End-of-Day Manifests & SCAN Forms
Stop holding up the carrier driver while they scan every barcode individually. ShipWave auto-generates USPS SCAN forms, UPS End of Day manifests, and DHL manifests every night so the driver scans one form and accepts every package in bulk.
1 scan
vs. N scans at pickup
One form accepts every package
All
Major Carriers Supported
USPS, UPS, DHL — and more
10pm PT
Auto-Generated Nightly
Ready before next-day pickup
Per-warehouse
Manifest Routing
Each warehouse gets its own forms
Benefits
Why Businesses Choose This Feature
- No More Per-Package Scanning
Drivers do not want to scan 200 individual barcodes any more than you want them to. A single SCAN form or End of Day manifest contains every tracking number — the driver scans one form and is on the way.
- Instant Carrier Acceptance Tracking
When the carrier accepts the manifest, every package on it gets an "Accepted" tracking scan simultaneously. Customers see their package moving the moment the driver leaves.
- One Form Per Warehouse Per Carrier
Multi-warehouse shippers get separate forms per (warehouse, carrier) combination. Your NY warehouse gets a USPS form and a UPS form, your LA warehouse gets its own. No mixing.
- Voided Labels Excluded Automatically
Labels you voided during the day do not appear on the manifest. The driver never sees them, the carrier never gets billed for them, and your acceptance scan stays clean.
- Auto-Emailed to the Warehouse
Every morning the relevant manifests show up in the warehouse inbox, ready to print. No one has to remember to generate them. No one has to log into ShipWave to find them.
- Manual Regenerate Whenever
Missed pickup? Driver wants a fresh form? Click "Regenerate Manifest" in the dashboard and a new form is rebuilt from the day is shipments in seconds.
How Manifest Automation Works
Nightly Cron at 10pm PT
A scheduled job runs every night, scanning all labels purchased that day per warehouse per carrier.
Manifest Generated Per Carrier
USPS SCAN forms, UPS End of Day manifests, and DHL manifests are generated through each carrier is API and stored as PDFs.
Emailed to the Warehouse
Each warehouse receives an email with the relevant manifests attached, ready to print and hand to the driver at pickup.
Why Manifests Save Your Pickup Window
The Pickup Bottleneck Most Shippers Ignore
Once you cross about 25 packages per day, your carrier pickup becomes a bottleneck. The driver pulls up, looks at your stack of packages, and starts scanning each one individually. At 5-10 seconds per scan, a 100-package day eats 10-15 minutes of driver time. Carriers do not love this — when their drivers run behind, your future pickup windows get earlier or later than you want, and your driver may "forget" you on busy days. A SCAN form or End of Day manifest solves this entirely: one scan, every package accepted, driver out the door in under a minute. Mid-volume shippers (50-500 packages per day) get the biggest immediate benefit, but even smaller shippers see faster pickups.
How USPS SCAN Forms Work
A USPS SCAN form (Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice) is a single document containing every tracking number you generated that day. The mail carrier scans the SCAN form barcode once — and every individual tracking number on it gets an "Accepted by USPS" scan in their system simultaneously. From the customer is perspective, every package moves at the exact same moment. From your perspective, the driver is on the way in 30 seconds instead of 30 minutes. ShipWave is integration with EasyPost generates the SCAN form via USPS API after the daily label cutoff, so by the time the driver arrives the next morning the form is printed and ready.
UPS End of Day & DHL Manifests
UPS End of Day (also called "PLD" or "Pickup Log") is the equivalent for UPS — one barcode the driver scans to accept your entire pickup. UPS actually requires End of Day manifests for accounts above certain volume thresholds, so this is not optional once you scale. DHL Manifests work the same way for DHL Express pickups (international). ShipWave generates all three types through the EasyPost API for any label you purchase, regardless of the destination or service level. The PDFs are stored against your account so you can re-download a historical manifest if a carrier ever asks "did you ship this package?" — yes, here is the manifest from August 14th.
