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Booking & Labels

Once you've selected a rate, book the shipment directly in TimberCloud. Booking creates the shipment with the carrier, charges your shop for the label, and returns a tracking number plus a ready-to-print label. This page covers booking, what you get back, and how the charge works.

Availability: Booking runs through Carrier Services, included on Commerce and up (paid plans). The Free plan has no shipping or payments. See Subscriptions & Plans.

How booking works

You don't connect your own FedEx, UPS, USPS, or LTL accounts — TimberCloud manages the carrier relationships centrally, so you shop rates, book, and print in-app. When you book, TimberCloud:

  1. Validates your shop's card on file and reserves the shipping amount (without charging it yet).
  2. Books the shipment with the selected carrier.
  3. If booking succeeds: captures the reserved amount and records a "shipping" platform charge against your card.
  4. If booking fails: cancels the reservation automatically, so no money is taken.
  5. Generates the label and assigns the tracking number.

Because the charge is captured only after the carrier confirms, you're never billed for a shipment that didn't book.

Before you book

RequirementWhy
A rate is selected on the orderBooking uses the saved rate and packages.
The rate is still freshRates expire after 24 hours or when the order changes — refresh a stale rate first. See Rate Shopping.
The shipping address is complete and validBad addresses cause booking failures and carrier re-bills.
A valid card on file for your shopThis is the card the shipping charge is billed to.

Booking a shipment

  1. Open the order.
  2. On the Shipping tab, confirm the packages and any accessorials (liftgate, residential, and so on).
  3. Click Book Shipment.
  4. TimberCloud books with the carrier and charges your card.
  5. The label and tracking number are generated automatically and saved to the order.

What you get back

A successful booking saves three things to the order:

  • A tracking number — for multi-package shipments, tracking is carried at the package level.
  • A tracking URL you and your customer can follow.
  • A single Shipping Label / BOL PDF — the carrier-provided label, plus the Bill of Lading for LTL freight — ready to download or print.

Note: Booking returns one carrier-provided label per shipment. Download the PDF and send it to any printer, including a thermal label printer. There is no separate label-format chooser — the carrier determines the label format.

How the charge works

Shipping is billed to your shop, not to the customer. Your customer pays for their order separately; the label you buy is a shop expense.

  • One charge at booking — a single charge to your card on file covering the carrier rate plus your markup, recorded as a "shipping" platform charge. This applies to both parcel and LTL freight; you're charged at booking, not at pickup or delivery.
  • No charge on failure — if the carrier booking fails, the reservation is canceled and no money is taken.
  • Receipt — a receipt is emailed to your company's email address.

For the complete picture of what your shop owes TimberCloud and how to view it, see Platform Charges.

Note: A shipping platform charge is different from the platform fee on customer payments. The charge is the cost of a label you booked, billed to your card. The fee (Commerce 1% / Build 0.5% / Production 0% / Enterprise 0%) is deducted from card payments your customers make through checkout. See Order Payments.

Carrier rate adjustments

Carriers may re-bill after delivery if the actual shipment differs from what was booked — wrong dimensions or weight, an address correction, a residential surcharge, or an accessorial used at delivery. Keeping package dimensions and weights accurate at booking is the best way to avoid these.

After booking

  • Tracking begins automatically — no manual step. See Tracking.
  • The order advances so your team and customer can see it's on its way, and moves to Delivered on its own once every package arrives.
  • If shipping notifications are enabled, the customer gets a confirmation with the tracking link. See Order Notifications.

Freight (LTL) shipments

For LTL freight, a few extra details apply, all handled within the same Carrier Services network:

DetailDescription
Freight classRequired on freight packages (computed for you, editable).
Bill of Lading (BOL)Generated alongside the freight label in the same PDF.
PickupMost LTL shipments need a carrier pickup arranged.

Canceling or voiding a shipment

TimberCloud does not have a self-serve "cancel shipment" button. If you booked a shipment in error or need it voided with the carrier, contact support to have it handled. Carrier cancellation and refund policies vary by carrier and by how much time has passed since booking.

Troubleshooting

Booking fails

  • Confirm a valid card on file is set up for your shop.
  • Refresh the rate if it's older than 24 hours, then try again.
  • Verify the shipping address is complete and valid.
  • Review the package dimensions and weight.

Remember: if booking fails, you are not charged — the reservation is canceled automatically.

Booked, but a charge problem is flagged

  • In rare cases a shipment books but the charge can't complete (for example, a card needs extra authentication). The order flags this for review. Confirm the card on file is valid and current, then contact support if the shipment shows a booking/charge mismatch.

Tracking not showing yet

  • Give the carrier time for its first scan; tracking syncs automatically about every 15 minutes once active. See Tracking.

Next Steps

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