Pitney Bowes Expedited and Standard Services¶

On this page

Overview
API Operations
Services
Special Services
Parcel Types
Labels
PB Expedited Surcharges
Onboard with PB Standard

Overview¶

Pitney Bowes provides both expedited and standard shipping through PB Expedited (USPS) and PB Standard (PBCS). Both provide delivery and returns shipping.

PB Expedited offers domestic and international shipping and offers accelerated delivery. On qualifying shipments, PB Expedited offers PB Delivery Guarantee. By default, all developer and merchant accounts have access to ship with PB Expedited.

PB Standard offers domestic shipping at lower costs. PB Standard labels are always postpaid labels. When printing PB Standard delivery labels, shippers must containerize parcels. To ship with PB Standard, a merchant must first onboard.

When writing your code for Pitney Bowes delivery labels, you can write one Create Shipment request that integrates to both PB Standard and PB Expedited. For an example, see Write One Request for PB Expedited and PB Standard.

API Operations¶

In this section

PB Expedited API Operations
PB Standard API Operations

PB Expedited API Operations¶

PB Expedited uses the following operations. For an operational sequence, see the Shipping Workflow.

Operation	Method	Resource Path
Get Carrier Rules	GET	/v1/information/rules/rating-services?carrier=USPS&originCountryCode={XX}&destinationCountryCode={YY}
Get Carrier Countries	GET	/v1/countries?carrier=USPS&originCountryCode={two-character-ISO-code}
Find Carrier Facilities	POST	/v1/carrier-facility
Validate an Address	POST	/v1/addresses/verify
Suggest Addresses	POST	/v1/addresses/verify-suggest
Rate a Service	POST	/v1/rates
Create a PB Expedited Delivery Label	POST	/v1/shipments
Create a PB Expedited Returns Label	POST	/v1/shipments
Reprint a Label	GET	/v1/shipments/{shipmentId}
Retry a Label	GET	/v1/shipments?originalTransactionId={transaction_id}
Void a Label	DELETE	/v1/shipments/{shipmentId}?cancelInitiator=SHIPPER
Create a USPS SCAN Form	POST	/v1/manifests
Get Tracking Information	GET	/v1/tracking/{trackingNumber}?packageIdentifierType=TrackingNumber
Get Transaction Reports	GET	/v4/ledger/developers/{developerId}/transactions/reports
Get Archived Reports	GET	/v4/ledger/developers/{developerId}/transactions/archived
Merchant Accounts APIs	——	See API Operations for Merchant Accounts.

PB Standard API Operations¶

PB Standard uses the following operations. For an operational sequence, see the Shipping Workflow. In addition to the operations here, APAC Services provide URLs for PB Standard requests that originate in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Operation	Method	Resource Path
Find Carrier Facilities	POST	/v1/carrier-facility
Validate an Address	POST	/v1/addresses/verify
Suggest Addresses	POST	/v1/addresses/verify-suggest
Rate a Service	POST	/v1/rates
Create a PB Standard Delivery Label	POST	/v1/shipments
Create a PB Standard Returns Label	POST	/v1/shipments
Reprint a Label	GET	/v1/shipments/{shipmentId}?carrier=PBCS
Retry a Label	GET	/v1/shipments?originalTransactionId={transaction_id}&carrier=PBCS
Void a Label	DELETE	/v1/shipments/{shipmentId}?carrier=PBCS&cancelInitiator=SHIPPER
Electronic Delivery	POST	/v1/shipments/{shipmentId}/email
Create a PB Standard Closeout	POST	/v1/manifests
Create a Container Label	POST	/v1/container-manifest
Get Tracking Information	GET	/v1/tracking/{trackingNumber}?packageIdentifierType=TrackingNumber
Get Transaction Reports	GET	/v4/ledger/developers/{developerId}/transactions/reports
Merchant Accounts APIs	——	See API Operations for Merchant Accounts.

Services¶

In this section

Delivery Services
Returns Services
International Services (PB Expedited Only)

Note

As of July 9, 2023: USPS will introduce the new parcel Ground Advantage service and new parcel Ground Advantage Return service to replace existing parcel First-Class and ground services. For details, see this item in the Release Notes.

Delivery Services¶

The following table shows services and supported parcel types. The table does not show compatible special services. To determine compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual. Some domestic services require a customs form, as described in this FAQ.

