Understanding Carrier Zone Setup

A carrier zone is a defined regional area. This area usually contains multiple postal codes and is grouped for convenience and cost savings. You set up carrier zones using the Carrier Zone Definitions program (P4951) to maintain destination information for the routing entries. You set up the zones by origin. When the system routes a shipment or load, it uses the destination information to select a carrier zone. You set up carrier zones to enable the system to:

• Integrate with rate tables to calculate a rate.

• Select routing entries that are based on destination.

• Reduce the number of routing entries.

When you set up carrier zones, you can significantly reduce the number of routing entries that are required when multiple locations are served by the same routing entry. You can use carrier zones as a lookup value when you rate a shipment.