Package on a field trip
 

I know vendors have no control when they give packages to a shipping company. I ordered from Quilt in a Day and am able to track the package. Just love watch the shipping process thru USPS. Now get a load of this. I live in NM. QIAD is in southern Ca. Noticed this morning my package is in Portland, Or!!! Second time package has traveled north before going east. Do you track your packages when you can?

A few years back, I sent a package to Dorris, CA., which is less than 2 hours from where I live, it went all over the place and finally arrived 2 weeks later. LOL

I do, and when I was buying vintage sewing machines, they sometimes would take rather amazing routes.

I did have a small package get stuck in the system once, I was going between two automated sorting sites, and for what ever reason they kept routing it between them. I called about it and the person said she'd flag the package so that it would kick out and then they could manually route it correctly. She said if I had not called, it would have just kept going back and forth.

Almost no shipping is point to point whether it is USPS, UPS, or FedEx. They go from the pickup location to one or more distribution center then finally to your local spot. i have ordered Accuquilt things that are from Omaha, 5 hours west of my house. They generally go to Illinois 5 hours east of my house then to the nearest distribution center which is the town next to me,

Canoe Pam is right. I have an online business and lately besides the above, shipping has been erratic.

Is it more likely to get to the destination if you ship it USPS Priority Express Mail? They say it is guaranteed overnight (1 to 2 business days) & yes, you have to pay more than USPS Priority Mail. I'm going to have to send a check in the mail next week & it has to be to it's destination within 5 business days. What's the solution to this?

Having to mail a check is very iffy. I would do a bank transfer of funds. All banks do that now and it's instant, safe, and no stress.

One by one...you're right. DH was out of state and I had to get $$ to him. Brought my check to his bank, not cash, and he had it instantly. His bank verified cash available to transfer funds. You can even to this electronic transfer from your computer but I'm not savey. DH has wired $$ to DD in WI. So easy and so safe.

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.