Service	ID	PB Expedited (USPS)	PB Standard (PBCS)	Parcel Types
Bound Printed Matter	BPM		✓	PKG
First-Class Mail [Note]	FCM	✓		FLAT, IRRPKG, LETTER, NMLETTER
Library Mail	LIB	✓		LGENV, PKG
Media Mail	MEDIA	✓		LGENV, PKG
Parcel Select	PRCLSEL		✓	PKG
Parcel Select Lightweight	PSLW		✓	PKG
Priority Mail	PM	✓		FRB, FRE, LGENV, LFRB, LGLFRENV, MLFRB, PKG, PFRENV, SOFTPACK, SFRB
Priority Mail Express	EM	✓		FRE, LGENV, LGLFRENV, PKG, PFRENV
Ground Advantage	UGA	✓		PKG, SOFTPACK

Returns Services¶

The following table shows services and supported parcel types. The table does not show compatible special services. To determine compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Service

ID

PB Expedited
(USPS)

PB Standard
(PBCS)

Parcel Types

UGA Return Service [Note]

UGA

✓

PKG

Parcel Select Return Service [Note]

PRCLSEL

✓

PKG

Priority Mail Return Service

PM

✓

PKG, FRE, LGLFRENV, PFRENV

International Services (PB Expedited Only)¶

When you use an international service, the returned label includes the customs form. The following table shows supported services and parcel types but does not show compatible special services. To check compatibility, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Service	ID	Parcel Types
First-Class Mail International	FCMI	LGENV, LTR, NMLTR
First-Class Package International Service (supports E-DELCON)	FCPIS	PKG
Priority Mail Express International	EMI	FRE, LGENV, LGLFRENV, PFRENV, PKG
Priority Mail International	PMI	DVDBOX, FRB, FRE, LFRB, LGENV, LGLFRENV, PFRENV, PKG, SFRB, VIDEOBOX

Special Services¶

In this section

PB Expedited Special Services
PB Standard Special Services
HAZMAT_TYPE Input Parameter

PB Expedited Special Services¶

PB Expedited supports the following special services. Before using a special service, use the Rules API to determine:

If the special service is compatible with the combination of service and parcel type.
If the service and parcel type require a trackable special service. If so, DelCon is trackable and has no charge.
If the special service is compatible with other special services.
The input parameters.

Important

The table does not show compatible parcel types.
The table does not show compatibility with other special services.
Use of a special service might be subject to other restrictions.
Do not include a special service unless you intend to apply it.

Note: If you use the FCM mail class, no special service is required.

Special Service	ID	Services [Note]
Adult Signature Required	ADSIG	EM, FCM, PM, UGA
Adult Signature with Restricted Delivery	ADSIGRD	EM, FCM, PM, UGA
Certified Mail	Cert	FCM, PM
Certified Mail with Adult Signature	CERTAD	FCM, PM
Certified Mail with Adult Signature and Restricted Delivery	CERTADRD	FCM, PM
Certified Mail with Restricted Delivery	CertRD	FCM, PM
Collect On Delivery (COD)	COD	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Collect On Delivery with Restricted Delivery	CODRD	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Delivery Confirmation	DelCon	FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Electronic Return Receipt	ERR	FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA
Hazardous Materials	hazmat	EM, FCM, PM, UGA
Hazardous Materials Restricted Electronic Device (Applies to lithium batteries packaged with used, damaged, or defective electronic devices)	hazmat-electronics	UGA
Holiday Delivery	holiday	EM
Insured Mail	Ins	EM, EMI, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, PMI, UGA,
Insured Mail with Restricted Delivery	InsRD	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Live Animal	liveanimal	EM, FCM, PM, UGA,
Live Animal - Day Old Poultry	liveanimal-poultry	EM, FCM, PM, UGA,
Registered Mail	Reg	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with COD	RegCOD	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with Insurance	RegIns	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with Insurance and Restricted Delivery	RegInsRD	FCM, PM
Registered Mail with Restricted Delivery	RegRD	FCM, PM
Return Receipt	RR	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Special Handling - Fragile	SH	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Signature Confirmation	Sig	EM, FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Signature with Restricted Delivery	SigRD	FCM, LIB, MEDIA, PM, UGA,
Sunday Delivery	sunday	EM
Sunday holiday Delivery	sunday-holiday	EM

The following special services are returned in the response if fees for non-standard sizes apply.

