Select Carrier
This article applies to selling in: United States

Select Carrier

Select the appropriate shipping method and carrier for your shipment.

  • Small parcel delivery (SPD) shipments consist of units packed in individual boxes and individually labeled for delivery.
  • Less-than-truckload/Full truckload* (LTL/FTL) shipment combines individual boxes on pallets for delivery. The truck might contain shipments to other destinations.

*Non-Amazon-Partnered LTL/FTL shipments require a delivery appointment.

  • To schedule a delivery appointment, download the FBA Booking Form, fill it out and e-mail it to your carrier. Most of the shipment information is found in the Summary of the shipping workflow.
  • Have your carrier create an account and log into our Carrier Appointment Request Portal and supply them with a copy of the User Manual for Carriers.
  • The fulfillment center will respond to your carrier within 24 hours to determine the best delivery time.

Amazon-Partnered Carrier (SPD)

Amazon-partnered carriers offer deeply discounted rates, and the cost is billed to your account as an Inbound Transportation Charge. We will provide a shipping label you can print that you use with our carrier. The rates apply to deliveries within the 48 contiguous United States. You can cancel up to 24 hours after approving the charges.

After you complete your shipment, give your box to your scheduled pick-up driver or take the package to the local carrier of your choice.

Note: UPS has regularly scheduled web server maintenance every Sunday between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Eastern Time ‎(UTC-4). During this maintenance period, UPS labels may not be available for FBA merchants using Amazon Partner Carrier shipments to fulfillment centers. If you encounter problems creating a UPS shipment with the Amazon Partner Carrier label during this time, try again after the maintenance period.

To get started using UPS as a partnered carrier, contact AmazonPartneredCarrierProgram@ups.com. Provide your name, phone number, city/state and zip code, and a UPS representative will contact you within 48 hours.

For answers to UPS service-related questions, contact UPS at 1-800-742-5877 or Amazon@ups.com.

For more information regarding loss and damage claims, please see the FBA Lost and Damaged Reimbursement Policy.

Amazon-Partnered Carrier (LTL/FTL)

Amazon-Partnered Carriers offer discounted rates to eligible sellers, and the cost is billed to your account as an Inbound Transportation Charge. If your total shipment weight is more than 150 lb., you should consider using a Partnered Less-than truckload (LTL)/Full truckload (FTL) carrier for cost savings. Sellers enabled for Amazon-Partnered LTL/FTL will have the option to choose it as their shipping method when creating an inbound shipment.

LTL/FTL requirements

To be eligible to use an Amazon-Partnered LTL/FTL carrier, you must have a dock or forklift to enable placing pallets on a truck and be able to support a truck coming to your pickup address or use the Lift Gate Service described below. You will need to provide a freight-ready date, a pallet count with the weight of each pallet, and the product freight class. If you do not know your product’s freight class, the Amazon-Partnered LTL/FTL carrier will estimate it for you.

Lift Gate Service

If you don’t have a dock door or a forklift, you can still take advantage of the Amazon-Partnered LTL service by requesting lift gate service from the carrier. Although all Amazon-Partnered LTL carriers support lift gates, they do lift-gate pickups only a few days a week, which could delay the pick-up time.

To participate:

  • YOU create a shipment in Seller Central and select Less-than-truckload (LTL) under Shipping method and Amazon-Partnered Carrier under Shipping carrier
  • YOU must keep your shipment under 12 pallets and 20,000 lbs. so your shipment qualifies as LTL and not FTL (Full truckload)
  • WE assign a carrier and create a Bill of Lading, which you will be able to access in Seller Central
  • YOU contact the carrier and request they send a truck with a lift gate
  • YOU schedule a pick-up time with the carrier that is convenient for you
  • YOU palletize the shipment and be able to move the pallets to the truck when it arrives (carrier will not have the manpower to move your pallets to the truck)

Scheduling Pickup

Amazon will assign a carrier partner for your shipment and provide an estimated shipping charge and estimated pick-up date based on the freight-ready date you provide.

  • Pallets must be ready the morning of the freight-ready date. You should have the exact number of pallets as confirmed during the time of estimate acceptance.
  • 26 pallets is the current limit for any single partnered shipment.
  • The daily cutoff for scheduling freight to be picked up next business day is no later than 7 a.m. Pacific Time (Monday-Friday). If a same-day or next-day freight-ready date is provided prior to the 7 a.m. cutoff, the carrier should pick-up on the next business day following your request. They will also call you the morning of pickup (prior to 12 p.m. local time) to confirm.
  • Shipments with more than eight pallets could be rolled into a FTL shipment, which could require additional lead time to be picked up.
  • You are required to give the carrier the Amazon generated Bill of Lading (BOL), which will be available in the partnered workflow the day of your pickup.
  • If you discuss your pick-up appointment with the carrier, you should refer to your shipment by the Amazon Reference Number (ARN), which can be found on your BOL.
  • The LTL pick-up date can be tracked in the Shipping Queue.

Rates and Charges

Discounted rates only apply to deliveries within the 48 contiguous United States. Actual shipping costs may vary from any estimates, and you are responsible for the actual costs. All Amazon-Partnered Carrier charges (Small parcel, LTL and FTL) are summarized each month on your Settlement report as a single line item.

In the shipment creation work flow, you will be asked to enter the number of stacked or unstacked pallets you plan to ship, so we can send the right-sized truck and accurately calculate the lowest possible rate.

Note: Using stacked pallets provides the most optimized rate. Rates may be higher for unstacked pallets in some cases. If you select stacked pallets in the workflow, the carrier will arrive prepared to load stacked pallets. A subsequent decision to use unstacked pallets may lead to delay and additional cost.

For more information regarding loss and damage claims, please see the FBA Lost and Damaged Reimbursement Policy.

Canceling an Amazon-Partnered Carrier

You can cancel up to one hour after approving estimated charges by going to your Shipping Queue and following these steps:


  1. Locate the shipment and click the Work on Shipment button.
  2. Click the Provide Details tab.
  3. Click the Void Charges button.
Important: Canceling the shipment does not cancel the charges. You must follow the Canceling an Amazon-Partnered Carrier instructions above to ensure no pickup is made and charges will not apply. If one hour has passed since approving charges, you will not be able to cancel those charges or receive a refund for them.
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