USPS RateV4 Intl RateV2 - January 26, 2014 Issue

I have a problem with the new USPS update. The Zen Cart update appears to be working fine, my problem is with the new USPS rules that they have set up.

Standard Post rates no longer show up for zones 1 to 4 shipping. The reason USPS did this was that Priority Mail rates are the same as Standard Post rates in zones 1 to 4, so Priority Mail rates will show up for zones 1 to 4. In zones 5 to 9 Standard Post and Priority Mail rates both show up. Zones 5 to 9 are my problem as I don't want Priority Mail rates to show up - Priority Mail rates are based on box size (if over 12x12x12) in zones 5 to 9. Most of my items are in boxes larger than 12x12x12.

Before this update, I did not offer Priority Mail shipping rates, only Standard Parcel (But would ship via Priority Mail to zones 1 to 4). But now, I don't get Standard Post rates for zones 1 to 4.

Any work around for this??

This took me a while to hunt down, but I think this should work ...

I believe you are trying to stop the use of Priority Mail when the Zone is greater than 4 ... if so then try this ...

Around line 393 add the code in RED:

          $type = $this->clean_usps_marks($Package['MailService']);
[B]$usps_ship_zone = $uspsQuote['Package'][$i]['Zone'];
[/B]//echo 'USPS Domestic $type: ' . $type . ' $cost: ' . $cost . '<br>';

then around line 592 change the code to read:

$show_hiddenCost = '';
[B]if ($type_rebuilt == 'Priority MailTM' && $usps_ship_zone > 4) {
  //echo 'Skip: ' . $type_rebuilt . ' zone: ' . $usps_ship_zone . '<br>';
  // skip
} else {
[/B]          $methods[] = array('id' => $type_rebuilt,
                             'title' => $title . $show_hiddenCost,
                             'cost' => $cost,
                            );
[B]}
[/B]        } else {

WOW, WOW, WOW - That did it!!

Thank you bunches and I bet others will find this helpful, too

Thanks for the update that this worked for you ... :smile:

Remember the Zen Cart Team when you are rich and famous! :cool:

I have pretty much the same problem with a twist. Standard Post rates no longer show up for zones 1 to 4 shipping but many of my items cannot be shipped Priority legally. I explain this in the listing and tell buyers that they must select ground shipping when they check out.

The problem is that with the new code, the only ground shipping shown to buyers is UPS at a considerably higher rate for 1-10 lb packages and this will make some buyers abandon their cart. If they ignore the disclaimer & pay for Priority, the rates are NOT the same as Standard Post. It costs $1.75 more to ship a 4 pound package via Standard Post to zone 4.

Is there any way to simply force the module to show both rates?

At this time, if you force a quote for Ground to get Standard Post on zones 1-4, you will NOT get any other shipping method ...

Do you have something on your Products that identify them where Ground has to be forced?

What happens if you have some Ground products and some not Ground products in the cart at the same time?

That is most assuredly not what I wanted to hear. :(

I do have a disclaimer on ORM-D products that state they have to chose ground shipping but there's 2 problems with that;

1. People don't read.
2. If they do pay attention, the only ground option they see is UPS at a ridiculous rate for small packages.

If any item in the cart is ORM-D, the entire order has to ship ground unless they purchase enough that 2 boxes are required and I can split the order. I also explain that but once again, the average buyer either doesn't read or they forget by the time they get to checkout.

If the only solution is to remove Priority Mail, I guess that's the easiest thing for me to do. This was a stupid decision on the part of the USPS.

Lovely.....
I removed Priority as a shipping method and now the only shipping option shown for zone 4 is UPS Ground. Standard Post is apparently still blocked from being displayed.

If you get a chance, could you please post the code that will force Standard Post to show?

I would have to write some custom code for you to force Ground to be available on USPS for the Standard Post, I have not looked real hard into this yet as no one has asked for it since we began beta testing this new module around January 13, 2014 ...

I am not sure how long this will take ... and I am trying to get ready for the Super Bowl ... :cool:

If I had no clue about what you sell, how would identify these ORM-D products based on the products table?

