USPS International Shipping Problem and Solution

[grafcaps.com]

The following applies to USPS shipping module, "USPS_UPDATE_2010_0104_B", which was the most recent version of the USPS shipping module that I could find as of January 31, 2011. FYI, I'm using Zen-Cart 1.3.9h. USPS International shipping does not work with this version of the shipping module, but I have found and corrected the problem.

I was recently notified by a customer of mine that the only available International shipping methods available from my graffiti supply website were provided by FedEx and UPS. I've always offered USPS as well, so I did some investigation. I found out that the US Postal Service has changed the format of it's XML responses for International shipments. Specifically, the <SvcDescription> tag now contains a bunch of html-encoded characters. For example, what used to be returned as:

<SvcDescription>First-Class Mail International Large Envelope</SvcDescription>

is now returned as:

<SvcDescription>First-Class Mail&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;&amp;amp;reg;&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; International Large Envelope**</SvcDescription>

This is an issue because on line 634 of /includes/modules/shipping/usps.php, the USPS server response is compared to an array of potential shipping methods which is hard-coded in on lines 114-132. For this reason, none of my available USPS shipping methods were being provided to my customers. In order to fix this problem, the array containing the shipping methods needs to be updated from:

    $this->intl_types = array(
        'Global Express' => 'Global Express Guaranteed',
        'Global Express Non-Doc Rect' => 'Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Rectangular',
        'Global Express Non-Doc Non-Rect' => 'Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Non-Rectangular',
        'Global Express Envelopes' => 'USPS GXG Envelopes',
        'Express Mail Int' => 'Express Mail International',
        'Express Mail Int Flat Rate Env' => 'Express Mail International Flat Rate Envelope',
        'Priority Mail International' => 'Priority Mail International',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Env' => 'Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Box' => 'Priority Mail International Flat Rate Box',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Small Box' => 'Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Box',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Med Box' => 'Priority Mail International Medium Flat Rate Box',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Lrg Box' => 'Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box',
        'First Class Mail Int Lrg Env' => 'First-Class Mail International Large Envelope',
        'First Class Mail Int Package' => 'First-Class Mail International Package',
        'First Class Mail Int Letters' => 'First-Class Mail International Letters',
        'First Class Mail Int Flats' => 'First-Class Mail International Flats',
        'First Class Mail Int Parcels' => 'First-Class Mail International Parcels'
        ); 

To:

    $this->intl_types = array(
        'Global Express' => 'Global Express Guaranteed<sup>®</sup> (GXG)**',
        'Global Express Non-Doc Rect' => 'Global Express Guaranteed<sup>®</sup> Non-Document Rectangular',
        'Global Express Non-Doc Non-Rect' => 'Global Express Guaranteed<sup>®</sup> Non-Document Non-Rectangular',
        'Global Express Envelopes' => 'USPS GXG<sup>™</sup> Envelopes**',
        'Express Mail Int' => 'Express Mail<sup>®</sup> International',
        'Express Mail Int Flat Rate Env' => 'Express Mail<sup>®</sup> International Flat Rate Envelope',
        'Priority Mail International' => 'Priority Mail<sup>®</sup> International',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Env' => 'Priority Mail<sup>®</sup> International Flat Rate Envelope**',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Small Box' => 'Priority Mail<sup>®</sup> International Small Flat Rate Box**',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Med Box' => 'Priority Mail<sup>®</sup> International Medium Flat Rate Box',
        'Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Lrg Box' => 'Priority Mail<sup>®</sup> International Large Flat Rate Box',
        'First Class Mail Int Lrg Env' => 'First-Class Mail<sup>®</sup> International Large Envelope**',
        'First Class Mail Int Package' => 'First-Class Mail<sup>®</sup> International Package**',
        'First Class Mail Int Letter' => 'First-Class Mail<sup>®</sup> International Letter**'
        ); 

Also, because the gobbledygook that is sent back by the USPS server is double-htmlencoded and has some extra asterisk characters, I added the following code on line 640 to clean it up:

            // strip superfluous characters sent by USPS web service
            $service = htmlspecialchars_decode(htmlspecialchars_decode($service));
            $service = str_replace('**', '', $service); 

I hope this helps you before you waste a half a day troubleshooting this issue, as I did.

[Ajeh]

Could you get the current USPS January 2, 2011 C from post #26 at:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...S+January+2011

and follow all of the steps to install this properly on your server and then test the current USPS shipping module and see if it doesn't work better?

[grafcaps.com]

Could you get the current USPS January 2, 2011 C from post #26 at:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...S+January+2011

and follow all of the steps to install this properly on your server and then test the current USPS shipping module and see if it doesn't work better?

Hey Linda,

I checked out the update and it looks like you fixed this problem before I even knew it existed. We both attacked it the same way, although you added the new shipping methods to the intl_types array instead of just replacing the old ones. Also, you used str_replace to fix the HTML encoded characters, whereas I used a couple of nested htmlentities_decode functions. Either way, it's virtually the same fix. I'm kind of bummed that a Google search didn't bring up this latest shipping module update. I guess I should have exhausted the forum search feature before I dove into the problem.

Thanks so much for your continued dedication to the Zen-Cart project.

