The Carriers page and what each carrier supports
How the Carriers page is laid out, what UPS, FedEx, Shippo, Estes and FedEx Freight each support in Parcello, and which label formats each carrier offers.
Updated October 23, 2026
The Carriers page is where you connect the accounts Parcello buys labels and gets rates on, and where you set each carrier’s defaults. Start here when you set up Parcello, and come back when you change printers, switch a default service or want to know what a carrier can do.
How the page is laid out
Default Carrier sits at the top. It is the store-wide carrier Parcello falls back to. The card says it is “Used when a product has no carrier set and the customer’s checkout shipping method doesn’t match a connected carrier.” Pick UPS, FedEx or Shippo, or None (select per variant). The choice saves as soon as you pick it. See How Parcello picks the carrier and service for the full order of rules.
On the Freight plan, a Freight card comes next, with the settings Estes and FedEx Freight share: Consolidate parcel items onto a freight shipment, BOL special instructions and the pickup ready window. See The Freight card.
Carrier Connections lists one card per carrier: UPS, FedEx, Shippo, Estes and FedEx Freight. Each card folds and unfolds when you click its header. Cards for connected carriers start folded, so the page shows their status at a glance. Cards that still need setup start open.
The header of each card shows its status:
| Card | Status shown |
|---|---|
| UPS, FedEx | Setup complete once the carrier is connected and has an account number, a default service and a label format. Otherwise Setup incomplete, and the open card lists what is missing under “Finish setup to enable rating and label creation:”. |
| Shippo | Connected, Connected (test mode) or Not connected. |
| Estes, FedEx Freight | Connected or Not connected. |
Inside a connected UPS, FedEx or Shippo card you find:
- Shipment defaults: the default service and label format for new shipments, the Label paper setting and a Print a test label button.
- Notifications (UPS and FedEx only): the emails the carrier sends about each shipment. See Carrier shipping emails.
- Checkout rates (Advanced plan): which of the carrier’s services shoppers see at checkout, with a Surface at checkout checkbox. See Choose carriers and services for checkout.
You can connect more than one carrier. Each shipment on an order uses one carrier, and you can change it on the order page until its labels are created.
What each carrier supports
UPS and FedEx connect to your own carrier accounts, so you pay your account’s rates. Shippo connects to your Shippo account, which gives you USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL Express through Shippo’s accounts or your own carrier accounts inside Shippo. Estes and FedEx Freight are LTL freight on your own Estes and FedEx Freight accounts.
| Feature | UPS | FedEx | Shippo | Estes | FedEx Freight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rates on the order page | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Freight plan) | Yes (Freight plan) |
| Labels | Yes | Yes | Yes | Bill of lading and piece labels (Freight plan) | Bill of lading and shipping labels (Freight plan) |
| Several boxes in one shipment | Yes | Yes | Yes. USPS has no multi-box shipments, so Parcello buys one USPS label per box | Yes, each box is a line on the bill of lading | Yes, each box is a line on the bill of lading |
| International | Yes | Yes | Yes. USPS international ships one box only | No, US to US only | No, US to US only |
| Return labels | Yes, within one country | Yes, within one country | Yes, within one country, on UPS and FedEx services (not USPS) | No | No |
| Address check | US and Puerto Rico. Other countries are used as entered | Yes | US only. Other countries are used as entered | No, the address is used as entered | No, the address is used as entered |
| Signature required | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable (freight is signed for at delivery) | Not applicable (freight is signed for at delivery) |
| Saturday delivery | Yes, within the US | Yes, within the US | No | No | No |
| Declared value or insurance | Declared value on each box | Declared value on each box | Your own carrier accounts in Shippo: that carrier’s coverage. Shippo’s accounts: optional Shippo shipping insurance | Optional full value coverage (Freight plan) | No, FedEx Freight’s standard liability applies |
| Carrier emails | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, on bills of lading (Freight plan) | No |
| Pickups | Yes (Operations plan) | Yes (Operations plan) | USPS labels only (Operations plan) | Yes (Freight plan) | Yes (Freight plan) |
| Tracking | Yes, while UPS is connected | Yes, even without a FedEx connection | Yes, status updates come from Shippo | Yes, while Estes is connected (every plan) | Yes, for bills of lading created in Parcello, while FedEx Freight is connected |
| Checkout rates | Yes (Advanced plan) | Yes (Advanced plan) | Yes (Advanced plan) | Yes (Freight plan) | Yes (Freight plan) |
Notes on the table:
- Several boxes, Shippo USPS international. If an international USPS shipment has more than one box, Parcello stops with: “USPS can’t ship an international shipment with more than one box: each box would need its own customs form. Pick a UPS, FedEx or DHL Express service instead.”
