ropu..thanks for your response. My error was a stupid one, i now have the correct files in place and procesed to add our custom shipping modules to the structure of mc_shipping_methods so i added
'upsxml' => array('domestic_types' => array('GND' => 'Ground') ),
'freight' => array('domestic_types' => array('STD' => 'Standard') ),
and i added
'upsxml' => 'UPS Ground',
'freight' => 'RL Freight',
to mc_shipping_methods_names

the shipping modules that I have active in modules shipping are "collect from store", "freight" and "upsxml" (the xml based ups ship module gleaned from oscommerce).

Sadly , when I do a checkout i still only get the "collect from store" displaying in the GCO screen" ... so when i dig into the code in googlecheckout to try and find out if its building the correct <shipping-methods> element in gcheckout.php

the first mql query in shipping....
select configuration_value from configuration where configuration_key = 'MODULE_PAYMENT_GOOGLECHECKOUT_SHIPPING';
returns
"freightSTD_VD:50, upsGND_VD:30, upsxmlGND_VD:30"

im not sure i understand how you determine what modules are activated, as far as I can tell these modules are activated ....

If you can give me any other areas to consider checking as to why GCO wontpick up these realtime methods other than the standard "collect", would be most appreciated

again , running gco latest from svn 1.0.5 and zc 1.3.6 .... the cart is at www.fitnessrubber.com

Allan