Abstract: A parcel processing system provides shipping documents required for a number of shipping carriers and/or classes of service. The system includes a keyboard, a scale, a memory, a printer and a processor. The processor receives carrier/service selection signals from the keyboard and transaction data from the keyboard and/or the scale. The processor determines on the basis of the carrier/service selection signal whether to rate or defer a parcel transaction. Data for a deferred transaction is stored in the memory. The foregoing steps are performed with respect to a number of transactions and a number of deferred transactions are combined into an aggregation. The processor receives a deferred rating signal from the keyboard and performs a rating operation with respect to the aggregation of deferred transactions. The printer prints a manifest reflecting the result of the rating operation.

Abstract: A system for preparing shipping documents includes a processor, a keyboard, a display, a memory and a printer. Associated with the printer are a single sheet feeder, a batch feeder and an endless form feeder. The system is capable of preparing a wide variety of waybills and other shipping forms. The system is also able to prepare automatically all shipping documents required for a mass shipment to a user-defined group of recipients. A user activated "help" function provides information specific to the type of data that the user is attempting to enter at the time the help function is activated. There is also a "rare shopping" function that allows the user to define for each shipping mode a group of other shipping modes for rate comparison purposes.