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.

Can you do a telelphone transfer? Not all entities will accept one, but if this one does, the transfer is usually posted the same or next day.

Also - remember to get a confirmation number

I watch all the time. Recently I had a package go from Traverse City MI in the northern part of Michigan, it went to Indiana and back to Mi and out to me 2 days later. Now here's another funny one that is much better. I ordered something from about 150 miles from me the day before yesterday and it was here the next morning. You figure.

USPS processes mail/packages through hub sorting/distribution centers. If my family in Denton, TX and I in Dallas, TX send each other anything it goes through Coppell, Texas first. Used to be direct from Dallas to Denton.

The business model with the distribution centers works very well even though it might not make any sense to the rest of us. The logistics and practices enhanced/developed by FedEx in particular have changed the way business is done. Also, the logistics and centralized store houses combined with outside vendors is what Amazon/Jeff Bezos did so well and why that has changed how we buy/get things.

Bear, without getting overly political I can say that I started noticing changes in the post office this past June. I think you would be fine with a standard overnight mailer -- when you use things like the flat rate boxes, tracking is included on your receipt. Back in June although prices on flat right boxes didn't change, there was fine print on the receipt that amounted to "by the way, we are not honoring the guarantee of the extra money you are paying for 3 day shipping will actually happen and it might be 5-7 days". I have been shipping many flat rate express packages and they are mostly (but not all) arriving on time.

Short form (too late!): I think if you do your due diligence on your end and mail in time (so if you mail overnight with 3 days left to get to them), even if the post office is delayed, your check would have to be honored.

Many places now are doing things on-line/direct transfers etc. that never did before. Our Washington State Driver's License agency has a big notice on their page that they didn't want me coming in, even if my license was expired (which it was), even if I had gotten the extension last time (which I did - means I should have gotten vision check and new picture), just click this button here and send them money and they would send me a fresh license.

This was no package but I mailed my water bill on the 7th of the month because it was due the 15th. That allowed eight days to go the 6 miles. The next month late charges were added to my bill! When I called the water board about These late charges they said it wasn’t their fault it didn’t get there in time!

it is not only packages. It is also 1st class mail. When I was in college, my mom would mail me a letter in the post office walking from the bus stop to work, and I would get it that afternoon 160 miles away! Now it would be at least two days, maybe even longer. My absentee ballot took two weeks to go 5 miles, so I dropped it off after voting. Guess e mail dropping the volume of the USPS has had a real effect.

If you need to send money and it's imperative that it arrive by a certain date, wire it through your bank or credit union.

We can order our meds on Monday - they can be in our hands Wednesday. 1500 miles away. Incredible.

Tranum, I think med and med equipment may have dif priority within carriers since they may be date-of-delivery sensitive. No delay with my C-Pap supplies.

Place two orders today with 2 dif vendors I have ordered from in the past so I kinda know when to anticipate delivery...lol

I pay all my monthly bills by check and send through the post office. They all get to where they are going and on time. I don't like banking on computer.

When that happened with my mortgage payment (mailed 10 days before the due date) I started hand-carrying it to the office.

I always track my packages and it is amazing what kind of "out of the way" my items have taken and it takes so much long to get to me.

Noticed that tracking on package from USPS does not give a delivery date but says, "IN TRANSIT, ARRIVING ON TIME." So guess I just have to be patient...lol.

I ordered fabric twice from the UK this month and get this- I got them in a week!

I've had to mail (USPS) two quilts recently - both from N Michigan, one to New Mexico and one to New York. I did 2 day Priority for NM, regular mail for NY. Both arrived in three days. NM is off the beaten path - way south, so that wasn't bad. I didn't track them because they arrived in a reasonable time.

I was reminded of this thread today when I tracked a package ordered through Amazon. I’m in Alaska, the package originated in Ohio and has been routed through Honolulu, Hawaii... It brought me a smile.

Apparently they know what they are doing. As long as we get our packages.

I worked for postal service, it is amazing that anything is delivered. It is better if the labels are printed and not handwritten.

During the pandemic, I have ordered items from the continental USA, Hawaii, Canada, Australia, UK, Italy, Israel, and Ukraine. Most of the routes have not been very surprising, but sometimes, the packages just sat in one place for about a week, usually New York. Perhaps those NY delayed packages were being scrutinized by customs. However, I have had domestic packages sit for a week in California, too. At least all of the packages arrived!

My USPS delivery person seems to be a fanatic about cleanliness. She usually leaves my packages in the middle of my driveway for a good shower on rainy days. I only hope she finds her own packages as clean!

Here we go again. I'm in NM. Package sent from CA to be delivered to me in NM. Just notified it has arrived in TN. Is there anyway I could get frequent flier miles for this? Taking longer for me to be notified packages have been picked up by the carrier. I think the closer it gets to the holidays there may be more and longer delays. I'm ok with this. We give gift cards this year and they all love it,

My friend just told me today about her experience. She made an advent calendar for her grandkids who live 60 miles away, she wanted them to have it by Dec 1 so she mailed it the week before via priority mail. She watched the tracking - it went from her town, to their town, back to her town, back to their town, back to her town. She went to her post office to see if she could catch it before it bounced again, since she was planning on visiting them on Dec 5th. The package was a long, narrow one, with her address at one end and the grandkids' address at the other. When she originally mailed it at the post office, the clerk had stuck the priority mail sticker near her address, and apparently the mailman who delivered on the grandkids' route thought that meant her address was the delivery address, so he kept sending it back. The scanning software knew better, so every time the package hit the main sorting hub in Portland, it would send it back south 60 miles to the grandkids!
Apparently the mailman on the grandkids route never scratched his head and wondered why that package kept coming back....