Announcements and API Updates

Metric System Length Increase

This improvement is for shipments originating outside the United States, the maximum length is expanding from 270cm to 274cm.  Customers who ship packages originating outside the US will need to update their interfaces to take advantage of the length increase.  Impacted APIs include the Package Shipping and Rating APIs.

International Special Commodities (ISC) Expansion

The UPS Rating and Shipping APIs for Package shipments will include for specified countries' additional commodities including: seeds, perishables, tobacco, plants, alcoholic beverages, and special exceptions.  The shipments must have the applicable ISC contract or they will be rejected. 

Customers using the Proactive Monitoring accessorial must now have their contract in place.  If no contract is in place the accessorial will be rejected at the time of shipment via the Shipping API as well.

 100% backward compatibility with customers who do not take advantage of the new Subversions available.

Seasonal Surcharge

This initiative introduces three general service offering (GSO) surcharge; transportation-based peak surcharge, Implement as GSO for existing US/PR and International shipments, additional handling peak surcharge, and large package peak surcharge.  Impacted APIs include the Package Shipping and Rating APIs as well as the LTL Freight Rating API. 

Domestic Canada Extended Area Surcharge

This improvement will allow Domestic Canada extended area surcharges be rated and incented using unique surcharge values for the following new subtypes: Delivery Area Surcharge, Delivery Area Surcharge – Extended, and Delivery Area Surcharge - RemoteBD.  Impacted APIs include the Package Shipping API.

Canada Consolidated Business to Consumer Shipments

This improvement allows a shipper to process consolidated Business to Consumer (B2C) shipments to Canada.  This service streamlines the experience for the consignee by providing clearance through the simplified entry process compliant with Canada Customs laws.  Impacted APIs include the Package Shipping and Rating APIs.

Mail Innovations Improvements

These improvements expand Mail Innovations (MI) functionality for commodities which now supports a new maximum number of 30.  This new capability will be displayed on the MI Combination CN22 Label for postal compliance.  The MI Return label will now have a two dimensional matrix barcode that contains the USPS IMpb tracking number as well as the shipment’s destination postal code. 

MI Outbound and Return labels will now have the ability to print package reference fields 3, 4 & 5 for non-CN22 labels only.  Impacted API includes the Package Shipping API.

Expansion of Address Classification (commercial or residential)

This improvement expands UPS Address Classification via the Address Validation Street Level (AVSL) API to new countries including Greece and Luxembourg.  Classification is now supported in the AVSL API in 35 countries.  Impacted APIs include the Address Validation Street Level API.

Paperless Invoice Expansion to new Countries or Territories

Effective October 16, 2017, UPS Paperless Invoice has expanded to include several new origin and destination countries with 35 new destination countries and 82 new origin countries.

Impacted APIs include the Package Shipping API.

Pickup Capability International Expansion

Expansion of pickup capability in fifteen new countries for a total of 41 countries.  There are some restrictions regarding pickup and drop off requests for WorldWide Express Freight shipments in specified countries outlined within the developer guide for the Package Pickup API.

Other Enhancements (Consult most current developer guide at ups.com UPS Developer Kit for details)

• A new Germany only domestic service called ‘UPS Express 12:00’ is now available. UPS Express Saver for domestic in Germany which currently has a 12:00 noon commit will be changed to end of day.  This impacts the Package Shipping, Rating, and Pickup APIs.
• Emergency Response phone number restrictions have been deployed for Dangerous Goods shipments. The phone number will now be restricted from containing special characters (“.”, “-“, “+”, and conventional parentheses “(“, and “)”.  This affects the following Package APIs; Shipping, Rating, Dangerous Goods, and Pre-Notification.
• UPS Access Points have been updated to include a recommendation that shippers include the consignee email address when completing an Access Point shipment to specified locations. New notification type that will generate an email notifications when a specified package(s) receive a ‘Not in 1’ Access Point exception.  The next delivery attempt will be made at the specified Access Point location.  This improvement impacts only the Package Shipping API.  Please check the developer guide for affected Access Point locations.
• Add Ukraine for UPS Developer Kit APIs for Package Shipping, Rating, Time in Transit, and Tracking including Signature Tracking.
• Postal code updates. Approximately 41 countries currently do not require a postal code for shipments yet if something is entered in the postal code field validation will occur and an error is returned.  This validation will be removed for those 41 countries.  There will be six countries that will have mandatory postal code validation: Andorra, Iceland, Morocco, Moldova, Malta, and San Marino.

Sub Versioning Updates

The UPS APIs now have new Subversion Appendices at the end of each developer guide.  The Subversion Appendix outlines what new elements and functionalities are available with each subversion release.  Subversioning allows UPS customers/developers/UPS Ready Providers to determine what functionality they would like to include in their integration while maintaining 100% backward compatibility with customers who do not take advantage of the new Subversions available.  Consult the most current developer guide at ups.com UPS Developer Kit for details.

Saturday Operations and Delivery

The UPS APIs now support Saturday delivery of Three Day Select and Ground shipments to eligible US locations.  Customers and UPS Ready Providers using the Time in Transit API must update their XML Request to include the ‘ResidentialAddressIndicator’ element within their XML Request.  If the address is eligible, then a day of SAT will be returned along with a DATE of Saturday date.  Consult the most current developer guide at ups.com UPS Developer Kit for details.

