USPS Registered Mail - A Case Study - Delivered!
pointfivezero
Posts: 1,874 ✭✭✭✭✭
@Weather11am recently opened a thread regarding a concern with a Registered Mail shipment. Coincidentally, I was notified of an inbound shipment from a coin shop in Massachusetts. I thought it would be a good opportunity to document an actual cross country Registered Mail shipment. The shipment originated in Concord, MA and I reside in the Bay Area, CA.
This shipment departed Concord MA last Friday, August 21st. From the moment I received the tracking information until today, the USPS website has listed today (August 25th) as the expected delivery date. I believe setting this unrealistic expectation is a major reason for some of the dissatisfaction with the Registered Mail service. Had the expected delivery date stated September 1st or some realistic date, there would be less anticipation on the part of the receiving parties.
Now on to the tortuous package routing. Since last Friday, this shipment has traveled a total of 71.2 miles, never leaving the state of Massachusetts. Had the package been routed directly from Concord to Boston, the total distance moved in the past four days would have been 20.6 miles:
I will continue to monitor and post updates until this package has reached its final destination (me).
Comments
Well at least yours is moving, mine has been stuck in NJ since 8/20.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Well, "moving" is a relative term. One thing I've noticed that differentiates Registered Mail from other postal services is the total lack of progress over weekends. Must be due to some administrative process with the documentation procedures.
Tough to say, however realistically mine should have moved Fri or at least yesterday lol. I can agree that that those delivery dates the system automatically generates are garbage, mine was supposed to be delivered yesterday, laughable.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
The unrealistic delivery date might be due to the size or weight of the package. Above a certain threshold these Registered Mail packages have to also be shipped with Priority Mail rates or status. The USPS website appears to take that Priority delivery date and automatically apply it to the Registered package in these instances, but we know in the real world that the speed of the package does not increase.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
From USPS FAQs for Registered Mail:
What is the estimated delivery time for Registered Mail and Registered Mail Restricted Delivery?
There is no estimated delivery time for Registered Mail, regardless of class. Registered Mail is kept highly secured and is processed manually, which naturally slows the speed at which it travels. Registered Mail is not recommended if speed of delivery is important.
FWIW...
This particular shipment is for one Morgan dollar. I can't imagine it weighs over a pound. I do agree with your opinion on the use of Priority Mail time windows for Registered Mail shipments. I've seen this same window on my outbound RM shipments.
I think the default estimated date they put in is assuming a first class package delivery. Add in that some clerks actually ask people if they want priority even though it is meaningless with registered and you end up with some unhappy people. I don’t know if there is a better overall system than simply not putting an expected delivery date.
Good info but it appears they ignore their own guidelines when updating the tracking information. We also receive daily emails regarding inbound USPS items and this shipment is showing up as being delivered today.
When you find the red "X" on the map, start digging.
When you Absolutely, positively want it to get there nearly every damn time choose registered.
And then relax. Cool case study, though. I’m thankful it is your stress and not mine.
For all other, choose priority.
As many times as this topic has been discussed here a lot of folks still don't get it. With intentional mail interference it may get even slower.
Why not look at the registered numbers surrounding your case study to broaden it a bit and see if there are specific tendencies rather than anecdotal travels of a single package.
Of the 9 digits, the last one seems to be a check digit of sorts, incrementing by 4, with the other 8 counting sequentially. For example, 3 consecutive labels would be RE...5641US, 5655US, and 5659US. An exception to the rule is when the current check digit is 7, 8, 9, or 0. In this case, it increments by 3, so the following label would be 5662US. Do this with 20 or 30 packages and see if you can come up with anything meaningful.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Sure, but still...
For the life of me, I don't understand the obsession people have with package tracking. It'll get there eventually, or it won't. Any way you look at it, refreshing the tracking page on the USPS website won't have the tiniest impact on that.
Or he could go to his local P O and try to get 10 numbers off of the roll of registered stickers/labels.