I too am on the way out to watch my beloved team win. I'm sure it's the same team you're rooting for as you appear to be a very intelligent individual.:smartalec:

There are priorities in life and this is something that can wait. I'll revisit this thread tomorrow.

Go Whomever!!!

Wow, that game didn't turn out as expected to say the least.

Ajeh:

I would have to write some custom code for you to force Ground to be available on USPS for the Standard Post, I have not looked real hard into this yet as no one has asked for it since we began beta testing this new module around January 13, 2014 ...

Having the option to force Standard Post to be shown is a definite need for me. Is that something I should request and pay for from a third party? The ideal solution would be to have the ability to block Priority for certain products.

Ajeh:

If I had no clue about what you sell, how would identify these ORM-D products based on the products table?
I have not tried to add a new field to the Product Table but I can talk to my son if I need to add one. Currently, I have a disclaimer on each product page that requires ORM-D shipping.

Adding a field to the products table such as:
products_groundonly

with the default being false with a value of 0 and when true being a value of 1 then the cart can be tested for these values to force the Ground Only method to get Standard Post to work on zones 1-4 ...

Just keep in mind that this would then mean that Standard Post is the only shipping method that will work on the USPS quotes ...

Let me think about this code for a bit and see what I come up with based on this field of:
products_groundonly

to control the shipping ...

If it will result in losing the Priority Mail option on all products then I'm not sure I'll be wanting to change. The bulk of my products are perfectly legal to ship Priority and it's often less expensive.

I think this change by the USPS is very poorly thought out. I simply cannot see any logic in offering a choice only in zones 5 and up. Using the USPS rate calculator, I see they have now added a check box where you can tell them that your item has to go by ground. Why they did not include this to us in some manner makes no sense to me.

Do you know if there's an email addy for sending problem reports to them?

The idea is, only force the Ground Only when there is 1 or more products in the cart marked as products_groundonly ...

I'm getting tingly. :)

If I could force it to show both methods EXCEPT where a product is tagged products_groundonly, I'd buy the Zen Cart team Campaign & pizza.

Coolness I am almost done with this code for you to test out ...

We love Champaign and pizza! :cool:

To work with the Standard Post and zones 1-4, this copy of USPS January 26, 2014 K2 has a section of code to manage this ...

You will need to add to the table:
products

the field:
products_groundonly

and set that field as:

   product_groundonly tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '0'

then in the shipping module for:
/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php

change the code around line 787 to check the products for if there is 1 or more products marked as products_groundonly by removing the code in RED:

[B]//[/B]    $usps_groundonly = ($_SESSION['cart']->in_cart_check('products_groundonly','1') ? 'true' : 'false');

I have a similar problem to Phil S. The products I sell can only be shipped surface so the only USPS service I can use is Standard. Prior to the current USPS module upgrade the only shipping method I had checked was Standard and everything worked fine. Now for my closer customers, no USPS choice shows up at all. It does show as an option for more distant customers. I assume this is true once the Priority ship rates exceed the Standard ship rates.

As a check I tried enabling both the Priority ship method and the Standard ship method. Once I did this The Priority ship option did show up for the closer customers.

How can I get around this?

The Standard Post was changed by USPS to not be offered when shipping to Zones 1-4 ...

To allow for Standard Post, a setting needs to be sent to USPS for the Ground Only setting ... unfortunately, when set, this means no other shipping method will work ...

To manage this better, I have built into the USPS shipping module for January 26, 2014 K2 that if you have a new field added to the table:
products

that uses the field:
products_groundonly

that when 1 or more products are in the cart with this setting, it will send the information to USPS to obtain the Standard Post to include Zone 1-4 ...

At this time, that is only available by downloading the USPS January 26, 2014 K2 version from post #17 ...

NOTE: you will need to add this new field: products_groundonly yourself to your database table: products and create your own code for the Admin to manage your products for this new field ...

Be aware when using this setting and it is true, that ONLY Standard Post will be quoted ...

Thanks! I'll pass that on to my administrator to decipher. :)

I also sent pizza and champagne to the team. Hopefully you like grocery store champagne and frozen pizza. (grin)