USPS changes effective May 31st, 2015

Applies to: AbleCommerce Gold

Release Date:  5/22/2015

Effective Date:  5/31/2015 12:01 am

Prerequisite:  For Gold versions R9 and lower.  You must have already applied the patch from USPS Changes for Sept 2014 before this one.

Severity: High (if shipping to Canada)

INFORMATION

USPS Web Tools will be updating a few of their service names and RateV2 International API on May 31st, 2015. We have provided a patch so you can avoid any disruption in service.

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES

Starting Sunday May 31, 2015, at 12:01AM:

• Priority Mail International for Canada will switch to zone based pricing – there will be 7 pricing zones versus the previous single rate for the entire country.

• The USPS will reduce the $0.01 electronic postage / meter discount to $.005 for First-Class Mail Letters (up to 3.5 oz).

• Proposed, pending approval: First-Class Mail Parcel (Retail) becomes First-Class Package Service (FCPS), which would add a Retail pricing tier to the existing Commercial Base and Commercial Plus pricing tiers for FCPS.

• USPS Tracking becomes free for Library Mail and Media Mail and thus USPS Tracking is included for all domestic mail classes at no additional cost with the exception of Standard Mail which has a cost of $0.36 per piece.

• USPS will require a signature at delivery for all USPS insured shipments with an insured value of more than $500, up from $200; Signature Confirmation is included at no additional fee

Reference https://www.usps.com/business/web-tools-apis/2015-may-webtools-release-notes.pdf for more information.

INTERNATIONAL AMENDMENTS

Changes in this patch include:

• Upgrade International API RateV2 to support new Shipping Origin requirement to Canada when the "USPS Priority Mail International" service is used.

• For Gold R9 and below, we are including the fix for Issue AC8-2700 - International needs to have Mailtype changed from Package to All types.  This change is already included in all Gold R10 installs.

DOMESTIC AMENDMENTS

At the time of this writing, it is still unknown whether USPS will be making a service name change.  We will update if we get confirmation.  The change can be made manually in the \app_data\uspsmethods.csv file once USPS gives official notification.

• Service name pending change from "First-Class Mail Parcel" to "First-Class Package Service"

Patch Includes:  

WSP Version (most common) -

\Bin\CommerceBuilder.USPS.dl (version: 7.90.5619.37129)

\Admin\Shipping\Providers\USPS\Configure.aspx and Configure.aspx.cs

WAP Version -

\Bin\CommerceBuilder.USPS.dl (version: 7.90.5619.37129)

\Admin\Shipping\Providers\USPS\Configure.aspx, Configure.aspx.cs, and Configure.aspx.designer.cs

TO TEST BEFORE MAY 31st DEADLINE

OPTIONAL:  If you would like to test the patch before the May 31st deadline, follow the steps below:

This test assumes you are already using international services and shipping to Canada.  If this does not apply to you, then disregard the steps below.

1.  Make sure you have "USPS Priority Mail International" selected as a shipping method.

2.  Place a product in the cart that has some weight.

3.  Enter a shipping address to any Canadian destination.  The address should be valid.

4.  Proceed through checkout until you get to the Select Shipping methods section.  Make a note of the shipping methods available from the USPS.  The "USPS Priority Mail International" shipping method should be available, but only if testing before the May 31st, 2015 deadline.

5.  From the Configure > Shipping > Integrated Carriers > USPS configuration page, change the Rating URL:

FROM:  http://production.shippingapis.com/ShippingAPI.dll

TO: http://stg-production.shippingapis.com/ShippingApi.dll

6.  Repeat steps 1 through 4 above.  If the patch was installed properly, then you should continue seeing "USPS Priority Mail International" as one of the shipping methods.

7.  Change the Rating URL back to http://production.shippingapis.com/ShippingAPI.dll

TO UPDATE YOUR SERVICE NAME

NOTE:  This change is proposed, and pending approval.  It only applies if you are using the "First-Class Mail Parcel" service.  Do not make the change until USPS has officially confirmed approval.

1.  Go to the USPS shipping methods page.

2.  From the list, select the "First-Class Mail Parcel" service.

3.  Change the name to "First-Class Package Service".

4.  Click SAVE when finished.

TROUBLESHOOTING

For questions or problems, please report to the community forums here:

http://forums.ablecommerce.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=18392