AI Predictive Delivery Date

Introduction

Most couriers give a delivery estimate, but not all of them. And when they do, the estimate is often set once and never changed, even after a delay.

The AI Predictive Delivery Date is Ship24's own estimate. It is available for almost every courier we track, it is a date range rather than a single date, and it updates as your parcel moves.

It is a paid add-on, and you get it in addition to the courier's own estimate.

Why you might want it

Courier estimates have two problems.

Many couriers do not provide one at all. This is common with smaller couriers and with postal services.

When they do, it often does not change. The courier sets a date when the parcel is collected. If the parcel is then delayed in customs or at a sorting centre, the date usually stays the same. Your customer sees a date that has already passed, and contacts you.

The AI Predictive Delivery Date is available for almost every courier, and it is recalculated as the parcel moves. If the parcel is delayed, the estimate moves with it.

How it works

Ship24 has tracked over a billion parcels. We use that history to work out how long a delivery usually takes.

For each shipment we look at the courier, the origin country, the destination country, the stage the parcel has reached, and other parameters. From past deliveries that match, we calculate how much longer your parcel is likely to take.

The result is a date range. A range is more honest than a single date, because delivery times always vary.

The estimate is recalculated each time your parcel reaches a new stage, such as In Transit or Out For Delivery. This is what allows it to react to delays.

Two more things make the result realistic:

Delivery hours. We only give estimates within the hours that courier actually delivers in that country, so you never see an estimate in the middle of the night.
Public holidays. Days when the courier does not deliver are skipped.

The delivery data behind the estimate is refreshed regularly, so the estimates improve over time.

Where we have enough data for your exact route, we use it. Where we do not, we use how that courier performs overall. Either way you get an estimate.

Courier coverage

The AI Predictive Delivery Date works for almost every courier we track. There is no list to check and nothing to enable per courier.

The only requirement is that we have tracked enough parcels with that courier to make a reliable estimate. In practice this means two kinds of courier are not covered yet:

Very small couriers, where we simply do not see enough parcels
Couriers added to Ship24 recently, where we have not yet built up enough delivery history

Coverage grows on its own. As we track more parcels with a courier, estimates start appearing without you doing anything.

Which plans include it

The AI Predictive Delivery Date is a paid add-on. You can add it to Tracking API Pro or Tracking Solution Pro. It is not available on Free or Essential plans.

The price depends on how many shipments your plan includes. See Ship24 pricing and plans explained for the price at each level.

Where you can see it

Once the add-on is active, the AI Predictive Delivery Date appears in:

Your Shipment Dashboard, in the shipment details and in the Delivery column of the list
Your CSV export
The Tracking API, in the aiPredictiveDeliveryDate field
Your webhook messages
Your Branded Tracking Page
Your Delivery Notifications

When both estimates exist, you see both. In the shipment list, the courier's estimate is shown first, and the AI Predictive Delivery Date is shown when the courier has not given one.

How to get a better estimate

The origin and destination countries matter. They are two of the main things we use to find comparable past deliveries.

Couriers do not always tell us the countries. When you provide them yourself, we use what you provide. So adding the origin country and the destination country when you create a tracker gives you a better estimate.

The same information also improves your tracking results in general. See how to create a good shipment tracker.

When it is not available

An estimate is not always possible. In the API, the aiPredictiveDeliveryDate field is null in these cases:

The parcel has not reached the Info Received stage yet. Before that, there is nothing to base an estimate on
The courier is very small, or was added recently, so we do not have enough delivery history yet
The parcel has already been delivered, so no estimate is needed

A missing estimate is not an error. It means we do not have enough data to give you one we trust, and we would rather give you nothing than a bad estimate.

Next steps

To understand the stages a parcel passes through, see understanding shipment delivery statuses. For the other add-ons available on Pro plans, see Ship24 pricing and plans explained.

Updated on: 07/09/2026

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