A few days ago I bought an online product from a vendor. My receipt included a UPS tracking number. As of this morning, the last entry shows the package shipping from California just after midnight yesterday. I’m reasonably sure that the package has landed and then checked in somewhere in the last 30 hours or so. It’s only going as far as Wisconsin, after all.
Then I noticed a note at the top of the page saying, “Log in for more tracking details.” To do that I’d have to establish an account, which seems kind of silly to track one little package. So, can you tell me what additional I will learn if I do establish an account and login? Does UPS omit the arrival data from the tracking pages unless you have an account with them?
Every time I’ve ever tracked a package sent to me via UPS, it shows every step of the shipment including an estimated delivery time (or at least date). I have never had a UPS account. Perhaps this is something new.
On the front page of the UPS site, under the “enter your tracking number here” box there’s a line that says "Login or Register to view Tracking History. "
So maybe the only extra details are really your personal tracking history, and nothing to do with extra info on the current package?
I’d advise against it, depending on your blood pressure. Last time I tracked a book, I found out my package went SF>DEN>CHI>MKE>Beloit(?)>CHI>Madison. Was so frustrating to watch it bounce around. Oh, it still got here in time, but it could’ve gotten here sooner.
Why do you assume it has “landed” anywhere? UPS doesn’t put everything on planes, espicially shipments made via UPS Ground.
If it’s going by truck from CA to WI, it could easily sit on that truck for far more than 30 hours. It only gets scanned when it hits different sorting and distribution points. While on the same vehicle between stops, it won’t get scanned.
It certainly could be in a truck on the road. In my previous experiences that hasn’t been the case – I read somewhere they fill their cargo planes to capacity, which usually means a lot of the ground stuff gets on the planes too. And this is a very small package, less than half a pound, maybe the size of a fist.
But whatever, I’m just curious as to what “additional tracking information” I’ll get if I create an account.
Your main benefit is that you can see multiple packages at once, and that they will send you e-mail alerts (if you want them to) when it hits various points in transit. However, the informational content doesn’t change, just the convenience of accessing it.
This is correct, you will not get additional tracking information by setting up an account. Setting up an account is something you might want to do if you had a small business and wanted additional history of your shipments. The tracking info will be the same.
Your package is on a truck and will not be scanned again until it arrives at your regional depot, then you will see an arrival scan, and later a *departure scan *as it leaves for your local depot. When it gets to your local place you will see another *arrival scan *and then an *out for delivery *scan when it is put on the truck that will bring it to you.
Assuming this was a ground package, it is most likely on a choo-choo train. If the next scan is in Hodgkins IL (without any intermediate stops), you can be almost certain that it took a train. UPS is doing most of their cross-country shipping by train now. Amusing picture.
I have never seen a UPS Ground package go by air. I have seen UPS Air packages go by ground part or all of the way. A Second Day Air package from New York to Chicago might go by air to Louisville and then go up I-65 and the Indiana Toll Road to Chicago. A Second Day Air package from Ohio or Indiana to Chicago will probably go by ground all the way.
Not to sound flippant, but you get what you pay for in shipping. It will take the most economical route for the company. Sometimes ground will move on a/c if there is unused space so it looks like it’s moving faster than what was paid for. It will then bounce from mini-hub to whatever truck route gets it to destination. If you paid for 3-day then they will bump your freight for other freight that was booked for shorter delivery times.
You called it. For those of you playing our home game, package scanned in this morning at 10:16 AM, in Hodgkins, IL (a western suburb of Chicago), roughly 58 hours after departing Cerritos, CA.
Fair enough, but I have a hard time seeing how it was more economical to ship something through Chicago twice. Probably it just got misrouted somewhere, but that can be annoying.