage returns to your wallet.
Refund: The postage credit for a voided label. Carriers decide it, and each sets a deadline.
Packing slip: The sheet that goes inside the box listing the items, with your store name and the ship-to address.
Preset: A saved combination of ship-from address, recipient, package and service that fills an order in one click.
Address book: People and places you ship to often, saved so you can pick them instead of retyping.
CSV import: Uploading a spreadsheet export from your store to create many orders at once.
Order number: The number your store uses for the order. Imported orders keep theirs; manual orders start at 1001.

Rates and services

Rate: The price a carrier charges for a specific package, route and service. We show live rates for every order.
Commercial rates: Discounted postage negotiated for high-volume shippers, below what the same carrier charges at the counter.
Rate shopping: Comparing every eligible service across carriers for one package and picking by price, speed or value.
Cheapest, Best value, Fastest: The three automatic picks on every order: lowest price, best price for the transit time, and shortest transit time.
Service: The carrier product the package travels under, such as USPS Ground Advantage, UPS Ground or FedEx Home Delivery.
Zone: The distance band between origin and destination ZIP codes, 1 to 9 for USPS. Higher zones cost more.
Transit time: The carrier's estimate of business days from pickup to delivery. Estimates, not guarantees, unless the service says so.
Ground Advantage: USPS's standard parcel service for packages up to 70 lb, usually 2 to 5 business days.
Priority Mail: USPS's faster service, 1 to 3 business days, with flat-rate packaging options.
Flat rate: A fixed price for a carrier-supplied box or envelope regardless of weight, up to the service's limit.
Residential surcharge: An extra fee UPS and FedEx add for delivery to a home rather than a business address.
Ship date: The date printed on the label. Carriers expect the package on or near that day.

Packages and weights

Dimensions: Length, width and height of the outer package in inches, measured at the widest points.
Actual weight: What the packed box weighs on a scale, in pounds and ounces.
Dimensional weight: A weight the carrier calculates from the box size (length × width × height ÷ a divisor). You pay for whichever is greater, actual or dimensional.
Billable weight: The greater of actual and dimensional weight, rounded up as the carrier's rules require.
Package type: Your own packaging or a carrier-supplied option such as a flat-rate box or padded envelope.
Carrier adjustment: A charge or credit after delivery when the carrier's own weighing or measuring differs from what was declared.

Addresses

Ship-from address: Where packages leave from. Printed as the return address and used to compute rates and zones.
Address verification: Checking an address against the carrier's database and standardizing it, including the ZIP+4.
ZIP+4: The five-digit ZIP code plus four digits that narrow it to a block or building. Improves sortation and delivery.
Residential delivery: A home address rather than a business. Affects which services apply and whether surcharges are added.

Tracking

Tracking number: The carrier's identifier for a package, printed on the label and used for every status update.
Scan event: One line in the tracking history: a time, a place and what happened, reported by the carrier.
Label created: The label exists but the carrier has not scanned the package yet.
In transit: The package has been accepted and is moving through the carrier's network.
Out for delivery: The package is on the vehicle for final delivery today.
Delivered: The carrier reports the package was handed over or left at the address.
Estimated delivery: The date the carrier currently expects to deliver. It can move as scans arrive.
Tracking page: The branded page at lastmilelabels.com/track that your customers open from notification emails.
Customer notification: The email we send your customer, in your store's name, when a label is bought and when the package is delivered.

Claims and problems

Claim: A request to the carrier for reimbursement when a package is lost or arrives damaged.
Declared value: The value you tell the carrier the contents are worth, which sets the ceiling for a claim and may cost extra.
Carrier liability: The amount a service covers by default without extra declared value, often $100.
Proof of value: An invoice, receipt or order record showing what the contents cost.
Proof of damage: Photos of the damaged item and of the packaging inside and out, kept until the claim closes.
Appeal: Asking the carrier to reconsider a denied claim with new evidence.
Return to sender: A package the carrier could not deliver and sent back to the ship-from address. Postage is not refundable.

End of day

SCAN form: A USPS Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice: one barcode that accepts every package in the day's pickup at once.
Manifest: The list of packages handed to a carrier in one pickup. Some carriers require one for pickups.
Pickup: The carrier collecting packages from your address rather than you dropping them off.

International

Customs declaration: The form describing contents, values and origin so the destination country can assess duties.
HS code: The Harmonized System number that classifies a product for customs worldwide.
Country of origin: Where the product was made, which customs uses with the HS code to set duties.
Duties and taxes: Import charges the destination country collects, paid by the recipient unless prepaid by the sender.

Your account

Wallet

The prepaid balance every label is paid from. You top it up by card; labels debit it, voids credit it back.

Ledger

The line-by-line record of every wallet debit and credit, with the order and tracking number for each.

Account number

The 16-digit number on your dashboard that identifies your organization to support.

Daily spend cap

An optional ceiling on label spend per calendar day, so a bad import or automation cannot empty the wallet.

Organization

Your store or business inside Last Mile Labels. Users, addresses, orders and the wallet belong to it.

