What are Shipping Manifests
What is a Shipping Manifest?
A Shipping Manifest is a document that summarises shipments being collected by a carrier.
In simple terms, it provides the driver or carrier with a record of:
How many shipments are being collected
Which services were used
The shipment totals for that collection
Confirmation of acceptance by the carrier
This acts as a handover document between your warehouse and the shipping carrier.
Why are Shipping Manifests important?
Manifests are used to confirm that shipments have officially been handed over to the carrier.
This helps with:
Carrier collection tracking
Shipment accountability
Collection confirmation
Auditing and reporting
Preventing shipment disputes
Some carriers require manifests before shipments are considered accepted into their network.
Why are only Royal Mail and Pitney Bowes using manifests?
Not all carriers require manifesting.
Royal Mail and USPS (via Pitney Bowes) use manifest processes because their shipping workflows rely on batch shipment acceptance and collection confirmation.
Other carriers may:
Automatically process shipments individually
Use digital acceptance instead of physical manifests
Handle shipment confirmation through API integrations directly
Because of this, manifests are only shown for carriers that require them.
Manifesting Shipments
The Manifest Page displays all carriers that currently support manifesting within Pimento.
Selecting Manifest on a carrier will generate a new manifest for shipments that are ready to be collected.
Pimento will then group eligible shipments together into a carrier-specific manifest.
Viewing Previous Manifests
You can also view previously created manifests using the View Manifests button.
This page displays:
Manifest reference numbers
Date created
Shipment totals
Previous manifest records
Selecting View opens the full manifest document.
Manifest Documents
Manifest documents vary depending on the carrier.
For example, USPS manifests generated through Pitney Bowes include shipment totals, service breakdowns, shipment origin information, and barcode acceptance sections.
These documents may need to be scanned or retained by the carrier driver during collection.
Important Notes
Only carriers that require manifesting will appear on this page
Manifesting is typically performed after labels have been generated
Once manifested, shipments may be considered handed over to the carrier
Manifest documents can be used for auditing and collection tracking
Some carriers may not allow additional shipments to be added after manifesting
FAQs
What happens when I manifest shipments?
The selected shipments are grouped together and officially prepared for carrier collection.
Do all carriers require manifests?
No — only certain carriers use manifest workflows.
Can I view old manifests?
Yes — previous manifests can be viewed from the View Manifests section.
Why are there no shipments available to manifest?
This usually means no eligible shipments are currently ready for manifesting.
