Print a The Courier Guy waybill from WooCommerce

You have a paid WooCommerce order and need The Courier Guy waybill to stick on the parcel. A waybill only exists once a shipment has been booked with The Courier Guy, so every route below has two steps: book the shipment, then download the waybill PDF.

How the waybill works

The Courier Guy runs on ShipLogic. In its API docs, booking is "Create a shipment", and the waybill comes from "Getting shipment label / waybill PDF". That call takes the shipment's id and returns a signed link to a PDF that expires after 24 hours. So a waybill link you saved yesterday may not open today. Ask for a fresh one instead.

Option 1: The Courier Guy portal

Log in at portal.thecourierguy.co.za, create the shipment by hand with the customer's address, parcel size and weight, and print the waybill from there. This works with any store and needs no plugin, but you type every order twice. With more than a few orders a day, typing mistakes in addresses and parcel sizes become the main cost.

Option 2: Book from the WooCommerce order screen

A plugin that books shipments sends the order's address, contact details and parcel to The Courier Guy for you, then fetches the waybill. The official The Courier Guy plugin has "Send Order to Courier Guy" and "Print Waybill" order actions. Its own setup guide warns you to check that your account has enough balance, and not to click "Update" after sending, because that creates a duplicate shipment.

Our Pro add-on (below) works the same way: one button to book, one to download the waybill.

Option 3: Your own code

If you have a developer, the API needs three calls: get a rate, create the shipment with the service level from that rate, then request the waybill PDF by shipment id. The tracking reference comes back when the shipment is created.

Common problems

No waybill, or "label not ready". There is no waybill until the shipment is booked. If booking failed, there is nothing to print. Check the order notes for the error message. Right after booking, the waybill link may not be ready yet. Wait a minute and try again.

Duplicate shipments. Booking the same order twice creates two shipments and two charges. Make sure each order is only sent once, and cancel a duplicate in the portal straight away.

The waybill link stopped working. The signed link expires after 24 hours. Download the PDF again from the order or the portal rather than reusing an old link.

Wrong parcel size on the waybill. The waybill shows the parcel size and weight that were sent when the shipment was booked. If a product has no size or weight, the plugin has to guess, and the courier may charge you for the difference. See The Courier Guy rates wrong in WooCommerce for the volumetric weight rule.

Missing contact details. A shipment needs a contact name and mobile number at both ends. Make sure the phone field is on at checkout and your store's own contact is set for collection.

Sandbox key. Shipments booked with a sandbox key are test shipments. Nobody will collect them. Use the live key from your own portal.

How our Pro add-on handles this

Skillmerc Shipping Pro adds a "The Courier Guy shipment" box to each order. It needs the free Skillmerc Shipping for The Courier Guy, Pudo and PAXI plugin with your The Courier Guy API key.

• The parcel weight and size are filled in from the products and can be edited before you book.
• "Book with The Courier Guy" books the service the customer chose at checkout, with the order number as the reference, for collection from the next business day.
• "Download label" asks The Courier Guy for a fresh waybill PDF link every time you click, so the 24-hour expiry never gets in the way.
• An order that is already booked cannot be booked a second time.
• You can book up to 50 selected orders at once from the orders list. If one order fails, it is reported and the rest still book.
• The tracking reference is saved on the order and added to the customer's order emails and My Account.

Pudo locker and PAXI booking are not included yet. Pro is an independent add-on, not made by The Courier Guy.

More: Add The Courier Guy tracking number to WooCommerce order emails, The Courier Guy not showing at checkout and The Courier Guy rates wrong in WooCommerce.

More South African shipping guides for WooCommerce

• PAXI on WooCommerce: how to let customers pick a PAXI point at checkout
• Pudo locker shipping in WooCommerce: live rates and a locker picker
• The Courier Guy not showing at WooCommerce checkout: causes and fixes
• Fastway rates in WooCommerce: how to show live Fastway Couriers prices at checkout
• The Courier Guy rates wrong in WooCommerce: why the price is too high or too low
• Pudo locker option not showing at WooCommerce checkout: causes and fixes
• Add The Courier Guy tracking number to WooCommerce order emails