I don't understand UPS tracking sometimes

masraum · 11-29-2017, 07:30 PM

This seems odd. I've run into this sort of thing before. You just never know if your item is going to leave and then appear to go back (or two depots in the same town?). Sometimes you'll see an item in a location for a few hours and then the next spot may have it for a long time. I have no doubt that it all somehow makes sense and has some sort of algorithm controlling exactly what goes where and when to 99% accuracy.

BeyGon · 11-29-2017, 07:38 PM

we used to ship $250,000 a year, mostly paper work and it never went UPS, always FedEx and always reliable.

legion · 11-29-2017, 07:41 PM

USPS is even worse. Half the time your tracking number won't even show in their system until AFTER delivery.

wildthing · 11-29-2017, 09:06 PM

I have one that says out for delivery today but Amazon already told me it will be delayed until Monday.

WPOZZZ · 11-29-2017, 09:10 PM

Ha! I bought something on Cyber Monday and it said I would receive it on Tuesday. I laughed. Mainland to HNL with free shipping in a day? lol

Now the strange thing about UPS is many times items are shipped from the west coast and they go to Kentucky?, then it comes to HNL.

911_Dude · 11-30-2017, 03:15 AM

Louisville, KY is a major sort hub for UPS. A couple of flights a day direct to HNL, I think.

PorscheGAL · PorscheGAL's Garage

Don't get me started on UPS. This week I have had 4 deliveries, 2 which are tires for the 930, that have been loaded on a truck and out for delivery everyday since Monday. Last night I spent 30 minutes on the phone with UPS and magically 2 of the packages, 1 set of tires and a box, showed up at 830. No idea where the other tires and box are but the system says they are on a truck and out for delivery.

Arizona_928 · 11-30-2017, 04:21 AM

Prescott Valley.... That's out of the way unless it went ground.

Need more info though. Is it coming from northern az, then trucked down to Phoenix to catch a flight?

masraum · 11-30-2017, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeyGon

we used to ship $250,000 a year, mostly paper work and it never went UPS, always FedEx and always reliable.

I rarely ship anything. I do order stuff, but obviously not nearly as much as you used to ship. I rarely have issues with packages not arriving at all. And the shipping estimates by FedEx and UPS are usually pretty spot on. Most issues that I've had are either due to how something was packed or possibly weather related delays or maybe if it's the busy season and the UPS guy gets here to deliver after the office is closed when they can't get into the building so they come back the next day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

USPS is even worse. Half the time your tracking number won't even show in their system until AFTER delivery.

Yeah, the USPS tracking is moderate at best. It does seem to have gotten better, but it's still not as good as UPS & FE

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildthing

I have one that says out for delivery today but Amazon already told me it will be delayed until Monday.

I do occasionally get some weird crossed messages from delivery and Amazon. Usually, that's because the delivery is coming via the Amazon Delivery Service vs UPS or FedEx.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

Ha! I bought something on Cyber Monday and it said I would receive it on Tuesday. I laughed. Mainland to HNL with free shipping in a day? lol

Now the strange thing about UPS is many times items are shipped from the west coast and they go to Kentucky?, then it comes to HNL.

Wow, that would be impressive! Weird that the packages travel so far in the opposite direction though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

Prescott Valley.... That's out of the way unless it went ground.

Need more info though. Is it coming from northern az, then trucked down to Phoenix to catch a flight?

Yeah, this is UPS ground, and the business that I ordered from is in Prescott.

john70t · 07:39 AM

Keeping the airplanes/semis full to reduce trips/fuel costs/employees/permits/etc?
Or a hub is down for maintinence?

It's probably like computer memory with collecting vs distributing along various pathways.

VincentVega · 11-30-2017, 07:51 AM

When I worked there years ago in college half the house was the hub and half was for local delivery. Each time a package crossed a belt/side of the house it was scanned. Say what you will about their issues but seeing the scale and quantity of packages, especially this time of year, I'm still impressed how much they process.

CurtEgerer · CurtEgerer's Garage

I ordered a silicone strap for a dive watch last Weds on Amazon for $17 shipped. 2-day shipping so it should've arrived last Fri. It's become comical. It's gone from an Amazon warehouse in the Orlando area to UPS in Miami area, then to UPS in Orlando, then to UPS in Lake Wales FL (only 45 minutes from my house), then all the way to UPS in Toledo OH area

and today back south to Jacksonville FL

Where will it go tomorrow .... ?

We normally have excellent UPS service here.

CurtEgerer · CurtEgerer's Garage

The package arrived in Longwood, FL at 5:51AM this morning and left 2 minutes later.

I could cancel the order, but at this point the entertainment is greater than the value of the strap .....

masraum · 09-06-2025, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

The package arrived in Longwood, FL at 5:51AM this morning and left 2 minutes later.

I could cancel the order, but at this point the entertainment is greater than the value of the strap .....

If it's still bouncing around, it'll probably arrive eventually. When it is more likely to be a problem is when it seems to stop moving. (whether UPS, USPS, or FedEx) That's when I think it's lost, although I've had 2 items that seemed to stop moving that showed up a week later.

The most recent for me (in Aug) was coming via FedEx. It arrived in Pennsylvania or Colorado or someplace like that, and then no updates for at least a week. Then one morning I got an email, "out for delivery". WHen I went back to check the tracking progress there was nothing between where it stopped and then "arrived at destination" followed by "out for delivery". I had another similar delivery back in Jun or July.

These days, UPS is generally the most accurate for me. USPS is pretty good, but a little off. And FedEx seems to be the worst, so much so, that most of the time they don't even tell me when they think something will be delivered. Most of the time is says something like "delivery estimate when the item starts moving" despite them showing it at 2 or 3 different locations.