The carrier handover
A parcel changes hands at the dock, and the handover decides how fast it moves. One label format per carrier, a sort lane per carrier, a closed manifest each day and the first carrier scan as proof of hand-off.
The handover is the moment a parcel stops being the warehouse's and becomes the carrier's. On a normal day the van arrives, the cages are ready, the parcels are scanned and the day closes. When it goes wrong, parcels miss a collection, go to the wrong network, or leave without the carrier knowing they exist.
The label
Parcel labels are printed on 100 × 150 millimetre thermal stock, the four-by-six-inch format most label printers take, as a PDF or in the printer's own language. Each carrier keeps its own layout, barcode and routing codes, so the label has to be generated for the carrier and the service that will carry it. A label printed for one network and handed to another is a common handover error, and a cheap one to prevent.
Sorting by carrier
A warehouse that ships with several carriers gives each one its own lane, cage or pallet, labelled with the carrier and the service. Parcels are sorted as they are labelled, so each collection takes its own parcels and no others. Pallets and cages going to a carrier's hub carry an SSCC, the eighteen-digit GS1 serial shipping container code, in a barcode on the pallet label, so the hub can receive the unit in one scan.
A parcel is handed over at the carrier's first scan, at collection or at the depot.
The manifest and the close
At the end of the day, each carrier's shipments are closed: the list of parcels handed over is sent to the carrier, electronically, and matched against the driver's collection. A parcel labelled but not on the closed list, or on the list but not collected, is the one that goes missing first, so the close is also the moment to look for gaps.
The first scan
Custody passes with the carrier's first scan, at collection or at the depot. Until then, the parcel shows in your account as awaiting carrier pickup, which is the correct state rather than a fault. A parcel that stays in that state after the collection has gone is a parcel still in the building or one the driver did not scan, and it should be found the same evening.
Missed collections
Collections are missed, most often in the peak weeks. A second carrier already connected on the same lanes turns a missed collection into a delay of hours rather than days. On Next Horizon both carriers can be live on one account and the rule you set at label time decides which rate each parcel takes, so the next labels can go to the second network straight away, and the parcels already labelled can be reprinted for it.
The handover in your account
Labels are generated from your account for the carrier and service the rule selected, with the carrier's own format. Every parcel appears on the Tracking page from the moment its label is created, so the parcels still awaiting pickup at the end of the day are a filter away. The first carrier event moves the parcel on, and from there every status is mapped onto one set your customer reads on your domain.
Questions we get asked.
Which label size do carriers use?
Most use 100 × 150 millimetres on thermal stock, the four-by-six-inch format, each with its own layout and barcodes.
What is an SSCC?
An eighteen-digit GS1 code that identifies a logistics unit, such as a pallet or a cage, printed as a barcode on its label so it can be received in one scan.
When does the carrier become responsible for the parcel?
From its first scan, at collection or at the depot, under the terms you accepted.
Why does a parcel show "awaiting carrier pickup"?
Because the label exists but the carrier has not scanned it yet. If it stays that way after the collection, the parcel was not collected or not scanned.
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