USPS Problem with large order 389 lbs

[kehrli]

Yesterday, both sites used the J version of the software - 28 July 13. They both would allow me to see the cost of USPS shipping for orders of 323 lbs.
When I upgraded site 1 to J5, I lost the ability to use the estimate shipping option when not logged in. Now I can't see shipping whether logged in or not logged in. This is a step in the wrong direction for me. I would like to resolve this on site 1, and then I will do the fixes to both sites.

But for sure, the upgrade to J5 doesn't fix this particular issue.

[Ajeh]

I am using USPS J5 with your settings and I am working ...

Let me go install that again on another server and configure USPS J5, and a Product, and Address Boook etc. etc. etc. and test again and see if I can be broke like you or if we have to look deeper at your server ...

[kehrli]

Drat! I was hoping this was just about the larger weight. I'll dig around and see if I can figure out a way that my setup isn't standard. I don't think any mods would affect this, but I'll dig into that too.

By the way, I'm able to work with a shipment of 88 lbs. But when I double that size, it breaks. I'll find the exact point where it breaks. That may suggest a problem.

[Ajeh]

When you actually walk into USPS or the nice USPS man comes to the door ... is that 389lb in 1 big box or a lot of little box keeping under 70lbs each?

What is the total value of that Order?

[Ajeh]

If I am not mistaken, your shipping available methods are hitting limits on the amount of the Order Total and cannot be shipped ...

So I really need to know how your total $$$ and weight per box work ...

[kehrli]

If I am not mistaken, your shipping available methods are hitting limits on the amount of the Order Total and cannot be shipped ...

So I really need to know how your total $$$ and weight per box work ...

If I am not mistaken, your shipping available methods are hitting limits on the amount of the Order Total and cannot be shipped ...

So I really need to know how your total $$$ and weight per box work ...

This particular order is 4 systems, and each system will ship separately. Each system is $2,400 each, but he gets 15% off of this order. Total Value is about $9K or so.

By shipping each system separately, we don't have any trouble with USPS limits. The dollar value has never been an issue, at least insofar as USPS accepting the shipment. We don't buy insurance, so I think the value isn't an issue.

But I think customers should be able to get the USPS ship option even if the weight is high. It would be up to us to break it down into USPS eatable boxes.

[Ajeh]

The new USPS July 28, 2013 J5 version passes a lot more information to USPS for the quotes ...

The 2013 January 27 version passed less than the 2013 March 28 version ...

Because this information is all being passed to USPS, it is seeing either the $9600 to $8160 amount and both are exceeding an USPS limit ...

We know that when we "talk" about it that you know what happens when you break the Order up for the 4 packages, as you just described ...

The problem is, the code does not address that issue ...

I am going to have to fool with this code to figure out how to make this "work around" the issue ...

Off the top of your head ... do you know what quotes this order would "normally" result in for you?

[kehrli]

Off the top of your head ... do you know what quotes this order would "normally" result in for you?

Thank you very much.

I'm not sure I understand your question perfectly. I think you need the data to program this function into the module. The module would have to know how many packages I would break the shipment into, because in general, the more packages that are sent for the same total weight, the more the postage would cost. Is that the basic programming question you are trying to resolve?

For me, on large orders like this, if I don't get all the shipping expenses back, I'm still OK. Because these are big profitable orders. So this is not a big concern for me. But for others it would be I think, so must be confronted.

I believe, if there were a setting that gave the maximum box weight to be used in large orders, that would work. For instance, lets say that the max box weight is 50 lbs. Then if the module got pricing for 7 boxes @ 50 lbs and 1 box at 39 lbs, that could work (total weight of 389 lbs). I would make that setting close to the USPS maximum weights, and this would keep the shipping cost to the customer low. But that should make a doable function to calculate what to ask USPS for and should be configurable for any user so that they are asking the correct amount for shipping.

I don't know if I answered your question or not. The USPS module, before logging in, gave me a price of $1440 to ship that order, which is 6 boxes @ 66 lbs. And that would work I checked with USPS and the cost of each box would be $240. With my tare settings, I will be able to ship that order for less than $1,440.

I hope in my ramblings, I've answered your question.

I sure appreciate the attention you're giving to this matter. I think it's time I bought the ZenCart guys another cup of coffee. :)