The quick answer
Turn on Multiple Shipping Routes under Setup > Company > Enable Features, on the Transactions subtab. Then edit the sales order, and on the Items subtab check Enable Item Line Shipping. Each line gets its own Ship To and Ship Via. Set those per line, go to the Shipping subtab, and click Calculate Shipping. Lines with the same ship-to address, shipping method, and origin travel as one shipment. NetSuite prices each shipment and adds the total to the order's Shipping Cost.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
In this example, sales order SO-4417 for Alderbrook Hospitality Group has three lines: 12 Lobby Lounge Chair, 40 Guest Room Desk Lamp, and 6 Office Task Chair, for a subtotal of 8,670.00. It was entered with the customer's default address, Head Office in Denver, and UPS® Ground for everything. The chairs and lamps are really for a hotel refit in Reno, the customer's Lakeview Hotel Site address. Only the task chairs belong at head office.
The customer already has both addresses in its address book. The order's Location, Denver Distribution Center, is where the goods ship from. The role is Administrator on the standard sales order form. A custom form or a narrower role can hide the line shipping fields.
In this example the customer is set up as non-taxable, so every line is -Not Taxable-. The two shipping items charge flat amounts per shipment: 412.00 for FedEx Freight® Economy and 38.40 for UPS® Ground. Your amounts depend on how your shipping items are set up. With a carrier integration, the rate can depend on weight, packaging, and the carrier's quote.
If you charge customers for shipping, Charge for Shipping has to be checked under Setup > Accounting > Shipping. That page also sets the company's default shipping method and carrier.
01. Check the setup
Go to Setup > Company > Enable Features and click the Transactions subtab. Under Shipping & Receiving, Advanced Shipping and Multiple Shipping Routes are both checked. Shipping Label Integration is checked in this account too, but you only need it for integrated carrier labels, not for routes.
With a United States nexus on legacy tax, Multiple Shipping Routes also needs per-line taxes, so each line can carry its own tax code for its destination. Go to Setup > Accounting > Set Up Taxes and click the United States subtab. Per-Line Taxes on Transactions is checked. Both settings were already on here, so the walkthrough leaves both pages without saving. If you have to check either one, click Save. SuiteTax accounts handle taxes differently.
02. Review the order as entered
Open sales order SO-4417. The Items subtab lists the three lines: 4,620.00 of lounge chairs, 2,580.00 of desk lamps, and 1,470.00 of task chairs. Enable Item Line Shipping is cleared. The Summary shows Subtotal 8,670.00, Shipping Cost 0.00, and Total 8,670.00.
Click the Shipping subtab. There's one Ship To Select for the whole order, Head Office at 250 Wynkoop Street, Denver CO 80202, and one Ship Via, UPS® Ground. As entered, the hotel furniture would go to Denver.
03. Turn on item line shipping
Click Edit, then the Items subtab. Check Enable Item Line Shipping. Three columns appear on the lines: Ship To, Carrier, and Ship Via. They're filled in from the order, so every line starts as Head Office, UPS, UPS® Ground. Don't assume that default is right for your lines. Check each one.
04. Route the hotel lines
Click the Lobby Lounge Chair line, then its Ship To field. The list shows the customer's saved addresses by their address book label, plus - New - to add a saved address and - Custom - for a one-off. Choose Lakeview Hotel Site.
Then click Ship Via and choose FedEx Freight® Economy. Carrier changes to FedEx on its own, because it comes from the shipping item. Click OK. Do the same on the Guest Room Desk Lamp line and click OK.
Leave the Office Task Chair line on Head Office and UPS® Ground. The order now has two destinations.
05. Calculate shipping
Click the Shipping subtab. The single ship-to address and method are gone. In their place is a Shipment sublist, still empty. Click Calculate Shipping.
Two shipments appear, both from the Denver warehouse at 4800 Brighton Blvd. The lounge chairs and desk lamps share one, because they have the same address, method, and origin. It goes to Receiving Dock, 1180 Shoreline Drive, Reno NV 89501 by FedEx Freight® Economy, with a Shipping Rate of 412.00. The task chairs go to 250 Wynkoop Street, Denver CO 80202 by UPS® Ground at 38.40.
Scroll up to the Summary. Shipping Cost is 450.40 (412.00 + 38.40), and Total is 9,120.40 (8,670.00 + 450.40). That's the estimated shipping charge at order time. The carrier's final bill can differ.
If you change a line, quantity, address, or method after this, click Calculate Shipping again.
06. Save and confirm
Click Save. The saved order shows Shipping Cost 450.40 and Total 9,120.40.
On the Items subtab, Enable Item Line Shipping stays checked. In view mode the carrier column is labeled Shipping Carrier. The sublist is wider than the screen, so scroll right to see the routes. The lounge chair and desk lamp lines show Lakeview Hotel Site, FedEx, FedEx Freight® Economy. The task chair line shows Head Office, UPS, UPS® Ground.
Check the result
- Enable Item Line Shipping is checked, and each line shows its own Ship To, Shipping Carrier, and Ship Via.
- The Shipping subtab lists one shipment per destination: Reno at 412.00 and Denver at 38.40.
- The Summary shows Shipping Cost 450.40 and Total 9,120.40.
This example stops at the saved order. When you fulfill it, the saved routes carry into fulfillment, but stock, locations, partial quantities, and Ship Complete can also change how the lines are split. Check that on your own orders.
Common questions
Where is the Enable Item Line Shipping box, and why don't I see it?
It's on the Items subtab of the sales order, above the item lines, and you have to be in Edit mode to check it. It only shows up after Multiple Shipping Routes is turned on under Setup > Company > Enable Features, on the Transactions subtab. If the feature is on and the box is still missing, a custom transaction form is probably hiding it.
Do I need Per-Line Taxes on Transactions?
For a United States nexus on legacy tax, yes. Turn it on at Setup > Accounting > Set Up Taxes, on the United States subtab, so each line can carry its own tax code. It doesn't make lines taxable by itself. In this example every line stayed -Not Taxable- because the customer isn't taxable. SuiteTax accounts handle this differently.
How is shipping cost calculated when lines go to different addresses?
Lines with the same ship-to address, shipping method, and origin are grouped into one shipment, and each shipment gets its own rate when you click Calculate Shipping. On SO-4417 that meant 412.00 for the Reno shipment and 38.40 for the Denver one, so Shipping Cost became 450.40. If you change a line, quantity, address, or method afterward, click Calculate Shipping again.
Can I ship one line to an address that isn't saved on the customer?
Yes. In the line's Ship To list, choose - Custom - to enter an address that stays on this transaction only. Choose - New - instead if you want the address saved to the customer for next time.
How does NetSuite pick the default shipping method?
It checks the item record's default shipping method first, then the preferred shipping method on the customer record's Preferences subtab, then the company default. When you check Enable Item Line Shipping, the lines can start from the order's ship-to address and method. On SO-4417 every line started on Head Office and UPS® Ground. You can change any line before you calculate.
Can I turn off line shipping after the order is fulfilled?
Don't plan on it. Before fulfillment you can clear Enable Item Line Shipping to go back to one address and method, but once fulfillments exist NetSuite restricts changes that would undo the routes. Line shipping works on sales orders, estimates, cash sales, and invoices, though support can vary by transaction type and form.