Becoming a Courier¶

This guide walks you through the courier application process on Shiphustle. You will fill out a company details form, accept all required agreements, and submit your application for admin review.

Prerequisites¶

You have a registered Shiphustle account (email verified)
You do not already have a pending or approved courier application
You know which destination country you want to serve

Info

If you are already an approved courier and want to add another country, see the Country Expansion guide. Expansion applications use the same form but extend your existing organization rather than creating a new one.

Steps¶

Step 1: Open the Courier Application form¶

From the home screen, navigate to the Courier Application option. If you have previously submitted an application that was rejected, the form will pre-fill your previous details so you can correct and resubmit.

Step 2: Complete the Company Details section¶

Fill in the following required fields:

Field	Description
Company Name	Your registered business name
Country	The destination country you want to deliver to

Step 3: Provide Public Contact Details¶

These details are visible to customers on your courier profile:

Field	Required	Description
Contact Phone	Yes	Primary phone number for customer enquiries
Contact Email	Yes	Email address shown on your courier profile
WhatsApp Number	No	Optional WhatsApp number (e.g. +27 81 234 5678)
Website / Tracking URL	No	Optional link to your website or tracking portal

Step 4: Provide Internal Contact Details¶

These details are only visible to platform administrators:

Field	Required	Description
Supervisor Name	Yes	Name of the person managing courier operations
Supervisor Phone	Yes	Direct phone number for the supervisor
Supervisor Email	No	Email address for the supervisor

Step 5: Accept all Courier Agreements¶

You must accept all six agreements before submission. Each agreement is a checkbox that you must tick:

SA Depot — You confirm that your company operates a physical depot in South Africa where goods can be received.
Customs Clearance — You agree to handle all customs clearance and border paperwork for exported goods.
Export Documents — You agree to upload waybills, customs declarations, and proof of delivery for every shipment.
Import VAT — You agree to pay import VAT on behalf of the customer at the destination border using funds provided.
Export Deadline — You agree to ensure goods leave South Africa within the configured deadline (default 30 days) of receipt at your depot.
Information Accuracy — You confirm that all information provided in the application is true and accurate.

Warning

All six agreements must be accepted. The Submit button will not proceed if any agreement is unchecked, and you will see a message: "You must accept all agreements to proceed."

Step 6: Submit the application¶

Tap Submit Application. The system validates all required fields and agreements, then creates your application with a pending status.

Application Types¶

There are two types of courier applications:

Initial — Your first application. On approval, a new courier organization is created for you with the selected country as your first operating territory.
Expansion — Submitted when an approved courier wants to add a new destination country. On approval, the new country is added to your existing organization. See Country Expansion for details.

Result¶

After successful submission:

Your application status is set to pending
All platform administrators receive a notification about your new application
You are redirected to the home screen
You cannot submit another application while one is pending or approved

Status Lifecycle¶

Your application follows this lifecycle:

pending → approved
        → rejected (with reason)

Pending — Your application is awaiting admin review. You will see a message that you already have a pending application if you return to the form.
Approved — An admin has approved your application. Your courier organization is created (initial) or extended (expansion), and you gain access to the courier configuration hub.
Rejected — An admin has declined your application with a reason. The rejection reason is visible to you. You may submit a new application after reviewing the feedback.

Note

If your application is rejected, the form will pre-fill your previous answers when you return, allowing you to update and resubmit without re-entering everything.

Troubleshooting¶

Issue	Cause	Solution
"You already have a pending application" message	You have an existing application in pending or approved status	Wait for admin review, or contact support if you believe this is an error
Submit button shows spinner but nothing happens	Network connectivity issue	Check your internet connection and try again
"Company name is required" validation error	Company name field is empty	Enter your registered business name
"Country is required" validation error	No country selected from dropdown	Select your target destination country
"Contact phone is required" error	Contact phone field is empty	Enter your primary contact phone number
"Enter a valid email address" error	Email format is invalid	Check the email address format (e.g. name@example.com)
"You must accept all agreements to proceed"	One or more agreement checkboxes are unchecked	Review and tick all six agreement checkboxes