Orders and labels

Order

A customer purchase that needs shipping: who it goes to, what is in it, and the package it ships in.

Shipment

A label bought for an order. It carries the carrier, service, tracking number, cost and tracking history.

Label

The printed document the carrier scans. Ours are 4 × 6 inch PDFs that print on thermal or laser printers.

Void

Cancelling a label the carrier has not scanned. The carrier approves it, then the postage returns to your wallet.

Refund

The postage credit for a voided label. Carriers decide it, and each sets a deadline.

Packing slip

The sheet that goes inside the box listing the items, with your store name and the ship-to address.

Preset

A saved combination of ship-from address, recipient, package and service that fills an order in one click.

Address book

People and places you ship to often, saved so you can pick them instead of retyping.

CSV import

Uploading a spreadsheet export from your store to create many orders at once.

Order number

The number your store uses for the order. Imported orders keep theirs; manual orders start at 1001.

Rates and services

Rate

The price a carrier charges for a specific package, route and service. We show live rates for every order.

Commercial rates

Discounted postage negotiated for high-volume shippers, below what the same carrier charges at the counter.

Rate shopping

Comparing every eligible service across carriers for one package and picking by price, speed or value.

Cheapest, Best value, Fastest

The three automatic picks on every order: lowest price, best price for the transit time, and shortest transit time.

Service

The carrier product the package travels under, such as USPS Ground Advantage, UPS Ground or FedEx Home Delivery.

Zone

The distance band between origin and destination ZIP codes, 1 to 9 for USPS. Higher zones cost more.

Transit time

The carrier's estimate of business days from pickup to delivery. Estimates, not guarantees, unless the service says so.

Ground Advantage

USPS's standard parcel service for packages up to 70 lb, usually 2 to 5 business days.

Priority Mail

USPS's faster service, 1 to 3 business days, with flat-rate packaging options.

Flat rate

A fixed price for a carrier-supplied box or envelope regardless of weight, up to the service's limit.

Residential surcharge

An extra fee UPS and FedEx add for delivery to a home rather than a business address.

Ship date

The date printed on the label. Carriers expect the package on or near that day.

Packages and weights

Dimensions

Length, width and height of the outer package in inches, measured at the widest points.

Actual weight

What the packed box weighs on a scale, in pounds and ounces.

Dimensional weight

A weight the carrier calculates from the box size (length × width × height ÷ a divisor). You pay for whichever is greater, actual or dimensional.

Billable weight

The greater of actual and dimensional weight, rounded up as the carrier's rules require.

Package type

Your own packaging or a carrier-supplied option such as a flat-rate box or padded envelope.

Carrier adjustment

A charge or credit after delivery when the carrier's own weighing or measuring differs from what was declared.

Addresses

Ship-from address

Where packages leave from. Printed as the return address and used to compute rates and zones.

Address verification

Checking an address against the carrier's database and standardizing it, including the ZIP+4.

ZIP+4

The five-digit ZIP code plus four digits that narrow it to a block or building. Improves sortation and delivery.

Residential delivery

A home address rather than a business. Affects which services apply and whether surcharges are added.

Tracking

Tracking number

The carrier's identifier for a package, printed on the label and used for every status update.

Scan event

One line in the tracking history: a time, a place and what happened, reported by the carrier.

Label created

The label exists but the carrier has not scanned the package yet.

In transit

The package has been accepted and is moving through the carrier's network.

Out for delivery

The package is on the vehicle for final delivery today.

Delivered

The carrier reports the package was handed over or left at the address.

Estimated delivery

The date the carrier currently expects to deliver. It can move as scans arrive.

Tracking page

The branded page at lastmilelabels.com/track that your customers open from notification emails.

Customer notification

The email we send your customer, in your store's name, when a label is bought and when the package is delivered.

Claims and problems

Claim

A request to the carrier for reimbursement when a package is lost or arrives damaged.

Declared value

The value you tell the carrier the contents are worth, which sets the ceiling for a claim and may cost extra.

Carrier liability

The amount a service covers by default without extra declared value, often $100.

Proof of value

An invoice, receipt or order record showing what the contents cost.

Proof of damage

Photos of the damaged item and of the packaging inside and out, kept until the claim closes.

Appeal

Asking the carrier to reconsider a denied claim with new evidence.

Return to sender

A package the carrier could not deliver and sent back to the ship-from address. Postage is not refundable.

End of day

SCAN form

A USPS Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice: one barcode that accepts every package in the day's pickup at once.

Manifest

The list of packages handed to a carrier in one pickup. Some carriers require one for pickups.

Pickup

The carrier collecting packages from your address rather than you dropping them off.

International

Customs declaration

The form describing contents, values and origin so the destination country can assess duties.

HS code

The Harmonized System number that classifies a product for customs worldwide.

Country of origin

Where the product was made, which customs uses with the HS code to set duties.

Duties and taxes

Import charges the destination country collects, paid by the recipient unless prepaid by the sender.