The Ship Via defines the available methods for delivering orders and should include options for pick up and will call as well as truck and third party delivery. You can designate a Ship Via, often "Best Way" as the default for vendors. See Configure default order preferences.
These defaults are used in Sales and Purchase Orders, but may be changed on a per order basis.
You can also configure multiple tax codes by both Ship Via and Branch.

- Go to File > Company >Ship Via.
- In the Ship Via box, type up to 5 alphanumeric characters for the Ship Via code, and then press the Tab key.
- In the Description box, type up to 30 characters to provide more information about the Ship Via. Both the code and the description will appear wherever else the Ship Via is referenced in Inform ERP.
- Click Save.

- Go to the Ship Via Master as described above, and open the Ship Via you want to configure.
- Click the Edit button.
- Most options you choose on the General page depend on whether you are working with a Pick Up or Will Call method or a Delivery or Third Party method. Configure the relevant options for your delivery method, as well as any additional miscellaneous or WMS options.
Options for Pick Up or Will Call methods
- Tax Code: Choose the Tax Code that will be applied to any order using this Ship Via, regardless of the tax code assigned to the order. Customers designated as Non-Taxable will continue to not pay any tax, regardless of the tax code being overridden.
Note: For companies with multiple branches, consider using the Branch Tax option which allows each Branch to have its own tax code when the Ship Via is selected.
- Signature Capture: Prompts for signatures during either Sales Order Entry or Shipment Confirmation.
Note: This requires signature capture devices. Delivery orders being signed with our ePod module do not require this setting to be enabled.
- Pick Up Hides orders with this Ship Via from the Truck Manifest, therefore enable for all Pick Up or Will Call shipping methods. It is also possible to default a printer for Pickup orders (File>Company>Branch).
- Freight Terms Prepaid: Overrides the customer's default Freight preference to Prepaid for any Ship Via marked as Pickup. This feature is useful when the customer is billed for freight by default, but should not be charged freight when they pick orders up.
Options for all Delivery or Third Party methods
- Warehouse: Choose a default warehouse to prompt orders for this warehouse when this Ship Via is selected in an order.
- Truck Schedule:
- Choose the Truck to which you want to link the Ship Via. During sales order entry, if you choose a Ship Via that has been linked to a Truck, then the order will have the status "Truck Scheduled" as soon as a Ship Date is assigned. The order will appear on the Truck Manifest. Note that you must also select the Delivery check box on this page for an order with the Ship Via it to appear on the Truck Manifest.
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If you are using Truck Routes to schedule deliveries automatically, then in Lead Days select the number of days required before the merchandise is shipped. The lead time days are added to the Order Date to calculate the order Ship Date.
- If you are configuring UPS or FedEx shipping, and you want to add a surcharge to the freight charge, then type the surcharge percent in the appropriate box. For example, if UPS freight is $10, and you type 2 in this box, then the surcharge will be 2% of $10, resulting in a total freight charge of $10.20.
- Delivery: Select this option for all delivery and potentially some Third Party shipping methods. This option includes orders with this Ship Via on the Truck Manifest. It also relates to the optional Credit Hold setting where orders are placed on hold if they fall below a minimum delivery amount.
- Auto Misc Charge: Enter the miscellaneous charge amount from the "S/O Miscellaneous Charge Programs" in the Customer Master into the Misc Charge field on the Final tab of the Sales Order. If cleared, a Miscellaneous Charge will never be automatically applied to orders assigned to this Ship Via. This feature is commonly used to apply delivery or fuel surcharges automatically via the Miscellaneous Charge Program.
Bypass Customer Freight Terms Sales Order Minimum: Forces freight charges to be applied for all orders when using this shipping method, regardless of the amount listed under Customer Master > Freight > Minimum Dollars. (See Configure default customer freight options.) Apply this option for more expensive shipping methods such as Overnight and Next Day Air.
- Carrier URL: To enable tracking, type the website address of the freight carrier. This enables an option to enter a tracking number during Shipment Confirmation. This tracking number is accessible on the Status tab of the Sales Order.
Miscellaneous options
The following options can apply to any Ship Via method.
- Auto B/O Release: Select this check box to includes orders with this Ship Via in the Automatic Backorder Release process when it is run.
- Print B/O Release: Select this check box to print the backorder release pick tickets for orders with this Ship Via when the Automatic Backorder Release is run. If you do not want these pick tickets to print automatically, clear this option and use the Automatic Backorder Release Report (which prints automatically after the tickets) to manually print these orders.
- Clear Salesman in S/O: Select this check box to remove the default Salesman from sales orders with this Ship Via, thereby forcing the user to manually enter a salesman.
eCommerce Pro Ship Via: If you are using eCommerce Pro along with Inform, then this value maps to the eCommerce Pro (Magento) shipping method codes.
WMS options
If you are using the Warehouse Management System, then you will see the WMS Hold list, from which you can choose when orders marked with this Ship Via will display in the Job Queue on your wireless guns.
- Individual S/O: Sales Orders will display in the Job Queue immediately after they are saved.
- Truck: Orders will display in the Job Queue when the truck is sent to the wireless guns from the Truck Manifest. Orders will not appear before the truck is sent.
- Exclude: Orders will never appear in the Job Queue. They can be picked on the guns by entering the order number or scanning the barcode on the printed Sales Order.
- Click Save

- Go to File > Company > Ship via.
- Click the Report button.
- On the Field Selection pop-up, choose the information that you want to include in the report and in which order, and then click OK.
- On the Print Document pop-up that appears, click View.
The Ship Via File Report appears.