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Advanced Parcels

Some carriers and products require more advanced parcels to carry out a shipment. This guide will go through different kinds of advanced parcels.

The parcels array​

Usually in simple shipment requests, the parcels array will only contain one package, and will only declare the weight of the package in grams. For some products, a shipment can't be processed if it doesn't declare more information about the package. You can also provide multiple packages by adding more objects to the array. If you have multiple packages of same measurements, you can also add a quantity element to the parcels array.

info

You can provide more than one parcel when using DHL Express or if you have your own agreement.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 2000
  },
  {
    "weight": 2000
  }
]

Below we will go through specific examples of shipments that require more advanced parcels.

DHL Express​

DHL Express, in this case using the Express Worldwide (DHLE_EW) product, require that you specify the measurements of the package that you are sending. This is done by adding length, width, and height in centimeters.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 2000,
    "length": 10,
    "width": 10,
    "height": 10
  }
]

UPS​

UPS uses same parcel structure as DHL Express. All UPS products, such as UPS Standard (UPS_STANDARD), require that you specify the measurements of the package that you are sending.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 2000,
    "length": 10,
    "width": 10,
    "height": 10
  }
]

Danske Fragtmænd​

Danske Fragtmænd (DFM) has more advanced requirements for the parcels. First we are going to take a look at a basic shipment for DFM, in this example it is for the product DFM_OE or DFM_OP.

For this we need to define packaging, for this product it can be PL1 (pallet) or PL2 (half pallet), as well as a description of the content.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 80000,
    "packaging": "PL1",
    "description": "Jern"
  }
]

A more advanced DFM product would be DFM_SG, where there are some extra optional fields. These fields are required if they differ from the standard packaging types. Here we add length, width, height, and running_metre.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 80000,
    "packaging": "PL1",
    "description": "Jern",
    "length": 120,
    "width": 80,
    "height": 60,
    "running_metre": 1234
  }
]

DSV​

DSV is very similar to Danske Fragtmænd in implementation, but has different packaging types. Examples of these would be PK (package), CLL (colli), HPL (half pallet), and PLL (pallet). A simple parcel for DSV would contain the same values as a DFM shipment.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 80000,
    "packaging": "HPL",
    "description": "Jern"
  }
]

The same applies for an advanced DSV shipment.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 80000,
    "packaging": "HLP",
    "description": "Jern",
    "length": 120,
    "width": 80,
    "height": 60,
    "running_metre": 2
  }
]

Brink Transport​

Brink Transport is similar to Danske Fragtmænd in that a package type is required. length, width and height are optional, although Brink Transport recommends that these are included.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 80000,
    "packaging": "BRINK_300",
    "length": 120,
    "width": 80,
    "height": 60
  }
]

The available package types can be found using the dedicated endpoint.

PostNord (Pallet & Groupage)​

For PostNord, only Pallet and Groupage shipment require a package type to indicate which type of pallet is used. In this exact AF is used for half pallet shipments.

"parcels": [
  {
    "weight": 80000,
    "packaging": "AF"
  }
]

The available package types can be found using the dedicated endpoint.