Fedex and Amazon on line tracking

[Lakewood90712]

Has FEDEX split into two ? I had two orders from Amazon to get here Friday. One from UPS got here , the other was sent via Fedex , not arrived. No Worries, maybe the Fedex will come saturday or monday.

Heres the rub. Amazon says both were delivered on friday, the Fedex website says it was delivered friday . I called Fedex, spoke to an actual live body. was told not delivered, due to weather. OK was pouring rain yesterday , I understand. I don't understand the computer systems at Fedex and Amazon , using an assumed delivery schedule , and posting untrue info.

I guess Fedex has been taken over by dumb-ass management trying to game things to show 100% "results", even if untrue. Another once great U.S. company being dumbed down.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm in a similar situation with two packages in progress, one from each carrier.

On Fedex, the package is routed to my post office and then in the regular post office sorting.

The UPS is on the way directly to me.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Delivered at the post office for the so called "Last Mile" by postal delivery. That sounds about right, and I don't have a beef with that , as long as the co. doesn't lie about it.

But fedex on the phone telling me it is delayed by weather , and not yet delivered, and on-line tracking delivery detail says delivered 'left at front door".

 

[easysurfer]

I think by far UPS is the most accurate with tracking updates.

The post office is better then years past but still times I might already have the package in hand and the status says not yet delivered for the entire night.

For me, Fedex is better than USPS, but not a accurate as UPS.

 

[ziggy29]

The post office is better then years past but still times I might already have the package in hand and the status says not yet delivered for the entire night.

Especially for the hand-held scanners used by carriers and those that are used in smaller post offices, the scans that the clerks take do not update the online tracking status in real time. They are stored in the scanner until they are uploaded to "the system" when the charger is docked. Sometimes the scanner is only docked at the end of a day. Perhaps at some point these scanners will be replaced by real-time wireless technologies that transmits the scan as soon as it is taken, but not yet.

 

[tinlizzy]

For UPS, there are logistical scans and real scans. Logistical scans are, for example, a scan of the barcode on a semi trailer/railcar/airplane igloo full of packages that a particular package should be in. The real scan is a scan of the actual package. The tracking info John Q. Public sees doesn't allow him to tell the difference. The logistical scan and the real scan have to be reconciled. Damage and weather exceptions frequently cause the two scans to be different temporarily.

Lakewood - weather exceptions can happen anywhere along the route the package is traveling, not just where you are. I delivered a lot of packages this week that were held up in the southern states.

I'm guessing that the front door delivery status is one of those "logistical" entries where the package should have been delivered if everything had gone as planned but it was delayed by weather - which is what the carrier told you. It's not a lie - it's just that the carrier can view the real information on your package that has yet to be reconciled with the logistical information.

Deliveries companies are not going to allow millions of people to access internal data 24/7 so "pretend" tracking data based on how the package should travel and the time it will take, updated by real data, is what they provide.

 

[FIREd]

One of my Amazon packages shipped via UPS has been stuck in Hodgkins, IL for many days now, due to "weather or natural disaster". Don't know what happened in Illinois over the past week, but it must be really bad - or they are just making stuff up.

 

[Ready]

I believe we are talking about "Fedex Smartpost" where the post office delivers the last mile. My experience with Amazon is that they frequently show the package as being delivered when it has not been. I believe they are referring to it being delivered to the post office, not my front door. Perhaps they make an assumption that there will be no more than one day of delay between when Fedex drops it off at the post office and when I get it, and they mark it delivered based on a forecasted delivery date and time.

So far I've only had the post office lose one Amazon package of mine. I reported it to Amazon and they shipped a replacement via Fedex overnight Saturday delivery - no post office involvement. It got there just fine, and Amazon made it effortless to fix my problem.

I do often place orders on Saturday and have them delivered by the post office on Sunday. So you can't beat that! And, I'm pleased to see that we have found something useful for the Post Office to do, now that nobody wants to use them for plain old regular mail. I hope it works out well for both Amazon and the USPS.

 

[zinger1457]

I don't really understand the benefits (to me or the deliverers) of handing off to USPS for the last mile, it seems to be happening more and more now. When UPS hands a package off to USPS I end up getting the package a day later than if UPS had delivered it to the house. And since UPS is making deliveries in my neighborhood everyday what's the point in handing it off.