Local Language Support for Tracking and Signature Tracking APIs

Scan descriptions will be returned in the language specified in the XML Request when using the Web Service version of the API. Only the scan event description will be translated, other elements will still be returned in English.  Please consult the most current developer guide at ups.com UPS Developer Kit for details.

Other Enhancements (consult most current developer guide at ups.com UPS Developer Kit for details)

• Pickup API has expanded fee based pickup services for Canada and Mexico.
• UPS Proactive Response service will now be available via the Quantum View API.
• Provide Electronic Returns with International Forms, Import Control with return receipt and label and Import Control with International Forms new Subversions for the Shipping API.
• WorldWide Express Freight Midday Service is now supported via the Rating, Shipping, Void, Quantum View, Pickup, and Time in Transit APIs.
• New Commercial Inside Release enhancements to the Rating, Shipping, and the LTL Freight Rating API with new subversions.
• There has been an expansion of new elements to support Chemical Details in response for ChemicalReferenceDataRequest in the Dangerous Goods API. There are now 3 new additional data elements in the XML Response for AcceptanceAuditPreCheckRequest.
• New Subversion for Dangerous Goods API for chemical details.
• New Extreme Length services for LTL Freight are available as an accessorial via the LTL Freight Rating and Shipping APIs.
• International Special Commodities- Biological Substance & Clinical Trials Identification Number now available via the Shipping API.

Global Dangerous Goods Expansion

The Shipping and Rating APIs have been updated to support HazMat shipping and rating for both US and International shipments. These APIs will not however generate HazMat labels and forms. This will still need to be done using HazMat software or other applications.

In addition, there will be two new APIs for HazMat shipping and validation:

• Dangerous Goods API - validate Air, Ground, and International dangerous goods (hazardous materials) shipments are acceptable to UPS.
• Pre-Notification API - notify UPS of dangerous goods shipments after shipment processing.

Other Enhancements

The Developer Guides for all APIs have been redesigned for easier use and more effective reference. In addition, all APIs now support JSON (Rest) messaging structure.

LTL Freight Rating API now supports a unique 'Quote Number' to track customer requests for LTL Freight rate quotes.

Paperless Invoice has been expanded to support United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The UPS Developer Kit Community has been updated with additional security features for ease of use.

• The Developer Guides for some APIs have been redesigned for easier use and more effective reference.
• The Shipping, Rating, and Address Validation APIs were updated to support the expansion of residential surcharges globally.
• The Shipping API has been updated to support VAT ID for shipments, returns to Portugal, additional handling, and new seasonal surcharges. In addition, the Shipping API now supports consignee email address for international import shipments.
• Ground with Freight Pricing has been made a general service offering to all customers. A contract is no longer necessary. Changes and updates were made to the Shipping, Rating, and LTL Freight Rating APIs which can be reviewed by downloading the new developer guides. There are also new error codes documented within the developer guides.
• The Locator API was updated with new error codes and tags to support UPS Access Point Locker. There is a new code for lockers and updated search schema.
• All UPS Developer Kit APIs have been updated and now support JSON version.

Go to the UPS Developer Resource Center

• The UPS Developer Kit will now be available for download in 23 new countries for the Rating, Shipping, Tracking, and Time in Transit APIs.
  • Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burundi, Cameroon, Djibouti, DR of Congo, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• Pickup/Collection API will now be available in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
• The Developer Guides for some APIs have been redesigned for easier use and more effective reference.
• UPS Freight^® LTL will be rebranded to UPS^® Standard LTL for US-MX movements and has a new service code outlined in the UPS Ground Freight Shipping and Rating API developer guides.
• There are new General List and Regional rate types internationally that will return new values within the API responses for international shippers dependent upon their account.
• New payment types will be allowed for Small Package shipments including PayPal.

• The UPS Developer Kit will now be available for download in 19 new countries for the Rating, Shipping, Tracking, and Time in Transit APIs.
  • Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates.
• The UPS Developer Kit will now support JSON versions of the APIs for the Address Validation Street Level, Rating, Shipping, Tracking, and Time in Transit APIs.
• The Tracking API will now support rail movements in the XML response.
• The Rating API developer kit and developer guide have changes to improve usability. Customers can provide feedback at the UPS Developer Kit Community https://developerkitcommunity.ups.com/index.php/Main_Page. The link can be found at the UPS Developer Resource Center under "We're here to help".

Go to the UPS Developer Resource Center

Whether it's pre-shipment or tracking, UPS Developer Kit APIs can help provide a seamless, positive customer experience.

The UPS Developer Kit APIs offer various services to enhance shipping and tracking systems. For all rate and service changes or enhancements, refer to the UPS Rate and Service Guide. For all technical changes and enhancements, refer to the Developer's Guide specific to each API.

Go to the UPS Developer Resource Center

The UPS Developer Kit APIs for January 2014 offer new enhancements, including:

• Paperless Document API: The Paperless Document API is now a stand-alone API at the UPS Developer Kit home page. This API can now be used with any UPS PLD-compliant manifesting system.
• AES/SDL Shipment Processing: new functionality has been added to the Shipping API to support contract service and State Department License-required fields. This will be available via Package services from United States, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands origins to European Union, Switzerland, and Norway destinations.

For support for the Zebra ZT230 printer for the Shipping API, refer to the API Developer Guide.

Go to the UPS Developer Resource Center