Because you want to make sure that you or some else will be there to receive is why people like tracking.
Yawn - I have had the same thing happen numerous times. It is what it is when it comes to Registered Mail. All I can say is (again) - over the past 40 years, I have sent and received several hundred Registered Mail packages and, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, they have ALL arrived safe and sound. The average delivery time is around 10 days with my personal extremes being as short as 6 days and as long as 17 days. Nothing here to obsess about. Move along.....
Member ANA, SPMC, SCNA, FUN, CONECA
Before any new member gets to post it should be REQUIRED that they search for AND READ threads about mailing stuff.
Thanks for all the comments. I am not taking exception with the Registered Mail service as I know it is dependable and trustworthy. I'm more concerned with the perceived inefficient routing and the absolutely inexcusable communication.
Exhibit A - we received notification this morning that this package will be delivered today. Not unless the Postal Service has a spare Concorde SST in their fleet:
Registered "expected delivery date" is based on either the first class or the priorty service. It does not take into consideration that the shipment has the added service of registered. Therefore all registered "expected delivery dates" are premature.
Not that it has any effect on delivery date, while viewing tracking from the usps website one can click on "product information" to find details on the shipping info.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
We must have shipped 100 coins registered over the past few years.
Tracking .... ? Sure . I look almost everyday to see if the coin has moved. I need to be prepared for the sellers incoming e-mail wondering whether the coin is lost.
We had coins go across country in less than a week.. but usually 7-10 days. In February we saw a shipment take 2 1/2 weeks to Alabama so can figure?
Depending on the destination and timing the coin sometimes move 20 miles in 5 days to the airport.
we would use FDX or UPS but for this paragraph......that I read on Google...
With FedEx or UPS, they do not offer insurance for precious metals and unless you are a precious metals dealer with a 3rd party insurance policy, you'll want to stick with USPS Registered Mail when mailing your gold and silver bullion.
Unfortunately, we are one armed paperhangers not coin dealers.
Path to destination depends on locations of major sorting facilities. This explains why packages do not take the most direct route. I have found that if the shipping or delivery address is near a major airport, delivery time is reduced.
Out in the boonies? good luck.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Why is it that every post on CU has to include an obligatory "new member smack down"? Like a book and its cover, be careful classifying someone as "new member" based on their number of posts. I've been a member of this forum for over ten years and just because I don't choose to post very often does not mean I don't participate in reading them
As far as an upcoming delivery date, the only USPS tracking message you can count on is "OUT FOR DELIVERY."
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
1- When has USPS tracking been that reliable?
2- Tracking has not always been offered. Did you not get mail before then?
If you were a regular reader you'd know why registered mail is slow. You might be better off asking the postmaster [or registered mail handler] at a place where it sat for 6 days why it sat there for 6 days. They may or may not tell you.
A lot of it HAS been reliable for me. At least I almost always know that they got it.
Frankly before the days of tracking I rarely sent packages so it was no issue.
I failed to mention I also managed major Distribution Centers for over 30 years. I understand why RM is slow and I am painfully aware of the hub and spoke system of the major carriers, including USPS.
I thought some members might be interested a thread which actually follows the progress of a cross country shipment. If this is old news or boring for you, you are welcome to ignore this post.
I think a funny thing the USPS does happens when I ship something to someone in my small town 35 miles west of Atlanta. It has to go to Atlanta and come back. Amazingly they have all been delivered the next day!
I too have shipped registered with no problems. . . until this week.
Had a $2200 coin stuck between JAX and ATL for 14 days. After initiating a "find missing mail" nudge at the usps website it finally moved. Likely put in a safe and forgotten.
Had a $6800 coin shipment leave JAX with no new updates for nine days. Initiated another "find missing mail" request and within hours tracking was updated to show its arrival in ATL. Been sitting there for two days, may need another nudge.
Appears Atlanta is currently a bottleneck.
