About Us

In building our own capital equipment site to go online soon, we found that all the API'S available from UPS, Fedex, DHL and many common carrier freight companies only calculated their real-time quotes from the total of the products (weight and dimensions) in the cart. As a reseller, we needed a solution that went further. If two items in the cart come from different shipping points, the current API's wouldn't work. We needed a solution that allowed us to assign origination zip codes to every product, and query real-time quotes individually, or, by line item in the cart. We also needed to couple products with the same origination zip code (in our case that means they come from the same place), prior to going out for real-time freight quote. Additionally, we needed the API to figure out which line items in the cart would ship by small package freight and which were going to go by common carrier, to get the appropriate quote. So, since all these features were necessary, and it was not yet available, we had to make our own API.

When we say "quote", we refer to actual real-time rates, with more than one company returning results to choose from.

We set out to make sure you don't have to spend as much money as we did to create an API, so we are making it available for what we are told is a very modest amount per month, to use the API we have created. It is of course with the idea that so many people might need it, that it will eventually pay for itself (hope, ha). There are a few details in the programming needed for your shopping cart to be prepared, which we are afraid is unavoidable...but I think you will find those improvements to be invaluable in increasing the number of visitors to your site (your site now will be one of the few to be so complete in function), and more customers will gravitate to the shopping cart you use, should the cart company choose to make it available to all their customers.

We hope you too will find our API to solve your concerns in dealing with your selection of products and adding accurate freight rates to each sale for your web site. We invite input so we can improve the API as we go along, so please email us anytime at info@freightapi.com. Thank you for your business!

The Staff at Freightapi.com
Laguna Niguel, CA

All About FreightAPI

What is a freight API? It is the programming module needed by the shopping cart company processing your online web sales, to tie to a freight carrier’s computer for real-time quotes, based on to/from zip codes, weight, size of shipment and class of freight.

FreightAPI
P.O. BOX 1145
Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274
Tel 1-866-427-2662
Fax 1-866-484-3722

What are Freight Classes and NMFC codes?
These terms come from the National Motor Freight Classification Handbook, issued by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc., who have categoried all types of shipped product into two identifiers. The first, a two or three digit "freight class", which most people are familiar with, is assigned to each of your products, charged at a specific rate. Secondly, to get to the freight classification, they start with a 5-6 digit code, the "NMFC code", which is much more specific to your product. The NMFC code is based on whether your product is made of iron, steel or wood, knocked-down or assembled when shipped, operated by battery or gas, a food stuff, a boat or a piece of lumber. If you would like to obtain this manual, or learn what specific code number refers to your product, please call 703-838-1810 or go to their website at www.nmfta.org. Interested in seeing a sample page of this manual? Click the image.

Easy as 1-2-3
To prepare your cart for the API, here are the simple steps to do it:

Phase One

Prepare Your Product Page - Add to your product page the following items, using radial buttons or drop down menus as you see fit. You will connect the answer for each to the API. Feel free to leave out options your business does not use. Options are numbered only for reference.
Common Carrier? (window, yes/no)
(default is yes)
If yes, these are options to be answered for common carrier products in your web site product selection...

Origin Zip Code? (window, 6 digits for Canada too, lets and nums)
What type of Business?
1. Business with dock or forklift
2. Business without dock or forklift
3. Residential or limited access
4. Trade Show
What are you shipping?
(default is new commercial)
1. New commercial goods
2. Used commerical goods
3. Household Goods
4. Fragile or unpackaged goods
5. Automobile
6. Motorcycle
How is it shipped?
(default is Pallet (48"x40")
1. Pallet (48"x40")
2. Pallet (48"x48")
3. Pallet (60"x48")
4. Pallet (enter dimensions)
5. Bags
6. Bales
7. Boxes
8. Bundles
9. Carpets
10. Crates
11. Coils
12. Cylinders
13. Drums
14. Pails
15. Reels
16. Rolls
17. Tubes/Pipes
Shipping Weight? (window, enter pounds)
Shipping dimensions? (windows, enter L,W,H)
Freight class (window, 2-3 digits)
Stackable (yes/no)
(default is no)
Hazardous? (yes/no)
(default is no)

If small package freight....
Origin Zip Code? (window, 6 digits for Canada too, lets and nums) Shipping Weight? (window, enter pounds)
Shipping dimensions? (windows, enter L,W,H)

Phase Two

Prepare Your Checkout Page - You Must Ask The Purchaser:
What is the destination?
(default is business with dock/forklift)
1. Business with dock or forklift
2. Business without dock or forklift
3. Residential or limited access
4. Trade show or ceonvention
5. Construction Site
6. Closest carrier terminal
Add a disclaimer: "Please note that incorrect answers may result in higher freight costs."

Decide what you want to list for rates - do you wish to use cheapest price only or give your customer choices and list them on the checkout page? (keep in mind the API is designed to go from line item in the cart and total. As a result, if you offer choices, many might be listed on the checkout page, should they have many items in the sale. Your choices would then be offered for every line item. Your programmer can list 2,3,5 or more options (per line item) as you wish.
(Your own programmer will total all rates used or chosen into the shipping cost cell).

Phase Three

Decide what your confirmation of order will show, for the purchaser and for the web site owner.
Do you care to list the carrier with timeframe and cost for the purchaser? Do you wish to list all rates returned on the web site owner's copy, with purchaser choice, for confirmation, and for valuable data they can use later? A great idea for your records, should a dispute arise later.

That's It! When you sign up, we send you the username and password and unique API token number for the use of the API.
HAVE FUN SELLING! We are glad we could assist in growing your business, and thank you!