UPS Mail Innovations Support in Pacejet

Overview

UPS Mail Innovations is a hybrid shipping solution designed for lightweight, high-volume shipments. It combines the UPS transportation network with one or more final-mile delivery providers to offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional parcel services.

Mail Innovations is commonly used for:

• Lightweight residential shipments

• eCommerce fulfillment

• Catalog and direct mail

• Cost-sensitive deliveries where transit time is less critical than shipping cost

Unlike standard UPS parcel services, Mail Innovations services may require additional USPS mail classifications or package types to determine the appropriate shipping method and service level.

What's New with UPS Mail Innovations

UPS has recently expanded the Mail Innovations network beyond exclusive USPS final-mile delivery.

Historically, UPS transported Mail Innovations shipments through its network before inducting them into the USPS network for final delivery. Today, UPS may use USPS or approved third-party last-mile delivery providers depending on the destination, service, and operational requirements.

These changes followed updates to the USPS commercial pricing program and allow UPS to provide greater flexibility, expanded delivery coverage, and improved service performance across the Mail Innovations network.

Customers migrating from older Mail Innovations implementations should be aware that USPS is no longer the exclusive final-mile provider for all Mail Innovations shipments.

Current Pacejet Support Status

Pacejet recognizes and supports configuration of 5 current UPS Mail Innovations service classes.

UPS is currently modernizing the Mail Innovations platform, including updates to its rating capabilities and service offerings. As these changes continue to evolve, Descartes is evaluating future enhancements to native Pacejet support.

Customers who require UPS Mail Innovations rating today have several implementation options:

• Work with Descartes Professional Services to develop a custom solution based on your business requirements.

• Use the available integration of Pacejet with UPS WorldShip for UPS Mail Innovations rating and shipping execution.

If you are evaluating a UPS Mail Innovations implementation, contact your Descartes representative to discuss the approach that best fits your business.

Supported Service Classes

Pacejet recognizes the following UPS Mail Innovations services.

Service	Rating	Shipping
First Class Mail	Not currently supported	Supported*
Priority Mail	Not currently supported	Supported*
Expedited Mail Innovations	Not currently supported	Supported*
Priority Mail Innovations	Not currently supported	Supported*
Economy Mail Innovations	Not currently supported	Supported*

Using Automations with UPS Mail Innovations

Pacejet Automations provide flexible, rule-based control over carrier and service selection. By evaluating shipment attributes such as customer, destination, order value, package characteristics, or other order-specific conditions, Automations can simplify the shipping experience and help ensure the correct UPS Mail Innovations services are used.

Automations can be used to:

• Display only UPS Mail Innovations services that are appropriate for a shipment.

• Automatically assign a UPS Mail Innovations service based on business rules.

• Reduce operator decisions and improve shipping consistency.

• Standardize shipping processes across multiple users or facilities.

Example 1: Display Only UPS Mail Innovations Services

An Automation can evaluate order-specific conditions and limit the services displayed on the Rate & Ship page to UPS Mail Innovations services only. This helps users select from only the services that are appropriate for the shipment while preventing accidental selection of other UPS parcel services.

Example Automation

Shipping Experience

After the Automation executes, the Rate & Ship page displays only the available UPS Mail Innovations services for the user to choose from.

Example 2: Automatically Assign a UPS Mail Innovations Service

Automations can also assign a specific UPS Mail Innovations service without requiring the user to select one manually.

For example, a business rule could automatically assign:

• First Class Mail for lightweight shipments.

• Priority Mail for qualifying domestic shipments.

• Economy Mail Innovations for cost-sensitive international shipments.

This approach creates a consistent shipping process while reducing user decisions during shipment processing.

Example Automation

Shipping Experience

When the shipment is opened in the Rate & Ship page, the Automation has already selected the appropriate UPS Mail Innovations service.

Shipping Support

Pacejet recognizes all currently supported UPS Mail Innovations service classes and supports shipment execution based on your configured implementation.

Successful shipment processing depends on:

• Your UPS Mail Innovations account configuration.

• The services enabled by UPS for your account.

• Shipment characteristics.

• UPS validation rules.

• Your selected implementation approach.

Customers should validate their complete Mail Innovations workflow in a test environment before deploying to production.

Choosing the Right Service

Your available services depend on the UPS Mail Innovations agreement associated with your account. The table below summarizes common use cases.

Service	Typical Use
First Class Mail	Lightweight domestic shipments
Priority Mail	Domestic shipments requiring faster USPS delivery
Expedited Mail Innovations	Time-sensitive domestic Mail Innovations shipments
Priority Mail Innovations	Faster international Mail Innovations shipments
Economy Mail Innovations	Cost-sensitive international Mail Innovations shipments

Current Limitations

The current UPS Mail Innovations implementation includes the following limitations:

• Shipment rating is not currently available for any UPS Mail Innovations service within Pacejet.

• Service availability depends on your UPS Mail Innovations agreement and the services enabled on your account.

• Domestic and international service validation is performed by UPS during shipment processing.

• Customers requiring integrated Mail Innovations rating should contact Descartes to discuss custom implementation options or UPS WorldShip integration.

Best Practices

When implementing UPS Mail Innovations with Pacejet:

• Verify which Mail Innovations services are enabled for your UPS account.

• Test each service before deploying it to production.

• Use Pacejet Automations to simplify service selection and enforce consistent shipping decisions.

• If shipment rating is required, discuss implementation options with Descartes before beginning your deployment.

• Review your shipping workflows if you are migrating from a legacy UPS Mail Innovations implementation, as the network and final-mile delivery model have changed.

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