Carrier Open/Close

What is Carrier Open/Close?

Carrier Open/Close is a functionality that allows you to open or close operation periods for your carriers. This tool is essential for managing shipping cycles and marking when carriers are active or closed for processing manifests and shipments.

When you open a carrier, you mark the start of a new operation period. When you close it, you indicate that period has ended and the carrier is ready to generate manifests or process pending shipments. This functionality helps maintain a clear record of each carrier’s operational periods.

Period Management

Use Carrier Open/Close to clearly mark when your carriers’ operational periods begin and end. This is especially important before generating manifests.

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Why Use Carrier Open/Close?

Operational Period Control

Clearly mark when carriers are open or closed. This helps organize your shipping operations by defined periods.

Manifest Preparation

Close carrier periods before generating manifests. This ensures all shipments from the period are correctly included.

Multiple Simultaneous Carriers

Open or close multiple carriers at once. Select several carriers and process them all with a single action to save time.

Historical Record

Maintain a complete record of all opened and closed periods. Each action is saved with date and time for future reference.

Date Validation

The system automatically validates that dates are valid and not before the current date. This prevents errors in period management.

Manifest Integration

Automatically integrates with manifest generation. Manifests use these records to determine which shipments to include.

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How to Access Carrier Open/Close

Carrier Open/Close functionality is available from several system views:

• Shipping Labels (/shipping_labels2.php) - Access from shipping labels menu
• Order List Shipped (/Order_List_Shipped_Alist.php) - Access from shipped orders list
• Shipping Labels Legacy (/shipping_labels.php) - Previous version of labels view

Look for the OPEN CARRIER or CLOSE CARRIER buttons in these views to access the functionality.

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How to Open a Carrier

1. Access the functionality

   From any view that has the option, click the OPEN CARRIER button.

2. OPEN CARRIER modal opens

   A modal will appear with the title “OPEN CARRIER” and an open lock icon.

3. Select the date

   The Date field is automatically filled with the current date. You can change it using the date picker (calendar). The date must be valid and cannot be before the current date.

4. Select carriers

   Check the boxes next to the carriers you want to open. Available carriers include:

   • DHL eCommerce
   • DHLeC
   • USPS
   • FedEx
   • UPS
   • DHL Express

5. Or use Check All

   If you want to select all available carriers, check the Check All checkbox at the top.

6. Click Ok

   Click the Ok button to process opening the selected carriers.

7. Wait for confirmation

   You’ll see a “Save sucessful” message if the operation completed correctly. The modal will close automatically.

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How to Close a Carrier

1. Access the functionality

   From any view that has the option, click the CLOSE CARRIER button.

2. CLOSE CARRIER modal opens

   A modal will appear with the title “CLOSE CARRIER” and a closed lock icon.

3. Select the date

   The Date field is automatically filled with the current date. You can change it using the date picker (calendar). The date must be valid and cannot be before the current date.

4. Select carriers

   Check the boxes next to the carriers you want to close. You must select at least one carrier.

5. Or use Check All

   If you want to select all available carriers, check the Check All checkbox at the top.

6. Click Ok

   Click the Ok button to process closing the selected carriers.

7. Wait for confirmation

   You’ll see a “Save sucessful” message if the operation completed correctly. The modal will close automatically.

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Functionality Details

Date Validation

The system automatically validates entered dates:

• Valid format: Date must be in YYYY-MM-DD format (year-month-day)
• Minimum date: Date cannot be before the current date
• Real-time validation: The system shows validation messages as you type:
  • Green: “The format date is valid” and “The date is valid” when the date is correct
  • Red: “The format date is not valid!!!” if the format is incorrect
  • Red: “The date must be greater than or equal to the current date” if the date is before today

Carrier Selection

You can select carriers in the following ways:

• Individual selection: Check the boxes of carriers you need
• Multiple selection: Check several carriers to process them all at once
• Total selection: Use Check All to select all available carriers

Minimum Requirements

• You must select at least one carrier before clicking Ok
• If you try to process without selecting carriers, you’ll see the message: “You must check at least one carrier”

Save Process

When you click Ok, the system:

1. Validates that at least one carrier is selected
2. Validates that the date is correct
3. Saves a record in the carrier_open_close table for each selected carrier
4. Each record includes:
   • Carrier code (carrier-code)
   • Action performed (Open or Close)
   • Timestamp with the selected date and time

Integration with Manifests

Carrier Open/Close records are used when you generate manifests:

• The system queries close records to determine which shipments to include in manifests
• Manifests are generated for periods that have been closed
• This ensures all shipments from the period are correctly consolidated

Available Carriers

Carriers you can open or close include:

• DHL eCommerce: DHL’s economical shipping service
• DHLeC: DHL eCommerce variant
• USPS: United States Postal Service
• FedEx: Federal Express
• UPS: United Parcel Service
• DHL Express: DHL express service

Note: Available carriers may vary according to your system configuration.

