I ordered some computer stuff on the internet. Their tracking page says I should get my order on the 14th of this month. However, the package came to the local warehouse/shipping center/whatever on the 12th.
So I’m like, “cool, I should receive my package today”. However, they did not deliver my package. It’s just sitting there at the Fedex station. Why don’t they try to ship the packages as fast as they come?
I had this happen before with Fedex and once with UPS. I’m guessing they make their schedules based on the estimated delivery times and if they deliver early, they’ll mess up their route or something, but still, they should try to deliver the items as fast as they can.
Is there a possibility it’s still there because they didn’t have a chance to get to it yet or is it because they suck? I want my package now! Can someone shed some light on how Fedex determines when to deliver?
also, just because it says its been received by the warehouse doesnt mean it has gone though the system of conveyor belts and what not then been sorted and put on a truck ready for delivery the next morning. it just means it has arrived AT the warehouse and was taken off the truck.
if you’ve ever been to a ups distribution center (i guess thats the term) you would see how massive they are.
the time to worry is when you see it has departed from the center for delivery to your house, its 9pm and you are sans package…
UPS and Fedex warehouse and distribution centers are huge. I often went by the one in Rochester, NY early in the mornings. If you drove by at the right moment you were just in time to watch 40 Fedex trucks pull out of the place simultaneously.
Anyway, the distribution centers sort all of the priority/next-day stuff first, and load it onto the trucks that go out in the morning. The cheap rate stuff is saved for later, and the delivery date is not as strict, meaning it may sit there for 1-3 days depending on how heavy their priority load is at the moment.
I use Fed Ex a lot at work. If something is sent “2-day” or “3-day” they don’t have to deliver before then and it may, indeed, sit somewhere in the system.
On the other hand, I have received a “2-day” package less than 24 hours from when it was shipped, too.
So… yeah, I actually believe they do ship as quickly as they can, but like others have said, if they get a sudden influx of “priority” packages your 2-day box will be dealt with after they take care of those others.
Another quirk that seems to escape folks is that yes, weather can and does affect delivery. If you’re shipping Boston to San Diego and a snowstorm grounds air traffic in the midwest your package may be late because the airplanes aren’t flying.
And, oh yes, after September 11, 2001 everything was going by truck for awhile. I actually had to explain that to a doofus at work: “My package was supposed to be here the 12th! It’s the 15th! What’s wrong with Fed Ex?” :rolleyes: What’s wrong is that the airplanes aren’t flying and it takes longer to ship by truck. We had this terrorist attack four days ago, remember…?
And during one of King George’s speeches to Clowngress all shipping into and out of DC was shut down without warning - which took everyone, including folks like Fed Ex and UPS by surprise. Lots of angry phone calls, I’m sure.
I once had a package shipped to me by FedEx which was sent by “2nd Day Air.” By following the tracking progress online, I saw that it was received at the local warehouse the day after it was shipped, but then came the tracking entry, “Not scheduled for delivery today.” I think if you don’t pay the extra for overnight shipping, they actually keep it on the shelf until the day that you pad for.
I can understand them shutting down air traffic into Reagan National during a Joint Session of Congress, since from the airport you can see the Capitol Dome.
However, last time I checked, FedEx, UPS, Airborne, DHL and any of the other delivery companies didn’t use DCA for its deliveries. They use Dulles (IAD), or Baltimore-Washington (BWI).
As previous posters have made clear, FedEx does not sit on low-priority packages out of spite, but merely because there are plenty of higher-priority packages sitting ahead of yours in the queue.
Since 9/11, there have been multiple times that Dulles and Baltimore have been shut down to either all traffic, or all but passenger traffic. When the Transportation Insecurity Agency declares that general aviation is banned from a particular airport or airports that means no cargo flights in or out because cargo is general aviation. This is getting somewhat better as certain bureaucrats have been educated as to the utility of general aviation, and that there are more than just passenger flights of importance.
As a practical matter, both IAD and BWI are only minutes away from the Capitol. People forget airplanes can travel at hundreds of miles oer hour, and go in straight lines instead of having to follow winding roads. So there’s there push-pull between keeping the nation’s capital “safe” and not shutting down major chunks of commerce at the same time.
If they shut down DCA, IAD, and BWI to cargo flights they can land the cargo flights further out and truck the items in - but that takes more time and is less efficient. They might have to use smaller airplanes (Fed Ex owns the largest number of Cessna Caravans - small, single-engine cargo planes - of any company in the world) which is also less efficient. The shipping can and will be done, but overnight service may not be so easily provided.
Well, it might not actually be there. My friend had something shipped, and according to the log the package was shipped all over. It got scanned, re-scanned, re-re-scanned, and (my favourite type), pre-scanned. Apparently pre-scanning involves “scanning” something that isn’t actually there yet. The motives behind this escape me, but it makes for a crowded package log…