 

[bUU]

I don't really understand the benefits (to me or the deliverers) of handing off to USPS for the last mile

It costs less. USPS is going to visit every address, regardless, so they charge less than it would cost to send a truck out to that address special.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Update: Called Amazon, or I should say they called me within 20 seconds when I put in my phone # on the contact us tab ( hard to find). Got a live body, at a US call center.........They called Fedex......... The Local Fedex depot called me in about 5 minutes, said records show delivered at my location, by Fedex Express, not Fedex Ground, or a Post office hand off delivery, so it is now listed as missing........... Amazon asked if I they should send a replacement immediately, I told Amazon the let Fedex look for 5 days before sending a replacement. I didn't relaize with amazon prime , they automaticallly ship 2nd day air free, unless you check standard shipping....So it will turn out ok , either way......Looks like with amazon prime, you get actual real customer service on the phone when you call .

 

[ziggy29]

I believe we are talking about "Fedex Smartpost" where the post office delivers the last mile. My experience with Amazon is that they frequently show the package as being delivered when it has not been. I believe they are referring to it being delivered to the post office, not my front door. Perhaps they make an assumption that there will be no more than one day of delay between when Fedex drops it off at the post office and when I get it, and they mark it delivered based on a forecasted delivery date and time.

Pretty much, and UPS Surepost works the same way. The USPS walks the package for the "last mile" as they call it, to enable UPS to "deliver" into areas where their trucks don't normally otherwise deliver. I assume UPS has some status to indicate arrival at the post office (the postal clerk accepting them signs for the bundle of parcel, and then the postal clerk scans the parcels as having arrived at the unit).

 

[ziggy29]

I don't really understand the benefits (to me or the deliverers) of handing off to USPS for the last mile, it seems to be happening more and more now. When UPS hands a package off to USPS I end up getting the package a day later than if UPS had delivered it to the house. And since UPS is making deliveries in my neighborhood everyday what's the point in handing it off.

UPS does not have the infrastructure to deliver to every address in the country, no matter where and no matter how remote. USPS is already required to do that, so UPS contracts with USPS to provide that "last mile" service.

As for UPS delivering to your house already so using Surepost doesn't seem to make sense, it could also be a matter of shipper preferences or that the shipper prefers to send the parcels out for delivery at their local post office (which would be "first mile" as well). In that situation, UPS would pick up the parcels from the shipper's post office and then send them on their way. (This happens in my neighborhood, too -- we get both direct-to-door UPS deliveries and Surepost deliveries through USPS.)

 

[easysurfer]

Update: Called Amazon, or I should say they called me within 20 seconds when I put in my phone # on the contact us tab ( hard to find). Got a live body, at a US call center.........They called Fedex......... The Local Fedex depot called me in about 5 minutes, said records show delivered at my location, by Fedex Express, not Fedex Ground, or a Post office hand off delivery, so it is now listed as missing........... Amazon asked if I they should send a replacement immediately, I told Amazon the let Fedex look for 5 days before sending a replacement. I didn't relaize with amazon prime , they automaticallly ship 2nd day air free, unless you check standard shipping....So it will turn out ok , either way......Looks like with amazon prime, you get actual real customer service on the phone when you call .

Gotta like Amazon Prime. Even if the yearly subscription goes up like talked about, my plan is to keep it.

 

[ziggy29]

I bought a $300 stationary exercise bike through Amazon Prime last year. It was sent FedEx and marked as delivered on the scheduled day, but I never received it. I called FedEx to start an inquiry and called Amazon to let them know -- and they asked if I wanted another one sent out! I asked them to wait a couple days, not wanting to deal with a return of such a big, bulky and heavy item if the first one showed up in the next couple days.

It turns out they delivered to a porch on 1234 EAST So-And-So Street instead of 1234 WEST So-And-So Street. The next day, the FedEx driver picked it up and brought it here.

But I was surprised they were ready to ship out another $300 item so quickly, before the FedEx investigation was ever finished.

 

[SteveNU]

Had a good experience with them just a few days ago. We ordered a hat and they sent the wrong one. I went online to customer service and dropped them a quick email. Within 15 minutes they had processed a full refund and sent me a shipping label to send the item back. I found the hat elsewhere on Amazon on ordered it again Thursday evening, it arrived Friday evening.