Non-Standard Dimension 1

NonStandardDim1

Applies if length is greater than 22 inches and less than or equal to 30 inches.

Non-Standard Dimension 2

NonStandardDim2

Applies if the length is greater than 30 inches.

Non-Standard Volume

NonStandardVol

Applies if volume is greater than 2 cubic feet.

PB Standard Special Services¶

The following special services are supported for PB Standard shipments created through the Global Ecommerce APIs. Do not include a special service unless you intend to apply it.

Special Service	ID	Input Parameters
Delivery Confirmation	DelCon	Input parameters are not required for DelCon. To use DelCon, add the following to the `rates.specialServices` array: { "specialServiceId": "DelCon" }
Notifications	NOTIFICATIONS	To set input parameters, see PB Standard Notifications.
Signature Confirmation	Sig	Input parameters are not required for Sig. To use Sig, add the following to the `rates.specialServices` array: { "specialServiceId": "Sig" }
Hazardous Materials	hazmat	See HAZMAT_TYPE Input Parameter.

HAZMAT_TYPE Input Parameter¶

Note

As of July 9, 2023: The HAZMAT_TYPE input parameter will specify the type of hazardous material.

Note

You cannot use the hazmat or hazmat-electronics special services when shipping to or from international or APO/FPO/DPO destinations. In addition, for Standard transactions you cannot ship hazmat to or from Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

As of July 9, 2023, the hazmat special service will require the HAZMAT_TYPE input parameter to specify the type of hazardous material. The HAZMAT_TYPE input parameter will take one of the values in the table below. Enter the value in the inputParameters.value field, as shown here:

{
    "specialServiceId": "hazmat",
    "inputParameters": [ {
        "name" : "HAZMAT_TYPE",
        "value" : "Class 9 Lithium Battery with New Device"
    } ]
}

Value	Description
Air Eligible Ethanol	Air Eligible Ethanol Package – authorized fragrance and hand sanitizer shipments
Class 1 Toy Propellant or Safety Fuse	Ground shipments only. Class 1 – Toy Propellant/Safety Fuse Package.
Class 3	Ground shipments only. Class 3 - Hazardous Materials Package - Hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, ethanol base products, flammable liquids, etc.
Class 7 Radioactive Materials	Ground shipments only. Class 7 – Radioactive Materials Package (e.g., smoke detectors, minerals, gun sights, etc.)
Class 8 Air Eligible Corrosive Materials	Class 8 – Corrosive Materials Package - Air Eligible Corrosive Materials (certain cleaning or tree/weed killing compounds, etc.)
Class 8 Sealed Lead Acid Battery	Class 8 – Nonspillable Wet Battery Package - Sealed lead acid batteries
Class 9 Dry Ice	Class 9 – Dry Ice Package (limited to 5 lbs. if shipped via Air)
Class 9 Lithium Battery Marked Ground Only	Ground shipments only. Class 9 - Lithium Battery Marked – Ground Only Package - New Individual or spare lithium batteries (marked UN3480 or UN3090)
Class 9 Lithium Battery Unmarked	Class 9 – Lithium batteries, unmarked package – New electronic devices installed or packaged with lithium batteries (no marking)
Class 9 Lithium Battery with New Device	Class 9 - Lithium batteries, marked package - New electronic devices packaged with lithium batteries (UN3481 or UN3091)
Class 9 Magnetized Materials	Class 9 – Magnetized Materials Package
Consumer Commodity	ID8000 Consumer Commodity Package - Air Eligible ID8000 Consumer Commodity (non-flammable aerosols, flammable combustible liquids, toxic substance, miscellaneous hazardous materials)
Div 4.1 Mailable Flammable Solids	Ground shipments only. Division 4.1 – Mailable flammable solids and Safety Matches Package – Safety/strike on box matches, book matches, mailable flammable solids
Div 5.1 Hydrogen Peroxide 8 to 20 Percent	Division 5.1 – Oxidizers Package - Hydrogen peroxide (8 to 20% concentration)
Div 5.2 Organic Peroxides	Division 5.2 – Organic Peroxides Package
Div 6.1 Toxic Materials	Division 6.1 – Toxic Materials Package (with an LD50 of 50 mg/kg or less) - (pesticides, herbicides, etc.)
Div 6.2 Biological Materials	Division 6.2 Hazardous Materials - Biological Materials (e.g., lab test kits, authorized COVID test kit returns)
Excepted Quantity Provision	Excepted Quantity Provision Package (e.g., small volumes of flammable liquids, corrosive, toxic or environmentally hazardous materials – marking required)
Ground Only Hazardous Materials	Ground shipments only. Ground Only Hazardous Materials (for items that are not listed, but are restricted to surface only)
Lighters	Ground shipments only. Lighters Package - Authorized Lighters
Limited Quantity Ground Only	Ground shipments only. LTD QTY Ground Package – Aerosols, spray disinfectants, spray paint, hair spray, propane, butane, cleaning products, etc. – fragrances, nail polish, nail polish remover, solvents, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, ethanol base products, etc. – other limited quantity surface materials, (cosmetics, cleaning products, paints, etc.)
Small Quantity Provision	Ground shipments only. Small Quantity Provision Package (markings required)

