Errant letters and packages aren't new. Back in 1970 DH was in the Marine Corps and we were stationed in Hawaii. An important letter was mailed to us from SoCal. It was postmarked again almost two weeks later in NY, and then took only two more days to reach us in Hawaii.
I signed up online with USPS to receive daily emails to notify me of mail and packages arriving that day. The email even includes a picture of most items in that day's mail. I also check tracking information for every package from USPS, UPS, FedEx, and Amazon. I've found that all have very accurate tracking and arrival estimates, except for FedEx. My favorite is Amazon, which sometimes provides an animated map of my neighborhood when the package gets close by, and I can see exactly where the delivery truck is and chart its progress toward my house.