XML Tracking - Brown Cafe

09-17-2008, 02:06 AM

At our site, as well as much much larger ones we know of, we make wholesale use of XML tracking to find misloads, missing origin scans, etc. This involves setting up accounts on ups.com for the XML access codes and yada yada, and seems to pretty much thoroughly abuse this system which is in place for customers to use - I've always had a bad feeling about it. Anybody familiar with what I am talking about and have some thoughts?

freeloader · 09-17-2008, 08:45 AM

I believe you are talking about GSR's (guaranteed service refunds). Typically the shipper tracks all their shipments to make sure they were delivered on time. If they were not delivered on time, they are eligible for a refund. No problem there as you can track up to 25 packages at a time on the UPS website or use the shipping software to do the tracking for you.

When you want to track in bulk (thousands of tracking numbers at a time), then you need to get the xml key, developer key or whatever it is. Even then I think that you can only track shipments sent using your shipper number (since the shipper number is part of the tracking number). This prevents abuse from companies who are in the business of tracking in bulk to get GSR's for others.

On top of that, requesting a GSR is not a simple or automated process. Only the shipper can request a GSR and they must make a phone call to do it. There is a lot of work involved just to get your money back, and I'm sure it was designed that way on purpose.

Maybe Hoaxster or someone else can add to this.

Hoaxster · 09-17-2008, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeloader

Maybe Hoaxster or someone else can add to this.

Could...but nothing to add that would benefit UPS.

drewed · 09-17-2008, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoaxster

Could...but nothing to add that would benefit UPS.

hey hoke, with youre know how and my winning personality we could make a pretty descent business of this

lol JP

UpstateNYUPSer · 09-18-2008, 04:31 AM

My center is 1/2 hour away from the Canadian border and, as such, we have a number of freight forwarding companies. We also have companies established for the sole purpose of tracking shipments and then informing companies of any irregularities on those shipments. UPS has made it much tougher to receive GSRs as a result of abuse by these companies.

freeloader · 09-18-2008, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoaxster

Could...but nothing to add that would benefit UPS.

I thought the tracking system was pretty airtight? Can you elaborate without giving too much detail?

freeloader · 09-18-2008, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UpstateNYUPSer

My center is 1/2 hour away from the Canadian border and, as such, we have a number of freight forwarding companies. We also have companies established for the sole purpose of tracking shipments and then informing companies of any irregularities on those shipments. UPS has made it much tougher to receive GSRs as a result of abuse by these companies.

Why would it be abuse if Company A, Company B, and Company C are paying Company Z to track all of their shipments and tell them which ones don't make service on time?

I knew of a UPS CSR whose job was to track the daily shipments of a few rather large shippers and refund the money of the shipments that weren't delivered on time. How's that for ass-backwards.

bit · 09-18-2008, 08:06 PM

Okay I have some firsthand knowledge about this. I was on a group that was put together to address this.

#1 - Mas tracking other accounts for GSRs is against the terms and conditions posted on ups.com. I don't think they're going to sue anyone anytime soon, but stranger things have happened.

#2 - Quantum View Outbound / Inbound was put together to address this issue. Let the companies see at a glance all of their shipments and act on the ones for GSR's.

#3 - The whole group didn't listen to me. To this date, there isn't a robots.txt file on the website. I urged capchas and Unicode scriptbreakers. I urged bit bucketing the top100 offenders ( this one didn't go through too well because of proxy effects). Those 3 recommendations would have shut down a lot of GSR companies.

Which brings me to #4 - It's a high priority issue to provide tools to put GSR claims companies out of business by providing tools that do all this. I've seen some companies loop through every iteration of tracking number and it's a serious drain on UPS's cycles & bandwidth.

Now - It's been a few years since I was on that group - I wish that they had listened to me.

09-22-2008, 06:39 AM

I probably should have explained that better. We are a UPS hub.

pretzel_man · 09-22-2008, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asdf

I probably should have explained that better. We are a UPS hub.

You wil be in trouble soon...

Corporate contacts tell me to not do this type of tracking and that trouble is brewing...

P-Man

upscorpis · 09-22-2008, 07:16 PM

There is an internally facing version of this tool that provides tracking information at a reduced cost.

drewed · 09-22-2008, 10:10 PM

why dont you have a program that pulls from ett or opsys for the info instead?

09-23-2008, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pretzel_man

You wil be in trouble soon...

Corporate contacts tell me to not do this type of tracking and that trouble is brewing...

P-Man

I was thinking that was going to happen but wondering when it ever would, so that response alleviates a little suspense. Of course, I am in absolutely no position to have any control over this other than continue suggesting that it's not such a great idea - the cat has been out of the bag for years. The thing is, it really is all about providing better service - reducing misloads, mistoggles, missing origin scans, etc. Which leads to...

Quote:

Originally Posted by upscorpis

There is an internally facing version of this tool that provides tracking information at a reduced cost.

Please tell?

Quote:

Originally Posted by drewed

why dont you have a program that pulls from ett or opsys for the info instead?

I'm not familiar with opsys, but I'm sure the reason ett is not used is because it would take more work with Access / Excel VBA to push the 'Customer Info' button and parse the results.

drewed · 09-23-2008, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asdf

I'm not familiar with opsys, but I'm sure the reason ett is not used is because it would take more work with Access / Excel VBA to push the 'Customer Info' button and parse the results.

opsys is used for international volume

yea it would take a little more work but it would be more reliable, have more information

freeloader · 09-23-2008, 11:18 AM

There was an internally developed app simply called "Internet Tracking" that was popular in the district I used to work in.

upscorpis · 09-23-2008, 07:27 PM

I should have been more precise. There is an XML interface available to provide tracking information at a reduced cost. This was put into place before peak of last year. CIM is supposed to be working to convert all internal XML Tracking Tool users to the new interface. The interface contains an "internal" indicator, which changes how the tracking request is serviced.

09-26-2008, 02:59 AM

I'll pass that along, thanks. Any particular references on the intranet that would describe the differences in the requests?

undercoversupe · 09-12-2009, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pretzel_man

You wil be in trouble soon...

Corporate contacts tell me to not do this type of tracking and that trouble is brewing...

P-Man

Had a Staff level Manager fired 2 weeks ago for using this tool on a large shipper in the district to determine what trailer was missed for scans, then back doored all the tracking numbers in the system. Online tools are for UPS EXTERNAL customers only. track a few your OK. Track thousands, your MYUPS ID and Access/Developers key will be flagged.