We should probably have a pet health care bill too, afterall it is a right.

Stu

Heh, I certainly wouldn't mind. Pet health insurance is pretty expensive. Too bad my cats are too damn lazy to get a job

The Constitution doesn't grant rights to pets, but it does grant rights to people. Cogent arguments can be made for or against the idea that access to affordable health insurance is one of those rights, but it's not like this idea materialized out of thin air.

In my recent experience, USPS tracking is just as useful as that of UPS and FedEx. In fact, plenty of USPS packages are actually trackable through teh FedEx site since they have a contract in place to offload some deliveries. This is for some 30 packages in the past 6 months between FedEx, USPS and UPS. What you're complaining about with USPS also frequently happens with FedEx or UPS. The reason you may sometimes notice more information for FedEx is because there are usually more hops along the way, because a lot of packages get re-routed to their Memphis hub, adding extraneous and totally useless tracking information to the list.

Anyway, the tracking information for all carriers differs depending on what service standard/option is picked. And IMO, the service options with FedEx or UPS are just as confusing, if not moreso than any with USPS or Canada Post.

OK, here is the final tracking list, from shipping info to delivery.

1) Shipping info received
2) Package received by USPS 3/18/2010 at 3:52 in Laredo, Tx
3) Package sorted 3/20/2010 at 3:37 pm in Anchorage, AK
4) Package arrived 3/22/2010 at 4:06 am in Fairbanks, AK
5) Package delivered to recipient 3/22/2010 at 8:37 am in Fairbanks, AK

At any time in the process I could have spent 26 seconds to find out the exact current progress, but did not need to do so because I received emails at each step along the way. (I won't check that box again, though, it is distracting to have my mailbox loaded up with all those messages!)

How much more information do you need or would even be useful? I can't imagine that knowing the VIN # of the vehicle carrying the package, or the shoe size of the driver would be helpful. You know when and where the package entered the system, when it arrived at [the only] two intermediate stops on the way, and when it was delivered. I was notified by email four hours after it was in the hands of the recipient. Am I missing something here?

USPS provides service comparable (or superior to) the competition at a fraction (less than 1/10th in this case) of the cost, yet people just take it for granted that because it is associated with the Government it is no good.

I confess I have difficulty understanding this attitude.

tanstaafl.

Bruno, out of curiosity, are you and Doug speaking from the experience of sending packages, or receiving them?

All I know is, with the least expensive shipping methods available to me between USPS, FedEx, and UPS after ordering from an online store, I have never once had USPS give me any tracking information that was at all useful. It essentially just tells me that it's delivered, which, hopefully, I already know. You may have different experiences, and Bruno, maybe you're seeing something different because you're in Canada using USPS, but I'm telling you the facts of what I've seen. It's not "sometimes," it's every single friggin' time.

My apologies, Bitt for veering off-topic...

*edit*

I'm assuming you're aiming this at several people, but I wanted to be clear that this is not AT ALL why I dislike USPS. I dislike them because I think their service is worse.

Although, frankly, my main dislike of them is for receiving packages, which is what I do far more often. With the ability to send Amazon orders anywhere I want, I just don't send any packages anymore. If I did, I'd probably use USPS.

The fact remains, though, that with EVERY SINGLE THING I've ever ordered online, when it shipped USPS the tracking is non-existant.

Is your assumption that packages sent through USPS are flown directly to their destination?


While I will agree that that additional travel is "extraneous and totally useless", when it happens, the information is not. If the information indicates where the package is, it is not useless information, even if it's useless for the package to be there.

Thanks, Bitt. I felt bad about helping to take that thread off-off-topic.

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.

USPS Priority mail is shipped via commercial airline flights. If you don't believe me watch all the packages go into the plain with Priority mail labels on them next time you fly. So they are actually shipped much faster than commercial companies that insist on sending everything through a hub. Also I think people are missing something the USPS does not offer tracking they offer Delivery Confirmation Nowhere do they state that the Delivery Confirmation numbers is tracking. The only time that number is updated is when it goes through a PO sort facility or gets delivered. Some people may live in areas where the packages never go through sort facilities they just get off the plane and go straight to your door.

You got lucky or maybe I am unlucky I never get good tracking info from USPS. I have had a package failed to be delivered, they leave no notice, website still says it's someplace besides where I am. Package ends up being at the local post office.

