UPS rejects a shipment when the ship-to street address line is too long. UPS limits each address line to about 35 characters including spaces, so an address of 36 or more characters is refused even though it looks fine. Shorten Address Line 1, or move the overflow onto Address Line 2.

Problem

Shipments to some addresses are rejected until you shorten the street address (for example, removing a word from the street name, or putting just the number on Address Line 1 and the street on Address Line 2). It happens with UPS.

Cause

UPS sets a maximum length on each address line. When Address Line 1 is over that limit (about 35 characters per line including spaces; the printed label is also limited to about 35), UPS rejects the request. The address only goes through after you remove enough characters to fall under the limit.

How to check: Count the characters in Address Line 1 for the rejected ship-to. If it is 36 or more including spaces, this is the cause.

Fix

  1. Check the length of Address Line 1 for the rejected ship-to.
  2. Shorten Address Line 1 to within the UPS per-line limit (a working figure is about 35 characters including spaces).
  3. Move any overflow (suite, building, extra street words) to Address Line 2 instead of deleting information you need.
  4. Re-save the address and reprocess the shipment.
  5. If the same address ships often, fix it in the Address Book so the shorter form is reused.

What you should see

The shipment processes once Address Line 1 is within the limit, and the full address still prints across Address Line 1 and Address Line 2.

Also on batch uploads

The same limit can show on a batch upload as "Missing or invalid ship to address line 1", even when Address 1 is filled in, when the value (often a long company name placed in Address 1) is over the carrier's per-field limit. Shipstore sets no limit of its own; the limit is carrier-specific and varies by carrier and field (FedEx documents about 35 characters). Shorten Address Line 1 or move the overflow to Address Line 2.

Related articles

  • UPS Address Max Length
  • 'Missing or invalid ship to name' from a too-long Company Name