Hi Dustin,
Looks like I mixed up which Shipping Carriers use the Product Packages, I just confirmed with programming that FedEx uses the Product Packages, and the Dimensions on the Product Setup screen were originally programmed for UPS however we found that sending Product Dimensions would actually cause more miscalculations rather than just sending the weight to UPS and letting their system calculate the proper rates.
The Number of Boxes field is used only for record keeping and in not currently used in shipping calculations.
The Max Package Weight setting sums up the weight of all the items in the Cart and when the total weight exceeds this maximum, a second (or more) packages are calculated and the cart will create the appropriate number of additional xml sections including the corresponding calculated weights to be passed to the UPS API when calculating shipping cost.
For example, if the total weight of the items in the cart is 350 lbs and max package weight is 150 lbs the cart will calculate number of packages and weight as follows:
- 350/150 = 2.5 (round up) = 3 packages
- Package 1 and 2 weight = 150 lbs
- Package 3 weight = 50 lbs
One possible solution to increase the accuracy of the rates returned from UPS for your larger items may be to increase the weight in the Product Setup screen to supplement the dimensions of the item being shipped.
We are also available to add a Max Package Weight setting at the Product level. If this is something you're interested in, please submit a Quote Request at the following link:
http://www.smith-consulting.com/servi...
Sorry for the confusion and hope this clears things up.
Thanks!