Printing (and securing) airway bills

Airway bills, or shipping labels, serve as identification. Without it, the parcel could be delayed, damaged, misdelivered, or lost. If a service requires a shipping label, print and secure it on your parcel.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What does an airway bill look like?
• How should the AWB be printed and used?
• Which services require airway bills?
• How to print the shipping label?

What does an airway bill look like?

In general, an airway bill, or shipping label, has the recipient's information, a barcode, a QR code, the delivery instructions (if any), and the tracking ID. Particularly crucial are the barcode and QR codes, which, as much as possible, should never be tampered with or have any writings, rips, creases, or folds that could result in an error when scanned.

How should the AWB be printed and used?

QUICK SUMMARY
• Recommended size: A4, A5, A6
• You can print on a regular sheet of paper or on an adhesive label.
• Secure the label on your parcel. 

Your shipping label cannot be too small or too big. The recommended size is A4, A5, or A6. It can be printed on a regular paper sheet or thermal labels. 

After printing, secure it on the parcel. Take note, the keyword there is "secure". To reiterate, AWB is a parcel's identification. Loosely attaching it could mean a torn or lost sheet leaving package handlers with an unidentifiable parcel. When this happens, your parcel is likely to be abandoned causing delay or damage, it can get mixed with other parcels leading to delay or incorrect delivery, or being declared lost. 

Adhesive labels are usually secure enough but note that hot environments could cause smudges or dissolved print. If you're using a regular sheet of paper, it is not enough to simply staple it or use one stretch of adhesive. It is also unacceptable to simply print and insert the shipping label somewhere. Instead, tape all sides. Even better, use a waterproof material to cover and prevent it from drenching in case it rains or gets splashed on. 

The main idea is to not lose the label and preserve the information that comes with it. At the end of the day, we can only hope the package handlers give the utmost care for your parcel. We never truly know how they do it though.

Which services require airway bills?

QUICK SUMMARY
• AWB is required for standard, express, economy, and PUDO services
• AWB is not required for paperless service, but you need to write the tracking ID
• AWB or tracking ID is not required for instant and same-day services

When choosing a shipping service, check the Printer required? column. If under it says Yes, that means a shipping label is required. You can also check under Additional notes as some services explicitly mention that you must print a label.

The gist is that:

• identification is needed when booking services wherein a parcel, along with hundreds and thousands of others, is taken to the warehouse, sorted, consolidated, and assigned to area drivers. Such happens in express, standard, economy, and PUDO services. 

• there is no need for an identifier when your parcel is taken by one driver, handling one parcel, going to one delivery point only. Such happens in instant and same-day services.

How to print the shipping label?

After confirming the order, you'll get a guide on how to proceed, including printing the label.

If you missed this part, you can also print from your dashboard and click the printer icon.

Alternatively, you may refer to our tutorial on how to print labels. 

If you encounter trouble printing the label, it's usually resolved by troubleshooting methods like using an incognito window or re-printing after several minutes. If the issue persists, let us know and we'll help you.

For questions, concerns, feedback, or suggestions, please email to contact@ezie.app 

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