1 Laboratory Testing Management (LTM ) User Guide Shipping samples (domestic US shipping only) Using your LTM account, samples can be shipped at no charge within the United States. You will be guided through a wizard which will gather the information needed; at the end, you will be able to print a prepaid shipping label to attach to the package you are shipping to the lab. Once generated, you can track your shipment in LTM. FedEx tracking is done in real time; UPS tracking information is updated in LTM at regular intervals (not done in real time). If you are shipping samples to us via a service not integrated with LTM, or are sending live animals (with the exception of fish, shipping labels for live animals cannot be generated through LTM), you can still link tracking information to your orders. This will keep all your information one place, and will give the lab contact information, should your shipment be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., inclement weather). This is especially helpful for live animal or other time-sensitive shipments (e.g., bacterial cultures, rush testing requests).
2 1. To start, click on the Sample Shipments tab (1). Your scheduled orders will be listed on this page. Select the order(s) that you want to ship (2), and click the Create Shipment button (3). The Sample Shipment Wizard will open and you will be prompted for the information needed to generate your shipping label.
3 CARRIER 2. To begin, you will be asked for basic information about the carrier, ship date, and type of goods you are sending. First, select the carrier you wish to use from the Carrier drop-down (1). Enter or select the date you wish to ship in the Shipping Date field (2). Select "Other" as the carrier if you are sending your package(s) on your own or via a shipper not listed, to link tracking information to your order(s); this will not generate a prepaid shipping label.
4 3. After you carrier selection has been made, indicate whether or not you are sending live animals, by selecting Yes or No (1). Next, indicate whether or not this shipment contains dangerous goods (2). Please note that dry ice and formalin are classified as dangerous goods. If it does, you will need to certify that the individuals preparing the shipment are appropriately trained (3). In the example below, the shipment will contain dry ice. Finally, click to accept the terms of use for this shipping feature (4) and then click Continue (5).
5 SENDER 4. On this tab, you select or enter your Ship from Address. The first time you come to this page, you will need to add in your shipping information, which will be partially prefilled for you (1). LTM will remember each address you ship from. For future shipments, you can select a previously-used address (2), or edit the fields in the Ship from Address to create a new one. (The very first time you visit this page, you won't have the Select saved contact/address link, since you don't have any, yet.) The Ship to Address (3) will be pre-filled, based on the lab to which you are sending samples, and cannot be edited. Once your Ship from Address is completed or selected, click Continue (4).
6 BOXES 5. On the final step of the wizard, you organize your samples into boxes and specify the shipping conditions (temperature) of each box, as well as the box weight and shipping service (e.g., Ground, Priority Overnight). The left side (1) lists out the samples and sample types in your shipment, based on the sample count and sample types from the selected orders. The right side (2) groups the samples into packages based on the storage conditions. You can go with the recommended shipping strategy, or make changes, as necessary. Once you have configured each package in your shipment, you just print your shipping label(s) and you are ready to go.
7 6. The samples are initially grouped into packages by their sample type and ideal storage condition (ambient, refrigerated, and frozen). In the example below, the samples are separated into two groups: one for samples stored at ambient temperature and one for samples stored frozen.
8 7. For each sample type, any alternate shipping conditions are listed. You can see that the cell line must be kept frozen, while the other three sample types (body swabs, feces, and oral swabs) can be shipped refrigerated, frozen, or at ambient temperature.
9 8. Based on the two ideal shipping conditions, LTM is suggesting the samples are sent in two packages: one at ambient temperature, and one with the sample in dry ice. If this works for you, then you can ship as suggested. In this case, you can skip ahead to step 15.
10 9. However, since all the sample types in the ambient box can also be shipped frozen, it's likely easier to put everything together in a single box.
11 10. You would first remove the Ambient box by clicking Remove. 11. Then, you add the samples into the Frozen box by clicking the gear icon by the number of samples.
12 12. A pop-up window will open, where you can specify the number of each sample type in this box. 13. Select a sample type from the drop-down (1) and click Add (2).
13 14. Repeat for each sample type you want to add. When you have finished, click the Update button to update the package contents. If you forget exactly what you have for sample counts and types, you can always check the left side of the page where everything is listed out for you.
14 15. The last things you need to configure for the package are the service (e.g., Ground, Overnight) and the package weight. To do this, click Configure. 16. In the pop-up, select the service and add in the package weight (you can specify weight in pounds or kilograms). Because the samples are shipping frozen, you are also prompted to enter in the dry ice weight. Once you have finished, click the Save button.
15 17. You should see a message letting you know that your shipment box has been updated (1). If you need to add an additional box, you can click the link to add more (2) and enter in sample types and quantities for the new package in the pop-up. As with the first one, you would then configure the weight and service by clicking Configure for the new package. Since all necessary information has been entered, you can now print the shipping label for your package. First, select the label format form the Label Format drop-down (3). Then, click the Generate Label button (4).
16 18. Available label formats are Laser Printer (1) which prints on an 8.5 x 11-inch letter-size sheet of paper in a regular laser printer, or Thermal Printer (2) which prints on a 4 x 6-inch label. If your institution does a lot of shipping, you may have one of these special thermal shipping label printers; if not, use the Laser Printer option.
17 19. The label file will open and you can print or save it now, or close it for later. Once you do print your label(s), attach them to the package(s), and contact the carrier to arrange for a pick-up or drop them off at an appropriate location for shipping. Be sure to print out and include a hard copy of your order submission form(s) in each package. PLEASE NOTE: You may see "BILL SENDER" or something similar, printed on the label. Since you are creating the labels with our account (via LTM), Charles River is technically the sender, which is why this may appear. Please be assured that Charles River is charged for all shipments set up through LTM.
18 20. If you choose to close it for later, it will remain available for printing on this page. If you see the text Label Created (1), where the Generate Label button was previously displayed, click Print (2) to view/print/save the generated label. If need to make any changes here (e.g., you realize you need an additional box to fit all the samples), go ahead and make them. Once you are all set, click the Finished (3) button.
19 21. On this final confirmation, each package and its contents are listed (1). Make a last check of your sample type counts (2) to make sure everything is correct. If necessary, you can add in a comment to the receiving lab, by clicking Add (3). As a reference, the shipping conditions and sample types are relisted here (4). If you need to go back and make changes, click the Return to Boxes button (5) and make your changes. To print submission forms for the order in this shipment, to include in the package, click the Print Order Submission Forms button (6). To print a shipment manifest, listing out the number of each included sample type, click the Print Shipment Manifest button (7). for If you are all set, click the Finished button (8). 22. And, you're finished!
20 Tracking sample shipments Once FedEx or UPS has picked up your shipment, the status of all orders in the shipment will be Shipped, until they have arrived at the lab, as with the three orders in the shipment just created (1). Once they have been scanned in at the lab, their statuses will be updated to Received, as orders from previous shipments have been updated (2).
21 To view the details or check the status of any shipments, click Sample Shipments (1) and then Shipments (2). The table below describes the information available on this page. Column Information 3 Shipment ID The ID for the shipment. Click on the shipment ID to view shipment details. 4 Shipment Status Status of the shipment. 5 Shipping Date Date the shipment was scheduled. 6 Orders The list of orders in the shipment. 7 Tracking Tracking information (and status) for each box in the shipment. 8 Information icon Hover over the link to see detailed tracking information for that specific box.