Shipping and custody

Track movement through the shop

Shipping and custody records help the shop track what arrived, where it is, what was packed, what tracking number was used, and what condition was recorded along the way.

Supported records

  • Vendor inbound receiving records.
  • Customer inbound repair shipments.
  • Customer outbound returns.
  • Shipment and custody tracking for parts being returned to vendors.
  • Inventory outbound shipments.
  • In-shop transfer tracking.

Useful fields

Use carrier, service level, tracking number, tracking URL, label reference, declared value, insurance, signature requirement, condition notes, packing notes, customer notification status, and linked job/customer/vendor records where helpful.

Send an instrument back to a customer

  1. Open the work order and choose the Shipping tab.
  2. Choose Ship to customer or Customer pickup, then confirm the saved address snapshot.
  3. Record the status, carrier, service, costs or charge, insurance/signature needs, and packing notes.
  4. Buy the label in the shop's normal carrier tool, then paste the tracking number into FretTrack. Common carrier tracking links are filled when possible.
  5. Save the shipment, print the Customer Ship-Back Summary, or edit and send the Tracking Update email.

Tracking emails are logged with the work order. If delivery confirmation is interrupted, retrying the same unchanged email reuses the original send operation to avoid a duplicate message.

Custody workflow

Use custody events to record when an item arrives, is checked in, moves to a bench or location, is packed, ships, is delivered, or needs attention. This gives the shop a timeline for packages and instruments.

Carrier labels

FretTrack stores manual tracking and shipping details. Shops should still buy carrier labels and manage carrier accounts in their own shipping tools.

Operational reports

The Shipping dashboard shows ready-to-ship, in-transit, delivered, and exception totals, shipping cost versus customer charges, net shipping, and a CSV export.

Inventory note

Inbound purchase order shipping cost and landed-cost allocation are handled in Inventory Purchasing. Shipping records can reference vendor or PO context, but purchase order receiving remains the stock-increasing workflow.

Inventory → Vendor Returns is the stock-changing workflow for supplier returns. Draft and Requested returns do not change stock; Mark Shipped removes each returned quantity once. Use Shipping only for the package, carrier, tracking, and custody timeline—not as a second inventory adjustment.