Parcel Types¶

In this section

PB Expedited Letters and Flats
PB Expedited Packages
PB Standard Packages

PB Expedited Letters and Flats¶

The following table shows parcel types and compatible services. The table does not show compatible special services. For compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Parcel Type	ID	Services [Note]
Large Envelope/Flat	Use one of the following IDs, depending on the service: LGENV: Use for services other than First-Class. FLAT: Use only with First-Class Mail. FLAT requires the DOC_6X4 label size. FLAT does not support special services. The generated label has an IMb. See this FAQ on printing an IMb label.	The services are specific to the ID: LGENV supports EM, EMI, FCMI, LIB, MEDIA, PM, and PMI FLAT supports FCM
Flat Rate Envelope	FRE	EM, EMI, PM, PMI
Letter	LETTER Use only with First-Class Mail and a label size of either DOC_6X4 or DOC_9X4. LETTER does not support special services. The generated label has an IMb. See this FAQ on printing an IMb label.	FCM
Legal Flat Rate Envelope	LGLFRENV	EM, EMI, PM, PMI
Letter	LTR Use only with First-Class Mail International (FCMI).	FCMI
Nonmachinable Letter	NMLETTER Use only with First-Class Mail. For steps to ship non-machinable letters, see this FAQ.	FCM
Nonmachinable Letter	NMLTR Use only with First-Class Mail International (FCMI). For steps to ship non-machinable letters, see this FAQ.	FCMI
Padded Flat Rate Envelope	PFRENV	EM, EMI, PM, PMI
Soft Pack Envelope	SOFTPACK See How are rates calculated for USPS soft packs?	PM

PB Expedited Packages¶

The following table shows parcel types and compatible services. The table does not show compatible special services. For compatible special services, use the Rules API or Domestic Mail Manual.

Parcel Type	ID	Services
DVD Flat Rate Box	DVDBOX	PMI
Medium Flat Rate Box 1, Medium Flat Rate Box 2	FRB	PM, PMI
Irregular Parcel For steps to ship irregular parcels, please see this FAQ.	IRRPKG	UGA
Large Flat Rate Box	LFRB	PM, PMI
Military Large Flat Rate Box	MLFRB	PM
Package	PKG	EM, EMI, UGA, FCPIS, LIB, MEDIA, PM, PMI
Small Flat Rate Box	SFRB	PM, PMI
Large Video Flat Rate Box	VIDEOBOX	PMI

PB Standard Packages¶

PB Standard uses the Package (PKG) parcel type.

Parcel Type

ID

Services

Package

PKG

BPM, PRCLSEL, PSLW

Labels¶

In this section

Considerations
Label Sizes Per Carrier
Expedited Delivery Labels
Expedited Returns Labels
Standard Delivery Labels
Standard Returns Labels
Standard Returns QR Codes

Considerations¶

Please read the following considerations before printing a label:

The value for the label size uses an uppercase X. Do not use a lowercase x.
For ZPL2 labels, if your printer does not support Unicode, see this topic.
Labels retrieved through URLs are available for 24 hours after creation.
Advise shippers on correct label placement.

