... please chime in here and let me know who you are, because I need advice from others who are "in the know".

Thank you!

I am somewhat familiar with the Canadian system, what do you need to know.

I ship to the UK

I recently mailed two packages to Canada.

I printed the postage and customs forms from my Stamps.com online account. Both sent as large envelopes, so i only needed the simple customs form.

I took one to the Post Office. The other I handed to my mail carrier on the 24th.

I don't know whether he scanned it in his truck or once he got it back to the PO.

I just went online and input the tracking number of the package i handed over to the carrier. I know it left Jacksonville, FL (which is two hours south of here) on the 24th, headed for Canada. there's no additional information (yet?).

I have shipped many items internationally, what is your question?

I have shipped to Germany through the US mail system on base.

My question of the day is... if you print your postage online, are you able to get an acceptance scan of your package?

That's the scan that shows that the package has left your hands, and is now with the shipper.

It's my feeling that this scan is of great value to the addressee, because they can see that the package has actually been shipped (as opposed to just that a label has been created).

If you are getting an acceptance scan, how is that happening? Is your carrier scanning it upon pickup? Are you taking it down to the Post Office and are they scanning it there? Do you have to buy extra services (such as insurance) in order for them to be able to scan it?

This question just pertains to international packages, not domestic ones (which are apparently processed differently).

The customs forms I use have the code already on them for tracking. The biggest concern for me is when USPS fails to scan the package thru ANY of the hubs & processing centers.

Even though I was lucky with one package & it was delivered, according to USPS the item is still sitting in the original office.

Our postmaster told me yesterday that the customs number is just that, a number that Customs uses, and not a tracking number. However... that same number has always functioned for tracking before (to the extent that tracking is available for the item). Since the first of the year, though, the number of scans that the packages receive has been spotty at best.

All I can say is don't trust the PO for those scans. I had something shipped to me within the US....the tracking site kept saying the shipper hadn't shipped it yet. I finally went in and wrote a letter to the shipper asking what's up. Went to the PO Box about 2 hours later and it was there! I came home and looked, and sure enough, it didn't show it had been shipped.