I suggest anyone who thinks tracking shows any type of shipment to be hung up in one spot to use the "where's my shipment" usps website feature. At the usps site click on "Help," then click on "finding missing mail," then under item 2 click on "start your form." You will need an online usps.com account to use this feature. The account also allows you to order a wide variety of free postal supplies, particularly priority boxes and envelopes in sizes you cannot find at the post office.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
It may be limited value unless you can comment about why it was at each place for as long [or short] as it was. If it sits in Boondoggle, Iowa, for 6 days is that more the rule than the exception.
Same way here, Ames mail typically goes to Des Moines and then back. There is a slot for mail to get an Ames postmark, but I don't know if that's handled differently or not.
Tracking tells me, paypal and ebay that a purchase was delivered.
Tracking tells me that my seller actually shipped the item. It tells my buyers that I was quick to ship the item.
Tracking tells me if my shipment is hung up in one location and needs a "where's my mail" nudge.
I'd pay an extra buck for a little RFID transmitter that showed me online the actual location using a map.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Yes, totally agree. In some cases, the USPS service is undeniably amazing. Case in point, this recent inbound shipment from Arizona. Transversed four cities (yellow dash line) and delivered on the same day (July 23rd):
Apparently it changes hands at each point. Here a registered package may depart des Moines at 8:30am, but I'm told it doesn't arrive in Ames [about 35 miles away] until 3:30 pm or so. The truck stops at a number of places in between, but the RM bound for Ames never leaves the vehicle until it gets to Ames.
@BAJJERFAN - I should have clarified, the above shipment was a First Class mail shipment. Not RM or PM.
I appreciate these types of threads even though they can often be reminders. I am also reminded of the discussions on toughening up here on this forum whether you’re new or not and accept that you’re going to get criticism once in a while, or nearly every time you start a post.
C’est la vie
Appreciate the comments and perspective. My question back to you and others - does it have to be this way? I believe the ever present criticism can actually intimidate some into a reluctance to post and that is not a good characteristic of any open forum.
Despite yours and my perfect records over 40-50 yrs, losses do occur. One of my dealer friends had a perfect 40 yr batting average as well until about 5 yrs ago when he lost a package of about 2 dozen "fresh" MS65/66 Saints on the way to stickerville. It can happen to anyone....at any time.
@roadrunner.... Wow... Losing two dozen Saints is horrific. I hope insurance covered the loss... not that it really 'covers' such a loss....Cheers, RickO
you can't know that....
I also believe that checking the status on PCGS's website gets my coins graded faster.
I think if you do a sonogram every week, the baby arrives in 3 months.
My obsession stems from my days as a Distribution Center Manager. We always considered the carrier performance as an extension of our own. Now when I ship one of my ebay auctions for example, I follow the tracking information and periodically update my customers if there is a delay. I've even gone to the Post Office to start a tracer.
With that said, I'm also a bit of a Type A personality.
August 26th Update - much to my surprise, this Registered Mail shipment transvered the country in a single day and has now passed through the San Francisco sort center. Amazing:
My package was delivered today after a flurry of updates yesterday and this morning, yay!
Good luck to you!
Congratulations and thanks!
8/27 Update - Out for Delivery! Six days from coast to coast. Without question, the fastest service I've witnessed on a cross country Registered Mail shipment. As a refresher, this package did not leave Boston until Tuesday morning:
Remarkably fast. I don’t think I’ve had a registered package go from Tennessee to PCGS in less than 11 days over the years.
Congrats,
As Phil Jackson coach of the LA Lakers remarked “no expectations, no worries”
And Seneca: True happiness is…to enjoy the present without anxious dependence upon the future. — Seneca, On Benefits, 7.2.
Good ones. I'll add one as an epitapth on the tracking element in this thread:
Mark Twain - "Better a broken promise than none at all."
Safely in hand! Thanks USPS and Northeast Numismatics!