Routing Guide Adherence that Keeps Retailers Happy and Chargebacks Quiet

Routing guide adherence becomes visible when a shipment does not move the way the retailer expects it to. A load is tendered to the wrong carrier, an appointment is booked incorrectly, or required documentation is missing, and the delivery stalls before it ever reaches the dock. From the brand’s perspective, the order shipped; from the retailer’s perspective, the rules were not followed.

The consequences arrive quickly and rarely come with flexibility. Appointments are denied, loads are refused or rescheduled, and deductions appear after the fact with little opportunity to dispute them. Routing guides vary by retailer and change often, which means even small deviations can trigger penalties that outweigh the cost of the shipment itself. For brands selling wholesale, these failures do not look like compliance issues; they look like damaged relationships and unpredictable revenue.

Routing guide adherence works when requirements are enforced automatically instead of remembered manually. Carrier selection, appointment booking, labeling, and documentation need to follow retailer rules every time, without relying on last-minute checks. For e-commerce brands, treating routing guides as part of execution rather than paperwork is one of the most reliable ways to keep shipments moving and chargebacks quiet.

Why routing guide adherence matters so much in wholesale

Routing guides are not suggestions. They are operational contracts. Retailers expect perfect labeling, precise pallet configuration, correct ASN data, compliant carrier selection, and delivery within defined windows. When you break one rule, even by accident, the retailer does not adjust their expectations. They adjust your invoice.

Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience at G10, put it clearly. "If you do not do it right, you get those massive chargebacks." Routing guide failures are not small mistakes; they are expensive ones.

Where routing guide adherence usually breaks

The most common failures start with workflow drift. A team member interprets a rule loosely. A shift moves labels slightly out of position. A carrier is booked late. A carton code is overwritten manually. Routing guide failures accumulate one small deviation at a time until retailers begin flagging patterns.

Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment, sees the root cause often. "One of the pain points our clients have experienced with previous 3PLs is inventory accuracy. Maybe their previous 3PL was not great at picking the orders accurately. So they were losing money by shipping wrong items or wrong quantities of items." When inventory is wrong, routing compliance collapses automatically.

Why D2C-first 3PLs struggle with routing guide compliance

D2C warehouses operate on a very different set of expectations. Parcel labels, fast picking, and flexible workflows dominate their environment. Wholesale routing guides require precision beyond what D2C-centric systems and teams are trained to deliver. Without structured pallet builds, ASN discipline, and strict documentation control, routing guide compliance becomes a losing battle.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO, captured the gap. "A bad WMS will not track inventory 100 percent. A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point you touch it." Routing adherence requires that level of detail.

How slow communication destroys routing guide compliance

Retailers update routing rules constantly. They add exceptions, change label placement, revise pallet heights, or update carrier requirements. If a 3PL responds slowly, teams ship using outdated rules, and the penalties appear days later. Slow communication is one of the top reasons brands fail routing guide compliance.

Joel sees it everywhere. "At some 3PLs you get thrown into a ticketed queue, and you get different people replying every time. It can take days, if not weeks, to get a resolution." Routing rules cannot wait days.

G10 solves this gap by removing friction. "You call one person. That is it. And things get done," Joel said.

What strong routing guide adherence looks like

Proper routing adherence begins with documentation and continues with discipline. The warehouse follows clear rules for label placement, pallet construction, carton data, ASN accuracy, and carrier selection. Teams validate compliance before staging and again before loading. Nothing is left to memory or guesswork.

Connor explained why onboarding makes such a difference. "When we onboard a client who sells into places like Amazon or Walmart, the process changes depending on where they are selling. We work through all of their routing guide requirements and make sure the warehouse is ready before the first order ever drops." Preparation prevents errors that cause deductions later.

Why adherence depends on both accuracy and speed

Routing compliance is not just about following the rules. It is about following them quickly. Retailers assign narrow delivery windows. If the 3PL does not move fast enough, the shipment misses the appointment. Even perfect compliance cannot save a late load.

Routing guide execution under pressure at G10

The toughest routing guide scenarios happen during late inbounds, seasonal spikes, and promotional surges. These are the moments when routing rules feel more like puzzles than instructions. Weak operations cut corners. Strong operations tighten precision.

Joel shared a late inbound Target example. "Our supervisor, warehouse manager, and several employees worked the entire day into the night, then came back at 5 a.m. to make sure we had the routing completed." That is routing adherence under real pressure.

Another moment came during a viral D2C surge. "The client asked, Can you help us? And we said, Yeah, we gotcha. Then we sent a truck to the carrier at midnight." Even in chaos, routing guide compliance held firm.

The bottom line for wholesale brands

Routing guide adherence determines whether your shipments glide through retailer receiving or get stuck in compliance purgatory. When your logistics partner follows routing rules with consistent accuracy and communicates changes quickly, retailer relationships flourish. When they do not, penalties multiply.

If you want routing guide adherence that keeps your brand out of trouble instead of scrambling to escape it, reach out to G10. You will get disciplined workflows, real-time communication, and operational clarity that retailers appreciate.