Summary: The error "Missing or invalid ship to name" usually means the Company Name (or the Contact or Address line) is longer than the carrier allows, often because extra text was added to it. Shorten the Company Name to fit and remove any temporary text.
Problem
A shipment to an address returns:
Missing or invalid ship to name
Often the Company Name had extra text added to it (for example, a temporary-location note), which pushed it past the length the carrier allows. On a UPS Worldwide Express international shipment the message can instead read:
the Sold To field contained an invalid value exceeding the 35-character alphanumeric limit
Cause
Carriers limit the length of the Company Name, Contact, and Address line fields. When the value is too long (often because extra text was added to the name), the carrier rejects it. On an international shipment, a pre-rate rule can copy a too-long Company Name into the Importer, so fixing the shipment by hand does not hold.
How to check: look at the Company Name on the Address Book entry or the ship-to. If it is long or has extra text added, that is likely the cause.
Fix
- Open the Address Book entry, or the ship-to on the shipment.
- Shorten the Company Name to fit the carrier's limit. A good starting point is 35 characters including spaces, and 30 if 35 is still rejected.
- Remove any temporary or extra text added to the name (for example, a seasonal-location note).
- Shorten the Contact and Address lines too if they are long.
- Save and reship. For an international shipment, shorten the Company Name on the Address Book entry itself so the rule copies a valid Importer.
What you should see
The shipment processes without the "Missing or invalid ship to name" error, and the label shows the shortened name.
Related articles
- Address Book entry won't save or import without an Address Book Code