The following considerations apply only to PB Expedited labels:

For FCM / FLAT shipments, set the label size to DOC_6X4.
For FCM / LETTER shipments, set the label size to DOC_6X4 or DOC_9X4.
For shipments that use the customs object, set the label size to DOC_4X6 or DOC_8X11. The returned label includes the customs form. The form serves as both shipping label and customs declaration. For more information, see these FAQs.
To print Doc Tabs, see this FAQ.

Label Sizes Per Carrier¶

Label size	Expedited Delivery	Expedited Returns	Standard Delivery	Standard Returns
DOC_4X4			✓
DOC_4X5			✓
DOC_4X6	✓	✓	✓	✓
DOC_4X8	✓
DOC_6X4	✓			✓
DOC_8X11	✓	✓		✓
DOC_9X4	✓

Expedited Delivery Labels¶

Note

See the Considerations above.

PB Expedited Delivery labels use the following options.

size

fileFormat

contentType

resolution

DOC_4X6

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_203, DPI_300 (default)

DPI_203 (default), DPI_300 (domestic labels only)

DOC_4X8

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DOC_6X4

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_203

DOC_8X11

PDF

PNG

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_300

DOC_9X4

PDF

PNG

URL

BASE64

not applicable

DPI_203

Expedited Returns Labels¶

Note

See the Considerations above.

PB Expedited Returns labels use the following options.

size

fileFormat

contentType

DOC_4X6

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

DOC_8X11

PDF

PNG

URL

BASE64

Standard Delivery Labels¶

PB Standard Delivery labels use the following options. For APAC Services, see instead APAC Label Settings.

size

fileFormat

contentType

resolution

DOC_4X4

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

DPI_203

DPI_203 (default), DPI_300

DOC_4X5

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

TIF

BMP

URL

BASE64

DPI_203

DPI_203 (default), DPI_300

DPI_203, DPI_300, DPI_600 (default)

DOC_4X6

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

BMP

URL

BASE64

DPI_203

DPI_203 (default), DPI_300

DPI_203, DPI_300, DPI_600 (default)

Standard Returns Labels¶

PB Standard Returns labels use the following options:

size

fileFormat

contentType

resolution

DOC_4X6

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

DPI_300

DPI_203, DPI_300 (default)

DOC_6X4

PDF

PNG

ZPL2

URL

BASE64

DPI_300

DPI_203, DPI_300 (default)

DOC_8X11

PDF

URL

DPI_300

Standard Returns QR Codes¶

PB Standard Returns QR codes use the following options:

fileFormat	contentType
GIF	URL BASE64

PB Expedited Surcharges¶

For PB Expedited, the following USPS surcharges can apply. If a surcharge applies, it is returned in the rates.surcharges array.

Surcharge

Definition

irregular

The parcel is an Irregular Parcel.

nonmachinable

The parcel is a Nonmachinable Letter.

Oversize

The parcel is subject to oversize pricing.

Note: If the rates.surcharges array returns an Oversize fee of 0.0, the oversize fee is already included in the base charge.

Onboard with PB Standard¶

To onboard a merchant to use PB Standard:

Contact your Pitney Bowes representative to register the merchant at one or more PB Standard facilities. Pitney Bowes will provide the merchant with a set of PB Standard IDs for use when shipping with PB Standard.
Email a request to ClientSupportTechServices@pb.com asking Pitney Bowes to enable the merchant to use PB Standard. In the request, include the merchant’s Shipper ID and PB Standard IDs.

PB Standard IDs¶

Pitney Bowes provides a merchant with the following IDs during onboarding. Pitney Bowes also provides test values for the IDs for use when testing on Sandbox.

ID

Description

Sandbox Test Value

CLIENT_ID

The unique ID assigned to the merchant for use with PB Standard.

NGST

CLIENT_FACILITY_ID

The merchant’s facility. A merchant can have multiple client facility IDs.

0093

CARRIER_FACILITY_ID

The PB Standard facility assigned to the merchant. A merchant can be assigned multiple PB Standard facilities.

1585

Additional Reference Information

Footnote¶

Note(1,2,3,4,5): USPS will deprecate parcel First-Class Mail (FCM), Parcel Select Ground (PRCLSEL), and Retail Ground (STDPOST) on July 9, 2023, as described here.