Carrier shipping emails
Choose the emails UPS, FedEx and Estes send your customers and you about each shipment, and change them for a single shipment.
Updated October 5, 2026
UPS, FedEx and Estes can email your customer, and you, as a shipment moves. These emails come from the carrier, not from Parcello: they use the carrier’s own templates and arrive from a carrier address. You set the defaults on the Carriers page and can change them for any shipment before its label is created.
Shopify’s own shipping confirmation email is separate. Shopify sends it when the order is fulfilled. See Fulfill orders in Shopify.
What each carrier can send
| Customer | You (the merchant) | |
|---|---|---|
| UPS | When the package is shipped, or when it is delivered | Exceptions only |
| FedEx | Shipped, delivered or each milestone, plus exceptions | Shipped, delivered or each milestone, plus exceptions |
| Estes | Estes’ shipment updates (on or off) | Estes’ shipment updates to your email (on or off) |
| Shippo | Not available | Not available |
| FedEx Freight | Not available | Not available |
Shippo and FedEx Freight shipments have no carrier email settings in Parcello.
Set the UPS defaults
Go to Carriers, open the UPS card and find Notifications. The banner says: “Carrier notifications are sent directly by UPS (not by Parcello).”
| Setting | Options and default |
|---|---|
| Email the customer when their package: | Is shipped (default), Is delivered, Never — don’t email the customer |
| Notify me of shipment exceptions | On by default |
| Notification email | Where your exception emails go |
UPS sends no customer emails for exceptions or in-transit milestones. The card points customers to UPS My Choice for those. UPS only emails you about exceptions.
Click Save notifications.
Set the FedEx defaults
Open the FedEx card and find Notifications. The banner says: “Carrier notifications are sent directly by FedEx (not by Parcello). They use FedEx’s own templates and arrive from a FedEx address.”
| Setting | Options and default |
|---|---|
| Email the customer when their package: | Is shipped (default), Is delivered, Reaches each milestone, Never — don’t email |
| Also email the customer if the shipment hits an exception (delay, address issue, damage) | On by default |
| Notify me when a shipment: | Is shipped, Is delivered (default), Reaches each milestone, Never — don’t email |
| Also notify me of shipment exceptions | On by default |
| Notification email | “Used for merchant emails. Customer emails go to the address on the order.” |
Click Save notifications.
The notification email
On UPS and FedEx, Notification email can start filled in with the email you use to log in to Shopify, but nothing is stored until you click Save notifications. Until you save it, Parcello has no address for your merchant emails and doesn’t ask the carrier to send them. Save the card once after connecting, even if the address is right.
Customer emails always go to the email on the order unless you change it on the shipment.
Set the Estes defaults
Open the Estes card and find Shipment update emails. Estes emails its shipment movement updates to the addresses on the bill of lading. You can’t choose which events, only who gets them.
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Send the customer Estes’ shipment updates | Off |
| Your email | Empty, so you get none |
Click Connect (or Update once Estes is connected) to save. Estes emails go out only for bills of lading you create in Parcello, which needs the Freight plan. See Bills of lading and Estes pickups.
Change the emails for one shipment
Each UPS, FedEx and Estes shipment on the order page has a Notifications section. It starts folded, with a summary next to it, for example “Customer: shipped + exceptions · Merchant: delivered + exceptions”, or “None” when nothing will be sent.
- Click Notifications to open it.
- Change what you need. Choices save at once, email fields save when you leave the field.
UPS and FedEx shipments show:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Email the customer when their package: | The customer event for this shipment. |
| Also notify the customer on exceptions | FedEx only. |
| Customer email | Starts with the email on the order. Change it to send the emails somewhere else. |
| Notify me when a shipment: | FedEx only. |
| Notify me of shipment exceptions | Your exception emails for this shipment. |
| Merchant email | Starts with the carrier’s Notification email. |
Estes shipments show Send the customer Estes’ shipment updates, Customer email and Your email. Leave Your email blank to get no updates for that shipment.
Once the label is created the section locks: “Notifications are locked after label creation — void the labels to change them.” For Estes: “Notifications are locked after BOL creation. Void the BOL to change them.” The carrier already has the email settings at that point.
Notes and limits
- Changing the defaults on Carriers affects shipments whose labels you create afterwards. It doesn’t change labels already created.
- If neither the shipment nor the order has a customer email, no customer email is sent.
- Carrier emails are separate from Parcello’s own daily emails about late or stuck shipments. See Needs attention and daily emails.
Troubleshooting
You never get exception emails. Check that Notification email on the carrier card is filled in and that you clicked Save notifications. On a shipment, check Merchant email in its Notifications section.
A customer got no email from UPS about a delay. UPS doesn’t email customers about exceptions. Use FedEx, or point the customer to UPS My Choice.
A customer got two shipping emails. One is from the carrier, one is Shopify’s shipping confirmation. Set the customer event to Never — don’t email the customer (UPS) or Never — don’t email (FedEx) on the carrier card if you only want Shopify’s.