Carriers

Carriers is your list of transport companies that work with you without an integration. Examples are a pallet haulier, a local courier or a freight forwarder. You choose one of them when a shipment travels with the Other carrier method, and then you update that shipment's status yourself. The list also has three system entries for the other ways to deliver goods.

Where to find it: Logistics → Carriers. The screen it opens is titled Own carriers.

When you'll use it

• You start to work with a haulier or a forwarder that Complaia has no integration for. Add it before its first shipment, so that you can choose it on the shipment.
• You want to write a note about a carrier, for example its pickup hours or the goods it takes.
• A carrier changes its name, or you want to give it badge colours that are easy to recognise.
• You stop using a carrier. You want it gone from new shipments, but old shipments must stay as they are.

You don't need this list for couriers that Complaia connects to directly: InPost, DHL, DPD and FedEx. You connect them under Connectors, and they appear on a shipment as their own delivery methods.

Key concepts

Carrier — a company you choose on a shipment with the Other carrier method. Complaia does not send anything to this company. It does not create the label, order a pickup or follow the tracking. You type the waybill number and the tracking link from the carrier onto the shipment yourself, and you change the shipment's status by hand.

System carriers — three entries that are always at the top of the list, with a lock and the System badge: Own transport, Personal pickup and Other carrier. Each one stands for a delivery method. Their names appear wherever you choose how goods travel, for example in the Delivery method of an order or in the carrier mapping of an integration. You cannot rename, deactivate or delete them. You can change their description and badge colours.

Code — a short identifier for the carrier. It keeps the carrier recognisable when the name is long or changes. Each code must be unique. A code has only lowercase Latin letters, digits and hyphens, with up to 64 characters. If you leave the field empty, Complaia makes the code from the name. For example, the name Regional carrier gives the code regional-carrier. Letters with accents lose the accent, and Cyrillic letters are converted to Latin ones.

Active — only active carriers are offered when you create a shipment. When you switch a carrier off, it stays on the list but is no longer offered. Shipments that already use it do not change.

Badge colours — the background, border and text colour of the carrier's name on this list. They do not change how the carrier looks anywhere else.

The screen

The screen is a table with one carrier per row. The three system carriers come first, then your own carriers in the order you added them.

Column	What it shows
(dot)	Green — active. Red — inactive.
Name	The carrier's name in its badge colours. System carriers also have the System badge with a lock.
Code	The carrier's code.
Description	Your note about the carrier.
(actions)	Edit, and a bin icon that deletes the carrier. You see them only if your role may manage carriers. System carriers have no bin icon.

At the top right are Refresh and New carrier. Use the search box to find a carrier by its name, code or description. The filter panel narrows the list by name, by code, or by whether a carrier is active. Click the Name or Code heading to sort by it. A long list loads more rows as you scroll down.

📷 Screenshot to add: the Own carriers list with the three system carriers at the top, one active and one inactive carrier of your own, and the New carrier button.

Common tasks

Add a carrier

1. Go to Logistics → Carriers and click New carrier. A window opens.
2. Type the Name. It can have up to 64 characters.
3. Leave Code empty to let Complaia make it from the name. The grey text in the field shows the code you will get. To use your own code, type it. When you leave the field, Complaia shows the code in the form it will be saved in.
4. Optionally, type a Description, for example Pallets only, pickup before noon. The description also appears under the carrier's name in the list you choose from on a shipment.
5. Optionally, choose Badge background, Badge border and Badge text.
6. Leave Active on and click Create.

Complaia confirms that the carrier was added, and the carrier appears on the list. You can choose it on new shipments straight away.

📷 Screenshot to add: the New carrier window with a name filled in and the suggested code shown in grey in the Code field.

Use a carrier on a shipment

1. Start a new shipment, either by hand or from an order. Choose the delivery method Other carrier.
2. In Carrier, choose the carrier. You can type a few letters to search. The list shows only your own active carriers. System carriers are not in it, because they are delivery methods of their own.
3. Optionally, fill in Carrier service, Waybill number and Tracking link with what you received from the carrier. When you start from an order, these fields are not in the window. Add them later when you edit the shipment. See Edit a shipment.

