You’re burning money every time a truck shows up unannounced, sits, then gets turned away. That’s not bad luck. That’s a delivery calendar problem.
Here’s the flip: Amazon now lets you view and pick delivery windows via API. Translation: you can book when pallets hit the dock, not just hope. No more guessing carrier timing against FC capacity. Less chaos, faster check-ins, cleaner inventory flow.
If you’ve watched a product launch die because receiving lagged three days, this is for you.
With delivery windows locked, you smooth dock-to-stock times and cut refusals fast. Your IPI looks healthier, and honestly, so does your sanity. You don’t need more trucks. You need a better calendar.
TL;DR
Delivery schedule = the plan for when your inbound hits the dock. Don’t gamble it.
Amazon’s update: view and select delivery windows via API, then book appointments.
Locking windows reduces refusals, detention fees, and painful stockouts.
Build a delivery schedule Excel template and align vendors, carriers, and FCs.
Decode tracking lingo: “local warehouse scheduling delivery” and “delivery rescheduled” mean timing shifts.
Track KPIs: appointment rate, dock-to-stock, lead time variance, and OOS.
Quick pulse check before we dive in: most inbound “emergencies” aren’t real emergencies. They’re missed appointments, vague ASNs, or trucks sent without a confirmed time. Fix the calendar and the fire drills start to vanish.
A delivery schedule is the who, what, and when of your inbound. Carrier, shipment ID, FC, date and time window, plus any constraints. Big difference between “truck comes sometime Tuesday” and “four pallets 8–10am, door 14, LTL, appointment confirmed.” The first gets refusals and detention. The second gets received units.
In Amazon speak, you can now view and pick delivery windows via API. You’re not guessing dock availability or emailing three people to confirm. You book the appointment, you own the slot.
Think of it like airline boarding versus standby. With a booked window, you’re Group A, straight down the jet bridge. Without it, you’re hoping there’s space after everyone else. That hope costs you in idle trucks and delayed receiving.
If you’re planning promos or scaling paid media when inventory is live, our DSP Services can help you grow reach without fueling stockouts.
First‑hand example: You ship 10 pallets weekly to three FCs. Without appointments, arrivals scatter Tue–Thu and 1–2 get refused monthly. After booking windows, refusals drop to near zero. Dock-to-stock shrinks by a day, and “available to sell” flips faster. No magic. Just scheduling.
Here’s what people forget: FCs have receiving hours, headcount, and door constraints. They prioritize scheduled freight. Unscheduled trucks are easy to bump. Put your load on the calendar and align with how the building actually runs. It’s like showing up with a reservation instead of begging for a table at 7pm.
Pro move: stagger windows across FCs based on demand and geography. Front‑load early-week windows for high-volume ASINs. Use midweek buffer windows to absorb slips. That one change can stabilize on-hand for top sellers during paid pushes.
The new capability lets you:
Check the Fulfillment Inbound API reference in Amazon’s SP‑API docs for operations and payloads. Your workflow varies by carrier, partnered or not, and shipment type.
A few implementation notes to save headaches:
First‑hand example: You’re shipping 6 pallets LTL from New Jersey to ABE8. Transit is 1.5 days, so you pull Friday morning windows. You book 9–11am, push the appointment ID to the carrier, and the driver references it on arrival. Receiving scans match your ASN; units turn available next day. Snowstorm delays pickup, so you cancel and rebook Monday. No fees, no refusals.
Advanced tips the pros use:
Edge cases to expect, and how to handle them:
Each line has a shipment ID, appointment ID, carrier, and ASN count. Vendors get cutoff times tied to these windows. Carriers get pickup SLAs backsolved from the dock appointment. Your ops scoreboard shows appointment rate at 95% or better.
Why this works: you turn demand planning into time on a dock. Marketing knows when inventory clears. Finance sees fewer surprise fees. Support sees fewer “Where is my order?” tickets because sellable dates are predictable.
Create columns for: Shipment ID, FC, Carrier, Mode (SP/LTL/FTL), Pallets or Cartons, Appointment Window, Appointment ID, Transit ETA, Pickup Date, ASN Complete, Status, Notes.
Two reminders: packages should be organized properly, labeling and pallets are tight, BOL has the appointment ID. Your ASNs must be accurate. Most delays start with sloppy prep.
First‑hand example: A brand runs this template plus API integration. Every Friday, they schedule next week’s windows, send vendor cutoffs, and lock pickups with carriers. Missed windows fall from 4 per month to 0–1, and detention goes away.
If you want to push beyond Excel:
Common pitfalls, with fixes:
Add one more to your mental shortlist: protect high-velocity ASINs with the earliest, firmest windows. Everything else can flex around them.
If you see “local warehouse scheduling delivery,” the parcel reached a regional facility. Next step is coordinating delivery or handoff to the last‑mile carrier. In plain terms: the package is nearby, and a delivery day is being aligned. It’s the DTC cousin of booking an inbound dock window, same concept.
Caveat: wording varies by market and carrier. Always cross-check the Shein timeline and the carrier’s status page for the best ETA.
“Delivery rescheduled” means the promised arrival date moved a bit. Weather, capacity, address issues, or missorts are common reasons. Carriers usually update to the next business day. UPS and FedEx show a new “Scheduled Delivery” date. USPS may show “In Transit, Arriving Late.” It’s a timing slip, not doom.
Pro tip: When you’re the shipper, tell customers the moment status changes. Clear comms can turn a 1‑star into a patient wait.
First‑hand example: A seller mapped “rescheduled” events to support macros. Auto‑emails cut “Where is my order?” tickets by about 30% during storms.
If you want to automate the calm:
Track these weekly. If dock-to-stock creeps up or refusals rise, audit by FC and mode. Then shift windows or carriers where it hurts.
How to define and use them:
First‑hand example: A home goods brand moved to appointment-first inbound. They centralized booking in ops and tied it to weekly S&OP. They paused promos unless inventory had booked windows. Result: fewer stockouts during ads and a clean Q4, no extra headcount.
A quick ROI sketch to share upstairs:
A: Start with a delivery schedule Excel template and a weekly booking ritual. Many 3PLs or freight partners can book for you. Document preferred windows and SLAs first.
A: Policies vary by FC and volume. LTL and FTL almost always need appointments. For SPD and consolidations, match pickup timing to receiving hours and follow prep rules.
A: As soon as you know transit timing. Ideally when you create the shipment and confirm pickup. If lead times swing, book conservative, then rebook if you speed up.
A: Rebook right away via API or portal. Log the miss, share root cause, and add buffer next time. Chronic misses? Switch carriers or change pickup days.
A: No. It means the ETA moved. Check the next scan, look for a new date, and communicate early.
A: Validate ASNs before pickup. Put appointment IDs on BOLs. Ensure cartons and pallets match labels. The fastest inbound scans clean on the first try.
A: One person. Centralize booking and rebooking in Ops, but make it visible to Planning, Marketing, and Support through a shared dashboard or calendar feed.
You don’t need a huge tech stack to win here. You need a calendar, a cadence, and a habit of booking early.
If you only take one thing: scheduling inbound is an operations cheat code. The API didn’t invent good logistics. It just made them easier to do every time. Your job is to lock windows, align partners, and keep the loop tight. Do that, and inventory stops being a fire and becomes a flywheel.
“Delivery windows aren’t red tape—they’re runway. Put freight on a schedule, and sales start landing on time.”
Want to see how top brands operationalize this? Explore our Case Studies.