The only thing I get now is junk mail and letters from the government (like the thing telling me I have to pay property taxes I just got). All my bills are electronic. I go to a lot of businesses and when I see them have to send an important package they use UPS or Fedex. USPS is pretty much for stuff I don't need.

You know, I really should have thought through my entire order history. I've had annoyances with all the carriers.

Today, for instance. We ordered a Kindle for my wife on Saturday. We have Amazon Prime, so we chose 1-day shipping. Of course we didn't expect it to come on Monday, but I think we have a reasonable expectation for it to arrive on Tuesday.

Well, I completely rearranged my schedule to be home all day today (I didn't want it sitting outside - we live in a condo complex). At 5pm my wife checked her tracking status, and it stated that a delivery attempt was made at 2pm. BULL***T!! There have been no tags placed on my door today, and I would have heard them knock on the door. ARGH!

So yeah, we'll be asking Amazon to refund our shipping. Fortunately they're usually very good about that.

ps- my apologies, this has almost nothing to do with the topic at hand. I just had to rant...

On the other hand, I've occasionally gotten UPS-delivered Amazon Prime packages on Saturdays, without even paying for overnight, much less Saturday delivery. UPS is just weird.

I cannot believe that I forgot to mention that this was shipped out via FedEx. Blame where blame is due!

I haven't had any issues when Prime items were sent UPS. It's usually very good.

One thing puzzles me about Prime, though. In the last 6 months or so they added an even more expedited option to have the package delivered same day!. The only problem is that you have to be pretty near an Amazon warehouse. The thing that bugs me is that my mom gets it with her account (which is though my Prime account), but my wife and I don't, even though we only live about 9 miles from her, and just about the same distance from DC. I've emailed Amazon about it, and they responded that they'd look into it, but I didn't hear anything further. Oh well, it's not the end of the world.

Occasionally I feel bad about my need for instant gratification

If anyone is rocking Mac OS or iPhone/iPod, take a look at Delivery Status. A very nice program (a widget in Mac OS) to track packages from pretty much every carrier as well as some shops like Amazon without having to specify the carrier.

You can name each delivery you're tracking and also set a number of options including how often to update the status. You can also sync the details with the developer's site which then allows you to pull back the info onto your other devices.

I've known about it for a long time, but just started using it today mostly because of the discussion we've had here. Very handy when you have a handful of things arriving. Especially if they're not arriving at your current location - I have to know when to drive down to my US mailbox to pick up a batch of stuff for instance.

Yeah, I've looked for a good one for Android before and didn't find a decent app. It's been a long while though, so I'll check again...

Here's a timely comparison of data provided on the status pages for both UPS and USPS, obtained just a minute ago, for packages sent out two days ago.

UPS Package:


USPS Package:


The UPS' three lines of details are all at the same facility. While the USPS information isn't tabular, it does provide more usable/useful detail in this case. To be fair, the UPS package does include an expected delivery date (not shown) while the USPS one doesn't. I can guestimate it will be delivered tomorrow however, because the package is already sitting at the local facility.

That's wonderful for you. However, you seem to be missing the point. I have never once seen that information for a package that was shipped to me via USPS. I have not doubted that you see it, but I have not.

As for the UPS information, see Bitt's comment above. Who cares if there's extraneous information? It's better than no information, which as I keep repeating I never get from USPS.

Sorry, I just don't know what to tell you. I don't know what's different about the shipments I receive, but there must be something.

Question: which shipping level is that USPS shipment? How much did it cost to ship that? How about the UPS package?

The USPS is "Priority Mail" - only some products feature this type of confirmation.

The UPS is Ground service. I have no idea how much the actual costs are because they're purchases which no doubt had handling factored into their shipping prices - or the shipping was free, I can't actually remember right now which order cost how much.

I don't think anyone is trying to tell you that you see anything different than what you've mentioned. Just trying to show you that USPS does offer some information and it can be quite useful.

I'm expecting a package today that I ordered with USPS shipping, and it has actually had useful tracking info throughout the process. And it's "only" first-class mail (albeit with Delivery Confirmation).


And that data was actually updated in more-or-less real time.

Maybe someone is actually working on improving the system.