The shipment saves the carrier's name as it was when you chose it. If you later rename or delete the carrier on this list, existing shipments keep the old name.

If the carrier you need is not in the list and your role may manage carriers, click Carrier missing? Open “Carriers” to add it at the bottom of the list. This screen opens in a new browser tab, so the shipment you are working on stays as it is. Add the carrier, go back to the shipment tab and open the Carrier list again. The new carrier is now there.

Your own carriers are also offered in the Delivery method field of an order, and when you map the carriers of a marketplace integration. See Map carriers.

Edit or deactivate a carrier

1. Click Edit in the carrier's row.
2. Change the name, code, description or colours. To stop offering the carrier on new shipments, switch Active off.
3. Click Save changes.

A code you have saved does not change when you change the name. To make a new code from the new name, clear the Code field before you save.

Change a system carrier

1. Click Edit in the row of Own transport, Personal pickup or Other carrier.
2. Change the Description or the badge colours. The name and the code are greyed out, and there is no Active switch. A system carrier is always active.
3. Click Save changes.

Delete a carrier

Delete a carrier only if you will never need it again. Otherwise, switch it off. See Edit or deactivate a carrier.

1. Click the bin icon in the carrier's row.
2. In Delete carrier?, click Delete.

The carrier disappears from the list for good. Shipments that already use it keep its name. The deletion is recorded in the Event log.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
A carrier with this name already exists. Choose another name.	Two carriers cannot have the same name. Uppercase and lowercase letters count as the same.	Use a different name, or edit the carrier that already exists.
The carrier “…” already uses this code. Enter another code.	Each code must be unique. The message names the carrier that has the code.	Type a different code.
Under Code: This name does not produce a code. Enter one using Latin letters or digits. Create is greyed out.	Complaia cannot make a code from the name. For example, the name uses a script that Complaia cannot convert, or it has only symbols.	Type a code yourself, with Latin letters or digits.
Create or Save changes is greyed out, with no message	Name is empty.	Type a name.
Name is too long.	The name has more than 64 characters.	Shorten the name.
The name and code of a carrier are greyed out, and there is no Active switch	It is a system carrier.	You can change only its description and colours.
A carrier has no bin icon	It is a system carrier. System carriers cannot be deleted.	Nothing to do.
Carriers is missing from the menu	Your role does not have the permissions the menu item needs.	See Permissions.
There is no New carrier button and no Edit in the rows	You opened the screen from a link, but your role cannot manage carriers.	See Permissions.
A carrier is on this list, but you can't choose it on a new shipment	It is inactive (red dot).	Edit the carrier and switch Active on.
Own transport or Personal pickup is not in the Carrier list of a shipment	System carriers are delivery methods. They are not chosen as a carrier.	Choose Own transport or Personal pickup as the delivery method of the shipment.
Carrier missing? Open “Carriers” to add it is not at the bottom of the Carrier list	Your role cannot manage carriers.	Ask a colleague who can manage carriers to add it.
This carrier was not found. It may have been deleted. Refresh the list.	Someone deleted the carrier while you had the screen open.	Click Refresh.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See Carriers in the menu	Orders: Statuses, and at least one Shipments permission, for example Shipments: View
Add, edit and delete carriers	Orders: Statuses. The same permission manages order sources, payment methods and order statuses.
See the list of carriers, and choose a carrier on a shipment	Orders: View, Shipments: View or Shipments: Edit. Any one of them is enough. Creating the shipment itself needs its own permissions. See Shipments.

Permissions are granted per role. See Roles & permissions.

Related

• Shipments — the Other carrier method and the other delivery methods
• Connectors — the couriers that Complaia connects to directly
• Mappings — how a marketplace's carriers are matched with yours
• Orders — the Delivery method field of an order
• Logistics overview