# Odd shipping routes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-shipping-routes/737840>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 17, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-shipping-routes/737840 "2015-11-17T23:34:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-shipping-routes/737840/1 "2015-11-17T23:34:52Z")

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OK, I know sometimes packages go from town A to some distribution center and then back to town B (very close to A) or even back to town A.  
But this latest one is interesting:

November 17, 2015 , 3:36 pm Shipment Picked Up NEW ALBANY, IN 47150

November 16, 2015 , 10:41 pm Arrived at USPS Origin Facility LOUISVILLE, KY 40231

November 16, 2015 , 5:31 pm Departed Post Office NEW ALBANY, IN 47150

November 16, 2015 , 3:51 pm Picked Up NEW ALBANY, IN 47150

I’m in MN. I can understand it going to Louisville and then going to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, or even Atlanta – but why back to New Albany?

Brian  
(p.s. 3 day priority mail)

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-shipping-routes/737840/2 "2015-11-17T23:51:28Z")

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Best guess is that someone tossed your box into the wrong bin or pushed the bin onto the wrong truck.

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-shipping-routes/737840/3 "2015-11-18T00:21:38Z")

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New Albany is a Louisville suburb anyway. It never really left town.

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**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-shipping-routes/737840/4 "2015-11-18T01:28:56Z")

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Louisville has the area’s mail processing and distribution center. Pretty much all mail goes to one of these centers to be sorted before it’s shipped out to where it needs to go. Now, there’s usually a local bin in each individual post office to keep things from being sent in a circle, but there’s usually no concerted effort to ensure it’s used, since it’s not ultimately all that big a deal if it’s not.

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**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-shipping-routes/737840/5 "2015-11-18T11:54:01Z")

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It is in St Paul now (or as of the last update)  
Not sure what the difference between “Departed Post Office” and “Shipment Picked Up” is

Brian