When using third-party services to generate shipping labels or update tracking data via API, the carrier names they use may differ from AST’s built-in carrier names. To ensure consistent matching, you can map alternate names (aliases) using the Custom API Name field.
🧩 Why You Need This
Third-party services might refer to a carrier differently than AST.
For example:
- Your shipping system may call it: “USPS Priority”
- AST lists it as: “USPS”
Without mapping, AST won’t recognize “USPS Priority” as the same carrier, which can lead to tracking data not syncing properly.
🔧 How to Map a Carrier Alias
- Go to WooCommerce > Shipment Tracking > Shipping Carriers
- Find and click the three-dot menu on the carrier you want to map (e.g., USPS)
- Click Edit
- In the Edit Shipping Carrier sidebar:
- Locate the Custom API Name field
- Enter the alias used by your third-party system (e.g., USPS Priority)
- Use the ➕ (plus) icon to add more aliases if needed
- Click Update to save your changes
💡 Notes
- Aliases must match exactly the name used by your API or CSV source.
- You can map multiple aliases to the same carrier.
- This ensures that any tracking info imported using an alias will be correctly linked to the intended carrier.