The next day I went to the DMV just to remind myself that not every place has great customer service

 

[tinlizzy]

UPS does not have the infrastructure to deliver to every address in the country, no matter where and no matter how remote.

They do. UPS and FedEx are fully capable of getting everywhere in the US, everyday. It's just not profitable and the USPS isn't really equipped to sort and transport boxes.

But I was surprised they were ready to ship out another $300 item so quickly, before the FedEx investigation was ever finished.

The handhelds and delivery vehicles are on GPS. The exact location where I parked and the exact location where I scanned the package has a GPS stamp. It's easy to find a misdelivered box now.

GPS does alert me if I'm at the wrong address but if I'm close (one street off), it doesn't alert. Occasionally GPS is wrong also. I have one address where GPS shows that I've left the package in the wooded ravine behind the house.

 

[travelover]

UPS does not have the infrastructure to deliver to every address in the country, no matter where and no matter how remote. USPS is already required to do that, so UPS contracts with USPS to provide that "last mile" service. ..........

I've received items from both FedEx and SmartPost (FedEx via USPS) on the same day. Gotta believe the same would be true with UPS

 

[Lakewood90712]

FOUND ! The rain let up for a few hours today , so I went snooping around. A couple of houses down the street. Must have been raining so hard the driver couldnt see the address.

 

[ziggy29]

They do. UPS and FedEx are fully capable of getting everywhere in the US, everyday. It's just not profitable and the USPS isn't really equipped to sort and transport boxes.

Well, at this point we're quibbling semantics, so let me try this again. UPS and FedEx don't have a mandate to deliver to every address in the US, so they are underinvested in delivery to areas where they have minimal package volume and higher costs to get it there. So for *practical* purposes there are places they are not structured to deliver to directly.

Sure, they CAN take a truck from a larger town and drive 80 miles to an isolated house in the middle of nowhere, but they know that would be cost prohibitive and USPS will be going by that house (or to the nearest tiny little post office) anyway, so why bother? Their business model and infrastructure is not one that allows them to go every "last mile" profitably.

 

[ERD50]

...

Sure, they CAN take a truck from a larger town and drive 80 miles to an isolated house in the middle of nowhere, but they know that would be cost prohibitive and USPS will be going by that house (or to the nearest tiny little post office) anyway, so why bother? Their business model and infrastructure is not one that allows them to go every "last mile" profitably.

I imagine that is the main motivation, but it is used pretty regularly by me in a fairly densely populated area, and it seems a couple UPS and FedEx trucks pass every day.

But the FedEx/UPS guy/gal has to stop, get out of the truck, etc. So I suppose offloading the smaller packages to USPS (it always seems to be smaller ones, I think) might keep them from running an extra truck some days? Or limit the OT on some routes?

At any rate, both FedEx and UPS seem to run a pretty tight ship, I'm pretty sure they have this bench-marked pretty accurately.

-ERD50

 

[ziggy29]

At any rate, both FedEx and UPS seem to run a pretty tight ship, I'm pretty sure they have this bench-marked pretty accurately

It may well be. They may look at the source and destination and quickly decide whether it's more cost-effective for them to take it the whole way, or contract with USPS to deal with the last mile.

After all, UPS advertises that they love "logistics", so that may include the logistical calculation as to when it's best to deliver all the way and when to only deliver to a nearby post office and let someone else finish it.

 

[meierlde]

Actually if you look at it direct carrier (fexex/UPS) costs more than what is sometimes called standard delivery, where it is dropped off at the post office. For example 2 day shipping really can't work with the USPS, as packages are dropped off at the post office after the days mail sort is done, and the carriers are on their route. So it is partly a question of what level of shipping you are willing to pay for.

 

[tinlizzy]

The current rule for UPS Surepost is if there are 2 or more packages, we deliver. If we are going to be on the same street, we deliver. If we're already going to that address, we deliver.

The confusing part, as people have mentioned, is that I'm not going to be on a street so the pkg is diverted to the USPS and is delivered the next day - and this day I am delivering on the street.

 

[Hermit]

UPS does not have the infrastructure to deliver to every address in the country, no matter where and no matter how remote. USPS is already required to do that, so UPS contracts with USPS to provide that "last mile" service.

USPS does not deliver mail or anything else to my place in the mountains (too remote). UPS delivers from Amazon and usually in two days!