Why Per-Warehouse Routing Matters
If you have one warehouse, this is simple — every label that day goes on one manifest per carrier. If you have multiple warehouses, mixing labels from different physical locations onto one manifest is a problem. The carrier driver picking up from your NY warehouse cannot accept packages physically sitting at your LA warehouse. ShipWave generates separate manifests per (warehouse, carrier) combination. NY warehouse gets a USPS form and a UPS form. LA warehouse gets its own USPS form and UPS form. Each manifest only contains labels actually staged at that warehouse, so the driver scans accurate packages and your acceptance tracking matches physical reality.
What Happens When Manifests Fail
Occasionally a manifest generation fails — typically because the carrier API is having an outage or one of your labels has a problem (wrong service, voided after generation, invalid tracking number). ShipWave is cron retries each carrier separately, so a USPS API hiccup does not block your UPS manifest. Failed manifests trigger an owner alert email with the reason and the affected label list. You can fix the underlying issue and click "Regenerate Manifest" in the dashboard. If a label is broken, void it — the next regenerated manifest will exclude it cleanly. You should never be in a position where the driver arrives and you have no manifest to hand them.
ShipWave Manifests vs. Shippo & EasyPost
| Feature | ShipWave | Shippo / EasyPost (direct) |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-generated nightly | Yes — 10pm PT cron | Shippo yes, EasyPost manual |
| USPS SCAN forms | Per warehouse per day | Yes (varies by tier) |
| UPS End of Day | Yes | Limited or missing |
| DHL Manifests | Yes | Limited |
| Per-warehouse routing | Separate forms per location | Single global manifest |
| Auto-emailed to warehouse | Yes | Manual download required |
Who Needs Manifests
Mid-Volume Shippers (50-500/day)
The sweet spot. Enough volume that per-package scanning is painful, low enough volume that you have not built custom carrier integrations. SCAN forms cut pickup time from 15 minutes to 1 minute.
High-Volume Shippers (500+/day)
End-of-day manifests are effectively required by UPS and DHL above certain volume thresholds. ShipWave automates what would otherwise be a daily ops task.
Multi-Warehouse Operators
Per-warehouse manifest routing keeps each location is paperwork clean. Drivers at different locations get only the manifests relevant to their pickup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which carriers are supported?
USPS (SCAN forms), UPS (End of Day manifests), DHL Express (manifests), and FedEx Ground (manifests where required). Other carriers are added based on customer demand and EasyPost API support.
What if manifest generation fails?
A failed manifest triggers an owner alert email with the error reason and affected labels. The cron retries each carrier independently, so a USPS API outage will not block UPS or DHL. You can manually regenerate from the dashboard once the underlying issue is fixed.
Can I manually regenerate a manifest?
Yes. The Manifests dashboard has a "Regenerate" button per manifest. Use this when a driver wants a fresh copy, when you voided labels after the manifest generated, or when something failed overnight.
Are voided labels excluded from manifests?
Yes. Manifest generation queries only active, non-voided labels for the day. If you void a label before the manifest is generated, it never appears. If you void after, regenerate to exclude it.
When during the day does the cron run?
10pm Pacific Time by default. This catches all labels purchased through end-of-business across US time zones. The exact time is configurable per warehouse if you have an unusual pickup window.
Do customers see anything different?
Yes — every package on the manifest gets an "Accepted by Carrier" tracking scan at the same moment, instead of staggered over the time it takes the driver to scan each box. Customers see faster movement, which improves the perceived shipping experience.
What if I forget to hand the manifest to the driver?
For USPS, the SCAN form is essentially required for bulk acceptance — without it, the carrier scans each label individually and you lose the time savings. For UPS and DHL, manifests are technically optional but strongly encouraged for high-volume accounts. Always hand the printed manifest to the driver at pickup.
Explore More
Related Features
Shipping Labels
Bulk label generation that feeds directly into nightly manifest generation.
Learn more →
Quick Ship
Fast one-off label workflow that still gets included in your end-of-day manifests.
Learn more →
Warehouse Management
Multi-warehouse setup is what enables per-warehouse manifest routing.
Learn more →
Cut Your Carrier Pickup Time to 60 Seconds
Auto-generated USPS SCAN forms, UPS End of Day manifests, and DHL manifests delivered to your warehouse every morning.