Use USPS Shipping Method for APO Address Only

Question

How can I enabled USPS Shipping method for APO Addresses Only? I have USPS working fine, however we only want to use it for US military addresses (APO, FPO or DPO) only. Our primary shipping method is UPS which is working fine, however our customers are now selecting USPS address and we are loosing money on those shipping methods.

How can I lock down USPS shipping method to only be an option for APO addresses? Currently in Magento backend there is only options to select Applicable Countries.

Thanks

Answer 1

I used the following code in my ../template/checkout/onepage/shipping_method/available.phtml custom theme template inside the foreach shippingrategroups loop....

USPS and additional shipping methods must be enabled. It forces any APO address to USPS if it finds a city or region code that matches.

         <?php //Added to force USPS for APO
            $address = $this->getAddress();
            $apoStateCodes = array("AE", "AE", "AP");
            $apoCityCodes = array("APO", "FPO", "DPO");

            $regionCode = Mage::getModel('directory/region')->load($address->getRegionId())->getCode();

            $carrierName = strtoupper(str_replace(" ", "", $this->getCarrierName($code)));
            if (in_array($regionCode, $apoStateCodes) || in_array($address->getCity(), $apoCityCodes))
            {
                // IT IS APO, so skip iteration of non-USPS
                if ($carrierName != "USPS")
                {
                    continue;
                }
            }
            else
            {
                // ITS A NORMAL ADDRESS
                if ($carrierName == "USPS")
                {
                    continue;
                }
            }

            /* OLD WAY OF DOING THINGS (only works on PO box)
            if (preg_match("/p\.* *o\.* *box/i", $this->htmlEscape($this->getAddress()->getStreet(1))))
            {
                $carrierName = strtoupper(str_replace(" ", "", $this->getCarrierName($code)));
                if ($carrierName != "UNITEDSTATESPOSTALSERVICE")
                {
                    continue;
                }
            }
            */
         ?>

Answer 2

Use the function proccessAdditionalValidation within your Shipping Carrier Model

This function accepts Mage_Shipping_Model_Rate_Request $request should return false if the method should not be allowed.

You can get the postal code from the request

$request->getDestRegionCode()

I am not sure of the best way to determine if your postal code is acceptable or not short of building an array of them.

For example, here is how I limited USPS to PO Boxes, AK, and HI in a recent project

    public function proccessAdditionalValidation(Mage_Shipping_Model_Rate_Request $request)
{   
    $isPoBox =  preg_match("/p\.* *o\.* *box/i", $request->getDestStreet());

    //PO Box, AK, HI need to be forced to USPS shipping
    if ( ! $isPoBox && $request->getDestCountryId() == 'US' && ! in_array($request->getDestRegionCode(), array('AK', 'HI')) ) {
        return false;
    }                              
    return $this;
}