# Carrier Interfaces

## Carrier Interface Methods

To provide updates on orders, an interface method is needed to enable us to get the relevant data from the respective carriers. For most carriers, we recommend requesting specific interface credentials from the carrier. These are referred to as "private" interfaces as opposed to "public" interfaces.

The carrier interface methods work as follows:

* Private interface — parcelLab query the carrier in the name of the shop (that is: you have a direct account with the carrier and can share it with us) to retrieve the data. This offers the possibility to extract more detailed information that otherwise would not be shared due to privacy restrictions.
* Public interface — parcelLab directly query the carrier to retrieve the data.

{% hint style="info" %}
For further information on carrier interface methods, please contact your parcelLab representative.
{% endhint %}

## Carrier Interface Setup

The setup needed to provide us with access to a carrier interface will depend on the type of carrier. parcelLab differentiates between parcel, package, and courier carriers where you just need to get credentials. On the other side are home delivery carriers, freight forwarders, and truckage companies. Those usually require an interface to be set up, but the import and matching of the status data needs to be done by our team.

{% hint style="info" %}
For further information on carrier interface setup, see the [information required for some of our supported carriers](/docs/platform/carrier-integrations/supported-carriers.md).
{% endhint %}


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