[Ajeh]

Be sure to use the new USPS January 2, 2011 as there are changes in the code beyond cleaning the results from USPS ...

[grafcaps.com]

Well, I tried switching from my changes to revision C version of the USPS module as you suggested, but when I switched it over, I lost the ability to use USPS First Class Mail International Large Envelope, so I switched back to my fix. (Yes, I did uninstall and re-install the module when I switched it). It seems to be working just fine for all USPS International shipping methods that I use. Revision A is actually more similar to my fix than revision C. Mine doesn't strip or transform any characters until after all of the processing has been completed. I've attached a copy of the file that works for me.

Thanks again.

[Ajeh]

What is the Ship From?

What is the Ship To?

What is the Weight?

What are your settings in the Shipping/Packaging?

[grafcaps.com]

What is the Ship From?

What is the Ship To?

What is the Weight?

What are your settings in the Shipping/Packaging?

The ship from address is 7488 E 171st St, Noblesville, IN 46062.

I've tried multiple Ship To addresses, including locations in Singapore, Australia and Argentina, all of which came from customers who used USPS First Class Mail International shipping in the past.

The USPS Shipping Module settings are:

Enable USPS Shipping
True

Which server to use
production

Handling Fee
0.95

Handling Per Order or Per Box
Box

Tax Class
Indiana Sales Tax

Tax Basis
Shipping

Shipping Zone
--none--

Sort Order
0

All Packages are Machinable
False

USPS Options
Display weight, Display transit time

Domestic Shipping Methods
EXPRESS, PRIORITY, FIRST CLASS, PARCEL

International Shipping Methods
USPS GXG Envelopes, Express Mail Int Flat Rate Env, Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Env, Priority Mail Int Flat Rate Med Box, First Class Mail Int Lrg Env

Debug Mode
Off

Thanks

[Ajeh]

What weight are you testing?

I can get all of these for Australia on a 1oz (.0625 lb):

United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed (GXG)** (1 - 3 business days)) $47.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $47.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Non-Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $47.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (USPS GXG Envelopes** (1 - 3 business days)) $47.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Express Mail International (3 - 5 business days)) $29.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Express Mail International Flat Rate Envelope (3 - 5 business days)) $29.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Express Mail International Legal Flat Rate Envelope (3 - 5 business days)) $29.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International (6 - 10 business days)) $28.75
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box (6 - 10 business days)) $58.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Medium Flat Rate Box (6 - 10 business days)) $45.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Box** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International DVD Flat Rate Box** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Large Video Flat Rate Box** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Legal Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Padded Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Gift Card Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (First-Class Mail International Package** (Varies by country)) $1.44
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.06lbs) (First-Class Mail International Large Envelope** (Varies by country)) $1.24

On 1 lb, I can get:

United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed (GXG)** (1 - 3 business days)) $71.75
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $71.75
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Non-Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $71.75
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (USPS GXG Envelopes** (1 - 3 business days)) $71.75
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Express Mail International (3 - 5 business days)) $35.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Express Mail International Flat Rate Envelope (3 - 5 business days)) $29.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Express Mail International Legal Flat Rate Envelope (3 - 5 business days)) $29.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International (6 - 10 business days)) $28.75
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box (6 - 10 business days)) $58.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Medium Flat Rate Box (6 - 10 business days)) $45.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Box** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International DVD Flat Rate Box** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Large Video Flat Rate Box** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Legal Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Padded Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Gift Card Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Envelope** (6 - 10 business days)) $13.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (First-Class Mail International Package** (Varies by country)) $10.76
United States Postal Service (1 x 1.00lbs) (First-Class Mail International Large Envelope** (Varies by country)) $10.56

On 10lbs I can get:

United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed (GXG)** (1 - 3 business days)) $160.40
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $160.40
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Non-Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $160.40
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (USPS GXG Envelopes** (1 - 3 business days)) $160.40
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Express Mail International (3 - 5 business days)) $86.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Express Mail International Flat Rate Envelope (3 - 5 business days)) $29.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Express Mail International Legal Flat Rate Envelope (3 - 5 business days)) $29.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Priority Mail International (6 - 10 business days)) $74.40
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box (6 - 10 business days)) $58.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Priority Mail International Medium Flat Rate Box (6 - 10 business days)) $45.50

[johnandrobin]

Dear Linda

I have just uploaded the new USPS module as recommended in "January 2, 2011 C from post #26 at:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...S+January+2011" above. It is working just as your example in the last post here however the first three international price quotes are for the same value.
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed (GXG)** (1 - 3 business days)) $160.40
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $160.40
United States Postal Service (1 x 10.00lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Non-Rectangular (1 - 3 business days)) $160.40

This is calculating incorrectly. The first price is correct if you use a USPS GXG standard envelope which is calculated by weight only and put your item in their envelope, the other two prices are based on weight and dimensions of the individual package to obtain the price and will be a higher price than the first. Is there a way of entering the shipping box dimensions in zen cart in order for these services to calculate correctly.

Thank you

John

[Ajeh]

No matter how I enter it on usps.com the prices come up the same ...

What is your Ship from and dimensions that you are using to obtain your quotes?