Parcel Specifications

The parcel specs helps the software book the correct vehicles, as with the field mentioned above, the more information here the better. 

On handling Instructions, there are four possible options you can send an order with. You can select as few or as many of the four in each creation. We lay out some scenarios below:

Fragile; items in the package are easily breakable and should be handled with extra care

Do_not_rotate; Parcel should remain one way up. For items like cakes, pizzas, etc.

Contains_liquid; Parcel contains liquid items

Contains_hot_food; Parcel contains hot food items

For example, a merchant could set up a rule whereby if the parcel handling instructions included contains_hot_food only courier companies who carry thermal bags would be dispatched.

Dimensions are useful to be included and again, will help the rules engine select the correct vehicle for the given job. For merchants whose value of goods sold is not related to size, this is particularly important. For others, e.g food merchants, we can base vehicle rules off the value field (e.g if order <£100, dispatch a bicycle/motorbike, if >£100 dispatch a cargo bike/car, etc.)

As such, parcel value is very important to be passed across in the creation payload.

Parcel reference is the order number a driver will ask for when arriving at the pick up location, please make sure this mirrors any internal reference you use.