Walmart provides this link as a means to request access to the Transportation Portal: https://wal-marttransportation.na1.teamsupport.com/.
The Transportation Portal is the primary means to communicate with the Transportation team. It is also sometimes referred to as the Team Support Portal. This portal is important for requesting routing cancellation, Confirm Shipment opportunities, and product overflow. Pg. 17 of the Shipping and Routing Guide contains instructions for making other kinds of Ticket Types.
Who Needs Access to the Transportation Portal?
This portal will be used by any and all parties who need to communicate with or need visibility into what is happening with Walmart’s transportation team. In short, a significant number of people both at the supplier and, in the case of Prepaid shipping, the carrier will need to frequent the portal.
Creating an Account
After clicking the link above, on the login page, click the “Create an account” button at the very bottom. From there, the “Name (First and Last)” and “Email” sections are required, but in the “Request Comments” section, Walmart advises to put:
1. Company Name (Full)
- If 3PL, enter the name of the company you’re shipping on behalf of.
2. Phone Number (including relevant extension)
3. User Type:
- General Merchandise (GM)
- Grocery
- eCommerce
4. Whether you are a supplier or carrier
After this is all included, click on the “Register Me!” button on the bottom.
Transportation Portal Menu
Within the portal, there are three major tabs: Knowledge Base, Wiki, and Tickets.
In the Knowledge Base tab, there are documents providing carrier contact information, confirm shipment (TSCP 2.0), best practices tips, and other resources that could be helpful for optimizing shipping and transportation issues.
The Wiki tab similarly contains helpful educational material provided on the subject.
The Tickets tab is where suppliers and carriers will likely spend most of their time when it comes to the actual work of moving product.
How to Create a Ship Point in the Transportation Portal
All Collect shippers in Walmart, Sam’s Club, and eCommerce must have a Ship Point Number for each of their shipping locations, and the ship point information must also be updated to reflect current information, including,
- Contact Name(s)
- Email(s)
- Phone Number(s)
- Freight Profile
Primary Ship Points must abide by Walmart’s following requirements:
- A dock that a 53’ trailer can safely back up to
- Tractor/trailer shouldn’t have to overhang into the roadway to dock
- No obstructions limiting visibility
- No obstructions impeding the driver’s ability to back up to the dock
- Ship points need to be safe and serviceable for the variety of all the carriers that use it. If any Walmart Transportation approved carrier will not pick up at a location due to safety concerns, the supplier is responsible for reviewing the issue and offering a solution (it would also result in a compliance fine).
- Minimum shipping hours of Mon-Fri, 8 hours/day is required
To request a New Ship Point, suppliers have to open a new ticket in the Transportation Portal. The required information for Ship Point Creation is as follows:
- A Subject in the “Title (Subject)” line
- If it is a New Ship Point, “New Ship Point” will go in this space
- Ticket Type
- From the dropdown select Ship Point Request (New/Update)
- Shipping Commodity: either General Merchandise or Grocery/Perishable
- Ship Point Request Type: again, if a new Ship Point, select “New Ship Point”
- # of Pallets to Fill a 53’ Truck
- 26 pallets is minimum–this will be if you are not able to double stack, pinwheel, or load width-wise.
- 28 pallets will fit if you are able to pinwheel, but can’t double stack or load width-wise.
- 30 pallets will fit if you able to load width-wise but can’t double stack.
- All of these numbers can be doubled if the pallets can be double stacked.
- (See pg. 14 of the Shipping and Routing Guide for more specific instructions and helpful graphics for; see also the Packaging information on Retail Link > Academy > Quick Learning Articles > Ordering & Replenishment > Shipping, Routing, Packaging, Labeling > Packaging for more on trailer dimensions.
- Shipping Hours in the Description Box
- As alluded to before, Walmart requires a minimum of 8 shipping hours Mon-Fri for loading.
- When all the necessary information is included, click Submit Ticket in the bottom right hand corner.
After inputting the required information, Walmart’s Transportation Team will review it along with access to the location, shipping hours, and the like with the Merchant and internally.
When this process is completed, and a shipping point is approved, suppliers will receive a response to the ticket with the Ship Point Number. This will likely come around 24 hours or so after submission. A new ship point can begin shipping POs 45 days after a new Ship Point number has been assigned.
Updating Ship Point Information
Whenever any of the details submitted with the Ship Point Creation are changed or need to be changed, Walmart will hold the supplier responsible for submitting those changes in the Transportation Portal.
The same process as the one above will be followed for updating Ship Point information. The ONLY difference will be that the “Ship Point Request Type” dropdown option will be “Update Ship Point” and not “New Ship Point.” From there, the Ship Point Number will be requested to keep Walmart aligned with these changes.