- Return labels use the same carrier as the outbound shipment and are not available when the shipment crosses a border. See Return labels.
- Address check. When a carrier can’t check a country, the order page shows a note instead of an error and you can still create labels. For example: “UPS validates U.S. and Puerto Rico addresses only. The address will be used as entered.” See Addresses: checks, suggestions and edits.
- Declared value and insurance are covered in Box weights and declared values and Shipping insurance and high-value shipments.
- Pickups. UPS and FedEx pickups are booked on your own account, and the carrier sets and bills any fee. Through Shippo, Parcello books USPS pickups for the USPS labels you bought there. They’re free, and Shippo can’t cancel them: you cancel with USPS. See Book UPS, FedEx and USPS pickups.
- Estes. Connecting Estes on any plan turns on tracking for your Estes shipments. Estes rates, bills of lading, pickups and Estes rates at checkout need the Freight plan. See Freight with Estes.
- FedEx Freight is a separate company from FedEx, with its own credentials. Connecting it, and everything it does in Parcello, is on the Freight plan. See Freight with FedEx Freight.
Shipment defaults
Each connected UPS, FedEx and Shippo card has a Shipment defaults section. New shipments start with these values, and you can change them on any shipment before its labels are created.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Default service (Shippo: Default Service) | The service a new shipment starts with when the customer’s checkout choice doesn’t name one. |
| Label format (Shippo: Label Format) | The file the carrier sends back for each label. |
| Label paper | How Parcello lays labels out when you print or download them. |
| Print a test label | Prints a sample label in your format and paper, so you can check size and position. It doesn’t buy anything. |
Parcello fills in starting values for you:
- UPS: UPS Ground and ZPL once your account number is saved.
- FedEx: ZPL. Pick a Default service after you connect: the card shows Setup incomplete until you do.
- Shippo: USPS Ground Advantage and PDF (4×6). The Default Service list shows only services of the carriers active in your Shippo account.
Estes and FedEx Freight have no format setting: their bills of lading and labels always come as PDFs.
Label formats
| Carrier | Label format options |
|---|---|
| UPS | ZPL (Zebra Thermal 4x6), GIF (Thermal 4x6, for non-Zebra thermal printers), PDF (Letter 8.5x11, for office printers) |
| FedEx | ZPL (Zebra Thermal 4x6), PNG (4x6 image, for non-Zebra printers), PDF (Letter 8.5x11, for office printers) |
| Shippo | PDF (4×6), PNG, ZPL (thermal printer) |
| Estes | PDF only |
| FedEx Freight | PDF only |
Label paper has three choices on the UPS, FedEx and Shippo cards: Thermal label printer (4×6), Half-sheet labels (2 per letter page) and Letter paper (1 label per page). See Print labels on a Zebra or a laser printer for which to pick.
Tracking-only carriers
Some shipments are tracked by Parcello even though you don’t buy their labels in Parcello:
- FedEx tracking numbers are looked up by Parcello whether or not you connected FedEx, so FedEx shipments from a warehouse or another app get live status too.
- UPS tracking numbers are looked up while your UPS account is connected.
- Estes PRO numbers are looked up once you connect Estes, on every plan.
- EFW (Estes Forwarding Worldwide) shipments are looked up with no connection needed.
Every other tracking number (USPS shipments made outside Parcello, DHL, UPS when no UPS account is connected, and other carriers) follows Shopify’s own tracking for that fulfillment. See The Tracking page.
Notes and limits
- UPS, FedEx, Shippo and Estes connect on every plan, and FedEx Freight on the Freight plan. Beyond that, plan limits apply to features: pickups need the Operations plan, Estes freight features need the Freight plan, checkout rates need the Advanced plan. See pricing.
- The UPS card has no disconnect button. To use another UPS account, sign in again or enter new credentials on the card.
- FedEx, Shippo, Estes and FedEx Freight each have a Disconnect button inside their card.
- Changing a default doesn’t change shipments that already exist. Change those on the order page.
Troubleshooting
The card says Setup incomplete. Open it and read the list under “Finish setup to enable rating and label creation:”. Each line names one missing piece, such as “Enter shipper account number” or “Select default service level”.
Getting rates fails with “Operation failed: UPS account number missing — enter your 6-digit shipper number on the Carriers page to enable rating.” Your UPS connection has no account number yet. Enter it in the Account section of the UPS card. See Connect UPS.
Getting rates fails with a message that includes “Estes account number missing — enter it on the Carriers page to enable rating and BOL creation.” Add your Estes account number on the Estes card and click Update.
A carrier is missing from the Carrier list on the order page. Only connected carriers appear. Estes and FedEx Freight appear on the Freight plan, and only for shipments from and to the United States.