FedEx SmartPost Shipping

[inhawaii]

I bought an item on April 24th.  According to the tracking, it seems to be "stalled" for several days at the hand off between FedEx and USPS.  Is this normal or should i be concerned?

• Shipment information sent to U.S. Postal Service
• May-01-2018, 07:29 PDT, 96706

• Departed FedEx location
• May-01-2018, 01:39 PDT, FEDEX SMARTPOST CHINO, CA 91708

• Arrived at FedEx location
• Apr-29-2018, 16:53 PDT, FEDEX SMARTPOST CHINO, CA 91708

• Departed FedEx location
• Apr-28-2018, 04:46 PDT, BLOOMINGTON, CA 92316

• Arrived at FedEx location
• Apr-27-2018, 16:57 PDT, BLOOMINGTON, CA 92316

• In transit
• Apr-27-2018, 15:51 PDT, RIALTO, CA 92316

• In transit
• Apr-27-2018, 00:23 PDT, BLYTHE, CA 92225

• In transit
• Apr-26-2018, 12:06 PDT, ANTHONY, TX 79821

• In transit
• Apr-26-2018, 00:00 PDT, TERRELL, TX 75160

• Left FedEx origin facility
• Apr-25-2018, 11:39 PDT, AUSTELL, GA 30168

• Arrived at FedEx location
• Apr-24-2018, 17:55 PDT, AUSTELL, GA 30168

• Picked up
• Apr-24-2018, 16:42 PDT, AUSTELL, GA 30168

[lacemaker3]

@inhawaii

Yes, that's fairly normal. FedEx SmartPost is a cut-rate shipping service, designed to save you money.

There is sometimes a delay at the hand-off point, but in my experience once it actually reaches my local post office, it will be delivered just as promptly as any other piece of mail.

[pingpong517]

did you call your post office ? 

or the USPS CS ?... if you really feel something is wrong...they would be the ones to answer...and learn how it works.

[berserkerplanet]

Smartpost is a hybrid of FedEx Ground and USPS Parcel Select. You are in Hawaii, and it may not behave like a normal mainland Smartpost shipment as a result.

I actually don't understand the tracking. It was still in FedEx hands on 5/1 in Chino, CA, and then it show a HI zipcode for the first USPS involvement the same day. I really doubt that FedEx put a Smartpost pkg on a plane and flew it overnight to Hawaii (although they could) to handoff to USPS for last mile, but honestly don't know. Because of the economy nature of Smartpost, I'd be more inclined to believe that they handoff to USPS in California, and then USPS puts it on a boat or plane (no idea how USPS handles Parcel Select to HI these days).

Getting back to your main question: Why do you think the handoff is stalled? Because the last entry about shipment info sent to USPS is from 5/1 and today is 5/6? If so, it might be because Smartpost to HI is different compared to mainland due to the fact that FedEx Ground trucks can't/don't drive to HI, they may be handing off in California, and it is on a USPS (chartered) boat headed to HI. If that were the case, I don' know why there were no "in transit to USPS" and "accepted by USPS" scans, unless the non-mainland nature of the shipment isn't handled by Smartpost tracking the same way.

[inhawaii]

This item was shipped on April 24. Arrived May 12.  I sure hope the seller saved a lot by shipping this Smart Post (18 days) vs. Priority Mail (3-4 days). 

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[lintbrush*]

Well, if they advertised Economy or SmartPost, it's going to take a long time to get to Hawaii.  It would be the same with USPS Parcel Select.  It goes by boat.

This shouldn't be news to you.

[lja440]

SmartPost is handled by FedEx much in the same way as USPS handles Media Mail. It does not have a dedicated transport, but instead ships in avalible space. It will get bumped to make room for more profitable packages. 

My guess is that the avalible space this package found was with the ground packages and is in a cargo box on a ship right now. 

I ship a lot via Media Mail as I deal mainly in records, books, audiobooks, cd's and dvd's. Whenever I get a buyer from Alaska or Hawaii I ask if they wish to upgrade to Priority as there is a chance that it will travel by ground methods and this can make for a very long delivery time.