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Troubleshooting Dimensional Boxes Not Packing as Expected

Resolve packing discrepancies by adjusting ShipperHQ configuration settings

Overview

You may have products that should be packed into boxes in a particular way. Occasionally, you might run into a scenario where products are not packed into the boxes you expected. Depending on the scenario, there are options to adjust your ShipperHQ configuration to better fit your expectations. 😊

Pre-requisites: This article assumes that you are using the Dimensional Shipping Advanced Feature and have Defined Boxes and Packages.

Table of Contents

Scenarios

Chosen Box not in Packing Rule List

When an item assigned to a Pack According to Box Rules Packing Rule is in the cart, ShipperHQ is expected to select a box from that rule's options. Sometimes, ShipperHQ might choose a box not specified in the Packing Rule.

Explanation

Before ShipperHQ's Dimensional Packing selects a box, it first determines which boxes are "available." If items are assigned to a Pack According to Box Rules Packing Rule, the boxes in that Packing Rule are "Available." However, any box set to "Can be used to pack all products" is also considered "Available."

For example, if a Packing Rule includes Box A, Box B, and Box C, but Box X is marked as "Can be used to pack all products," ShipperHQ will consider Boxes A, B, C, and X for packing.

Solution

To have ShipperHQ consider only boxes assigned to a specific Packing Rule, ensure no boxes are marked as "Can be used to pack all products." Set up a Default Packing Rule with all such boxes to maintain functionality for products not assigned to a Packing Rule.

  • Create a new "Pack According to Box Rule" packing rule and set it as Default.
  • Update boxes with "Can be used to pack all products" and deselect this function.
  • Add updated boxes to the Default Packing rule.

ShipperHQ will now only consider boxes listed in the Packing Rule for the items in an order. For items not assigned to a Packing Rule, ShipperHQ evaluates only boxes marked as "Can be used to pack all products" via the Default Packing Rule.

One Large Box Used Instead of Two Smaller Boxes

For defined boxes with a 0 tolerance and no maximum quantities:

  • Small - 4" x 5" x 5", max weight 5lb
  • Medium - 7" x 7" x 7", max weight 10lb
  • Large - 7" x 7" x 7", max weight 18lb
  • Extra Large - 20" x 20" x 20", max weight 45lb

PRODUCT A is in the cart with dimensions of 2" x 2" x 2" and a weight of 4lb.

Expectation:

  • 1 quantity: use the small box
  • 2 quantity: use the medium box
  • 3 quantity: prefer one small and one medium box for a lower quote than the large box

However, the large box is used instead.

When 3 of PRODUCT A are in the cart, the large box is chosen because it meets the weight capacity and has similar dimensions to the medium box. Without a specific indication that the large box should not be used, it gets selected over a combination of smaller boxes. If the quantity is five, the extra large box is used due to sufficient capacity.

Remove larger boxes from the available boxes for PRODUCT A to use multiples of the smaller boxes. Alternatively, create a Packing Rule to restrict PRODUCT A to smaller boxes. 💡