I have a handful packages on the way right now and a few more that were delivered over the past week. All originating in the US with a destination in the US (my US address).

1x FedEx Ground
3x USPS
5x UPS

My comments stand regarding these recent items. It has nothing to do with me being in Canada. The FedEx item in this case didn't go to Memphis.

Much of the information from FedEx and UPS is useless, regardless of where the package actually is. That's because the information isn't necessarily about the package, but about the paperwork. You can get a lot of apparent detail sometimes but it is not an indication of where you package is. I've seen this far too many times with FedEx. A ton of tracking activity and at the end, only TWO line items were actually about the package. The other 5-10 were about the paperwork or electronic data associated with the package.

The most useful piece of tracking information is the resting location when a package is delayed. For premium service from UPS and FedEx you will know when the package is scheduled for delivery, so unless you also like to watch paint dry, you may as well not sit there watching the tracking information. If the package doesn't show up, that's a whole other story. And like FedEx and UPS, you better believe that I've always seen timely updates with the USPS tracking info.

If you want to talk about useless tracking info, then that's Canada Post Expedited service. I send out a few thousand packages a year, and the only package losses have been expedited tracked service within Canada. They had no clue where the items went. No record of anyone signing for them, no record of delivery. Just vanished. Even those that are delivered don't get listed as such often for days.

With USPS I can see right away when something has been delivered and who has signed for it. Someone else signs at my US address and the update happens very quickly.

Anyway, I think this was brought up as a comparison to healthcare because someone thought a private for-profit organization could do it better. To that I say bullshit. You'd be paying crazy rates just like with FedEx and UPS. The only way not to pay crazy rates with them is through volume. Then the rates can be ridiculously cheap by comparison.

When ordering US to US I'm indifferent about the carrier as long as the price is right. When doing cross-border I prefer USPS by a long shot for most items. FedEx comes in second and UPS is an absolute never.