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In my area at least, a lot of DHL and Fedex packages get delivered via USPS. It's pretty smart for them, let USPS handle the last mile. I wonder if UPS does t

In my area at least, a lot of DHL and Fedex packages get delivered via USPS. It's pretty smart for them, let USPS handle the last mile. I wonder if UPS does this anywhere...

Operyl 4y ago
It's a shipping tier, SurePost. https://www.ups.com/us/en/support/shipping-support/shipping-costs-rates/surepost-rates.page https://www.ups.com/us/en/support/shipping-support/shipping-...
- silisili 4y ago
  Thanks!
- wrycoder 4y ago
  Yeah, and my post office BOX is not in the same town as my residence. So, UPS transfers to USPS, which has no way of notifying me. And, it only happens sometimes - it’s unpredictable. Very annoying, especially since the UPS truck goes past my door every day.
  - lp0_on_fire 4y ago
    That's by design - SurePost is a last mile USPS delivery service. You get slightly cheaper/ faster service than the traditional USPS methods (because UPS essentially consolidates and forwards the packages to the delivering post office / hub, skipping many of the sort steps a traditional USPS package would take. If you want a brown UPS truck to deliver your package you have to choose one of their "regular" service, like Ground or one of the air services.
    - wrycoder 4y ago
      Take "fulfilled by Amazon". Most of the time they ship by USS brown truck and the package arrives at my door. But, sometimes they use SurePost. My point is that I don't know which ahead of time. It's unpredictable. Or, take some coffee roasters. I suspect they are going to use SurePost, so I give my address as my PO Box. Their system rejects PO Boxes. So, I use my street address. The package gets transferred to USPS and ends up at a post office in the wrong town, since I don't have a mailbox at my residence. The USPS won't let me create a mail forwarding address in my residence town, since "I don't have a mail delivery address there", Catch-22. In addition, SurePost claims to accept PO Box addresses, but the vendor's software doesn't know that. And, I don't have a way to tell the SurePost system what my postal address is. Same deal with the Fedex equivalent.
dexterdog 4y ago
A lot of our stuff gets shipped that way and it's terrible. The post office sits on packages forever and the tracking rarely updates once the real courier gives it to the post office. It's a super-econ way to ship so I think they just intentionally delay packages so they don't beat any of the other methods. I'm half-serious about that last part.
- silisili 4y ago
  Oh yeah. My stuff likes to sit in Grand Prairie, TX, for days on end. Had never even heard of the city, but I already don't like it :). I have a feeling it's a super cheap service, and USPS just sits on it til it has a light load or something. Still, I'd put the blame on the original shipper, they know what they're signing up for.

In my area at least, a lot of DHL and Fedex packages get delivered via USPS. It's pretty smart for them, let USPS handle the last mile. I wonder if UPS does this anywhere...

Operyl 4y ago

It's a shipping tier, SurePost. https://www.ups.com/us/en/support/shipping-support/shipping-costs-rates/surepost-rates.page https://www.ups.com/us/en/support/shipping-support/shipping-...

silisili 4y ago
Thanks!
wrycoder 4y ago
Yeah, and my post office BOX is not in the same town as my residence. So, UPS transfers to USPS, which has no way of notifying me. And, it only happens sometimes - it’s unpredictable. Very annoying, especially since the UPS truck goes past my door every day.
- lp0_on_fire 4y ago
  That's by design - SurePost is a last mile USPS delivery service. You get slightly cheaper/ faster service than the traditional USPS methods (because UPS essentially consolidates and forwards the packages to the delivering post office / hub, skipping many of the sort steps a traditional USPS package would take. If you want a brown UPS truck to deliver your package you have to choose one of their "regular" service, like Ground or one of the air services.
  - wrycoder 4y ago
    Take "fulfilled by Amazon". Most of the time they ship by USS brown truck and the package arrives at my door. But, sometimes they use SurePost. My point is that I don't know which ahead of time. It's unpredictable. Or, take some coffee roasters. I suspect they are going to use SurePost, so I give my address as my PO Box. Their system rejects PO Boxes. So, I use my street address. The package gets transferred to USPS and ends up at a post office in the wrong town, since I don't have a mailbox at my residence. The USPS won't let me create a mail forwarding address in my residence town, since "I don't have a mail delivery address there", Catch-22. In addition, SurePost claims to accept PO Box addresses, but the vendor's software doesn't know that. And, I don't have a way to tell the SurePost system what my postal address is. Same deal with the Fedex equivalent.

dexterdog 4y ago

A lot of our stuff gets shipped that way and it's terrible. The post office sits on packages forever and the tracking rarely updates once the real courier gives it to the post office. It's a super-econ way to ship so I think they just intentionally delay packages so they don't beat any of the other methods. I'm half-serious about that last part.

silisili 4y ago
Oh yeah. My stuff likes to sit in Grand Prairie, TX, for days on end. Had never even heard of the city, but I already don't like it :). I have a feeling it's a super cheap service, and USPS just sits on it til it has a light load or something. Still, I'd put the blame on the original shipper, they know what they're signing up for.