Question
Does Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central shipping functionality with 2Ship negotiate its own carrier rates or primarily use the customer’s existing negotiated carrier accounts, and can it display rates from additional carriers not directly contracted with the company?
2Ship Uses Customer Accounts and Adds Carrier Options
2Ship primarily uses the customer’s existing negotiated carrier accounts to obtain rates during shipping operations in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Additionally, 2Ship can surface rates from other carriers available within its platform, including those not directly contracted by the company. This allows users to view more carrier options and potentially access better rates based on shipment origin and destination. As a result, businesses gain greater flexibility when selecting carriers and can optimize shipping costs more effectively.
Details on Rate Sourcing and Carrier Integration
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central’s native shipping capabilities do not include integrated multi-carrier rate negotiation or extensive carrier rate management. Instead, carrier accounts and rates are managed individually by customers outside of Business Central. This approach limits direct automation of carrier selection beyond what basic configurations allow and often requires manual comparison between carriers. Without external integration, businesses may struggle to efficiently manage multiple shipping providers.
2Ship extends this capability by leveraging the customer’s existing negotiated carrier accounts, passing those credentials through to carriers during rate retrieval. This preserves the customer’s negotiated discounts and agreements without altering or overriding them, ensuring continuity in existing shipping contracts. It also allows businesses to maintain control over their carrier relationships while still benefiting from centralized rate management. This balance is critical for organizations with established logistics partnerships.
Furthermore, 2Ship maintains a broad carrier network and can display rates from additional carriers within its platform that the customer might not have direct contracts with. This capability enables users to access a broader set of shipping options, potentially optimizing cost or service levels by comparing contracted carriers with broker or third-party options. By expanding visibility into available rates, businesses can make more strategic shipping decisions. This also reduces reliance on a limited set of carriers.
By integrating this rate and carrier management directly into Business Central via Dynamic Ship, 2Ship centralizes rate shopping and carrier selection while maintaining the integrity of customer-specific agreements. This centralized approach simplifies multi-carrier shipping workflows and reduces the need to manage multiple external systems or carrier portals. It also improves efficiency by bringing all shipping decisions into a single interface. Businesses can therefore streamline operations while maintaining flexibility.
If carrier account details are not properly configured or are absent within Business Central, 2Ship cannot retrieve negotiated rates and may default to showing only standard or brokered carrier options. The platform’s ability to display additional carriers depends on those carriers being available and configured within 2Ship. Unsupported or unavailable carriers will not appear, which can limit options if configuration is incomplete. In rare cases where integration disruptions occur, shipping can still proceed using configured base rates or manual processes.
Related Shipping Tools and Their Scope in Business Central
Dynamic Ship is the core Business Central extension enabling shipping processes, including carrier selection and rate shopping, but it relies on external platforms for rate negotiation and expanded carrier access. It allows users to manage shipments directly within the ERP while leveraging external carrier intelligence. This ensures a consistent workflow while still accessing advanced shipping features. The result is a more efficient and scalable shipping process.
2Ship acts as the multi-carrier platform integrated with Dynamic Ship to manage complex carrier contracts, rate negotiation, and business rules centrally. It handles these logistics behind the scenes without exposing unnecessary complexity to users inside Business Central. By combining these tools, businesses can maintain control over their shipping operations while benefiting from enhanced carrier access and rate management. This integration ultimately provides a more comprehensive and flexible shipping solution.