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💡 Best Practices

Close Periods Regularly

Close carrier periods regularly, especially before generating manifests. This ensures all shipments from the period are correctly consolidated.

Use Consistent Dates

Use the same date to close multiple carriers when they’re in the same operational period. This facilitates management and tracking.

Verify Before Closing

Before closing a period, verify that all important shipments are processed. Once closed, it may be more difficult to add shipments to the period.

Open New Periods Immediately

After closing a period, open a new period for the carrier immediately. This maintains continuity in your operations.

Process Multiple Carriers Together

If several carriers have the same operational cycle, close them all at once using multiple selection. This saves time and maintains consistency.

Review History

Review the history of openings and closings in Carrier Manifest to verify that periods have been closed correctly before generating manifests.

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Troubleshooting

I can’t select carriers

Problem: Carrier checkboxes don’t check or don’t respond.

Solutions:

1. Make sure the modal is fully loaded
2. Try clicking directly on the checkbox, not just on the carrier text
3. Reload the page and try again
4. Verify that you have permissions to access this functionality

Message says “You must check at least one carrier”

Problem: I try to click Ok but this message appears.

Solutions:

1. Make sure you’ve checked at least one carrier checkbox before clicking Ok
2. Verify that checkboxes are actually checked (they should appear with a checkmark)
3. If you used Check All, verify that at least one carrier is available in the list

Date is not accepted

Problem: The system rejects the date I enter even though it seems correct.

Solutions:

1. Verify that the date is in YYYY-MM-DD format (for example: 2024-01-15)
2. Make sure the date is not before the current date
3. Use the date picker (calendar) instead of typing manually
4. Verify validation messages that appear as you type
5. If the date is valid but still rejected, try with the current date

”The format date is not valid!!!” appears

Problem: I see this message in red when trying to enter a date.

Solutions:

1. Verify you’re using the correct format: YYYY-MM-DD (4-digit year, hyphen, 2-digit month, hyphen, 2-digit day)
2. Don’t use slashes (/) or other separators, only hyphens (-)
3. Make sure the month is between 01 and 12
4. Make sure the day is valid for the selected month
5. Use the date picker (calendar) to avoid format errors

”The date must be greater than or equal to the current date” appears

Problem: The system rejects the date because it’s before the current date.

Solutions:

1. You cannot use past dates to open or close carriers
2. Use the current date or a future date
3. If you need to register a past date, contact the system administrator
4. Use the date picker (calendar) to see which dates are available

Ok button doesn’t work

Problem: I click Ok but nothing happens or an error appears.

Solutions:

1. Verify that you’ve selected at least one carrier
2. Verify that the date is valid and not before the current date
3. Review validation messages in the alerts area
4. Wait a few seconds - the process may take time
5. Try closing the modal and opening it again
6. Reload the page and try again

I don’t see success message

Problem: I clicked Ok but don’t see confirmation that it was saved.

Solutions:

1. Wait a few seconds - the message may take time to appear
2. Verify there are no errors in the browser console (F12)
3. Review history in Carrier Manifest to verify the record was saved
4. Try the operation again
5. If the problem persists, contact technical support

Modal doesn’t close after saving

Problem: The process completed but the modal remains open.

Solutions:

1. Click the Close button to close the modal manually
2. Click outside the modal (on the dark background) to close it
3. Press the ESC key to close the modal
4. Reload the page if the modal doesn’t respond

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Related Links

Next Steps:

• Carrier Manifest - Generate manifests after closing carrier periods
• Carriers List - Manage the list of configured carriers
• Carrier Packages - Manage carrier packages and services
• Shipping Labels - Generate shipping labels using carriers
• Shipped Orders - View shipped orders included in closed periods