# What shipments are

How a packed repair travels back to its owner, and what the record is for once the courier has it.

A shipment is the journey a package makes. Where the package answers what was in the box, the shipment answers who has it, what it cost to send, and whether it has arrived. It is also the record you read out when a customer rings to ask where their machine is.

**Video coming soon:** Shipments in Repairs, from booking a carrier to a delivered machine

## Highlights

- **Three states**: pending, in transit and delivered.
- **The tracking number is the point.** It is what the customer actually wants.
- **Shipping cost is recorded per shipment**, so an expensive return is visible.
- **A shipment carries packages**, and the packages carry the repair.
- **This list holds repair shipments only**, marked with the same purple badge.

## The list

![The Shipments list under a tab reading Shipments, headed Shipments with the subtitle Manage shipments for sales orders, purchase orders, and repairs. Columns read Shipment #, Date, Type, Source #, Customer/Vendor, Packages, Carrier, Tracking, Status and Cost. Every row carries a purple Type badge reading Repair and a Packages count of 0. Carriers include Palletways Overnight, Evri Courier, Tuffnells Two Day, Royal Mail Tracked and DPD Next Day, each with a tracking number such as EC3429227826 or RM-483920175GB. Status badges read Pending in amber, In Transit in blue and Delivered in green. The foot reads showing 1 to 12 of 12 results.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/repairs/inventory/shipments-list.png)

*Twelve returns in progress. Carrier, tracking and status are the three columns anybody actually reads.*

- **Pending**: Booked but not yet moving. The carrier has been chosen and the box has not gone.
- **In Transit**: With the carrier and on its way. The tracking number is live.
- **Delivered**: The customer has the equipment back, and the repair is genuinely over.
- **Carrier**: Who is moving it, down to the service level: overnight, two day, tracked.
- **Cost**: What the return cost you. Worth watching on heavy equipment, where it can rival the repair.

## What a shipment holds

![Shipment SHP-00030 open and badged Delivered, with an Update Status button in the header. An Associated Documents panel shows the source order dated 11/08/2026 for Crewe Rail Components Ltd, badged Confirmed. Customer Details give the customer and a destination address. A Shipment Details panel lists a Type badge reading Repair, a Tracking Status badge reading Delivered, a date of shipment of 02/09/2026, a delivery date, a delivered date, a tracking number of RM-483920175GB and a shipping cost of 12.40 pounds. A Notes panel reads Return delivery for repair ticket RPT-00063.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/repairs/inventory/shipment-detail.png)

*A delivered return. The notes name the repair ticket, which is how this record points back at the job.*

> **Note:**
>
> **The link back to the repair runs through the package**
>
> A shipment is raised against packages, and it is the package that names the repair ticket. That is why a shipment's own reference to the job is often a line in its notes rather than a field of its own. When you need the ticket from a shipment, open the package it carries.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Give the customer the tracking number, not a promise**
>
> The most common call a workshop takes after a repair is "where is it?". A tracking number emailed on the day it ships answers that question before it is asked, and it is already on the record.