What is manifest, end of day form, scan form?

Updated: November 27, 2023

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Published: November 25, 2015

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3 mins read

Today is fulfillment wednesday, which I will go through issues, questions or topics we came across when shipping. Today's topic is manifest, which is also called end of day form or scan form for some carriers.

What is manifest?

Manifest is sort of a confirmation list of shipments that you're going to ship that day. In general, carriers require shippers to print out a manifest form at the end of the day and pass to the carrier - which carrier will verify the list of shipments. Some carriers also require users to upload manifest to ftp or send the manifest file via email.

Wiki's explanation

A manifest or ship's manifest is a document listing the cargo, passengers, and crew of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle, for the use of customs and other officials.

USPS explanation

Users can generate say 1000 labels but only ship out 10 shipments. USPS manifest form confirm the final list of shipments that you actually send out, and most importantly to include a tracking event when the SCAN form is generated. Marketplaces these days require shippers to provide tracking numbers with its tracking info becomes online within 24 hours.

When the Postal Service employee scans the barcode on PS Form 5630, every package in the shipment receives an "Acceptance" event from the Post Office™.

When the Postal Service employee scans the barcode on PS Form 5630, every package in the shipment receives an "Acceptance" event from the Post Office™.

Do I need to manifest when shipping?

USPS (endicia / stamps.com) You are required to print USPS Scan form before shipping. A USPS SCAN (Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice) is a single-page form bearing one bar code. These forms represent several shipping labels, and are used when a shipper has a large quantity of packages to ship at once. When a SCAN form is scanned at the post office, all of the shipping labels contained within receive an acceptance scan and enter the mail stream at once. The tricky park for USPS Scan form is that you have to only include those shipments with ship date of today - for those you dont need to ship, you need to cancel it. Once submitted the USPS Scan form, the associated tracking numbers will show status Shipment Accepted at the USPS tracking page.

How to print USPS Scan Form

DHL, UPS, FedEx If you're using the carrier web system (like UPS Worldship, DHL Web Shipping, FedEx Ship Manager), shipping apps (like ShopStation, Shippo, ShippingEasy), or via their webservices integration, you do NOT need to print a manifest form as shipment information is sent to carrier when each label is created.

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