Fedex Smartpost?

[simci_66]

So I sold a pair of shoes Sunday and printed out a Fedex Smartpost label and adhered it to the box and put it in my local Fedex drop off box Monday afternoon. It's now Thursday night and the Fedex website still says the shipment is pending - the label has been created. I shipped via Smartpost before and the item arrived at the Fedex origin facility the very next day. Should I be alarmed that Fedex still hasn't updated its tracking information? Has Fedex lost the package?

[be_4101]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
Out of curiosity, what does the eBay tracking show?

I ask because eBay uses the FedEx tracking not the USPS tracking for its purposes, so I'm guessing it's just showing "label created"?

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Often, the USPS tracking number is uploaded to eBay, instead of the shorter FedEx SmartPost tracking number, especially when the seller wishes to conceal that a SmartPost label was used. The USPS tracking doesn't show movement if any until some FedEx waypoints, then begins scanning in earnest when it reaches the destination post office.

But simply prefixing 92 to the FedEx SmartPost tracking number yields the USPS tracking number: The full USPS tracking number can be used at the FedEx.com website; it's an alias of the FedEx SmartPost tracking number.

[berserkerplanet]

Not for any of the Smartpost labels I have. There are two distinct and different barcodes/tracking numbers.

eBay shows the FedEx tracking sequence with the USPS tracking number uploaded, at least for my last few (a year ago)

Has something changed since then?

[simci_66]

The eBay tracking shows the Fedex tracking - it simply says “this item has been marked as shipped.” I sent a link to the buyer with the USPS tracking just in case they wanted to track the package and so they knew that the package had been shipped out.

[berserkerplanet]

Thought so (and why I mentioned it.)

This is a real head scratcher - trying to puzzle out the possible sequence of events, and when/why FedEx hands off to USPS immediately if that is what they did.

There still should have been FedEx scans, a FedEx handoff scan entry, and a USPS scan entry indicating acceptance from FedEx. That "USPS picked up item" initial scan entry is not right. FedEx→USPS handoffs are usually pallet type scans. Like a USPS scan sheet thing - I think individual pkgs are linked to the pallet scan and manifest, and get marked as accepted, and have they unique scan entries, of which "USPS picked up item" is not one (and not sure even possible based on the manifest theory). That is the scan for a bluebox pickup among other pickups.

Again, are you sure you dropped it in a FedEx box and not a USPS box?

If not, is there a USPS box next to the FedEx box? I'm wondering if the FedEx pickup driver dumped it in the nearby USPS box when he emptied out the FedEx box (maybe only Smartpost/Ground one in there, and possibly he has to drive to a different facility* or jump through hoops with non-express pickups?)

*In the past, when I used to occasionally go to meet UPS drivers for late dropoffs, I found that express shipments often went straight to the airport facility after pickup and consolidation at the "driver roundups" where they met in a parking lot and shuffled loads. Ground went to the regular facility, and one or more drivers loaded out and went right to the airport to get the express stuff out ASAP. FedEx probably does the same thing, although their facility is closer to the airport than the UPS one is.

In any case, keep us updated.

[vanman1029]

I mailed a smartpost package yesterday, a little box appeared on the label page while printing the label and it said the package MUST be dropped off at a FedEx store, not at a drop off center.

[berserkerplanet]

That was the case in the past according to FedEx, and as a result I have always dropped at a FedEx facility, but haven't used Smartpost in the last year, and it appears that things have changed.

See post#3 above by the OP.

FedEx website now indicates that anything can go in the dropboxes, and they can accept up to 20"x12"x6" (which handles a lot of Ground size pkgs) https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/dropbox.html

That note on the label page is likely just another thing eBay has gotten wrong or hasn't updated to reflect the real world in the (new?) label flow.

I have yet to go hunt down a dropbox to see what, if any, labeling there is on it that indicates one way or the other.

Addendum: That FedEx dropbox page has a dropbox finder. According to that page, the nearest one, about a half mile from me, indicates it services Express and Ground Services.

It may be that not all dropboxes handle all services, and it would be wise to check before dumping Ground or Smartpost in one as a result.

[simci_66]

I definitely dropped it off in a FedEx box, and there is no USPS box nearby (I’ve attached a picture of the FedEx box for your viewing pleasure). It is indeed very strange that there has been no Fedex scan at all. I honestly have no idea why Fedex didn’t decide to handle the package at all - last time I sent a package out through SmartPost USPS wasn’t even used at all and the delivery ended up being through Fedex home delivery. This whole shipment is very odd

[l-41]

The first time I took a smartpost package to a FedEx office the employee there sent it to the U.S.P. S. because they didn't know that it was to go FedEx for the first leg of the journey. I got a call from my post office saying they had a FedEx package at the U.S.P.S. and that I needed to pick it up.

I took it back to the FedEx office and explained to them what smartpost was. Since then I've had no trouble with smartpost.

[berserkerplanet]

Well that blows my theory about the FedEx driver dumping it a USPS box next to the FedEx box.

FedEx Home Delivery WOULD be used if FedEx decided to handle a Smartpost pkg on their own for whatever mistaken or logistical reasons. The initial leg of Smartpost IS FedEx Ground (which is Home Delivery and Smartpost). If they were handling the entire haul, FedEx Ground would truck it to the destination city/hub, and FedEx Home Delivery Drivers would deliver it. (FedEx Ground commercial delivery drivers do perform delivery to residences if a pkg gets into the ground network and the software doesn't catch it as residential, or shipper indicates it was commercial, or FedEx Ground explicitly used to ship pkgs to residences over the Home Delivery 70lb weight limit.)

Anyway, we await further developments.

[simci_66]

Well, the package has been successfully delivered to the buyer. Interestingly, the day before the item was delivered the FedEx tracking info updated to say that the package was in transit and to be delivered via USPS. Very strange, but at least the package was delivered.

[berserkerplanet]

Glad it all worked out and was delivered.

The timeframe is in line with cross normal SmartPost country delivery and the holiday on Monday (5 business days FedEx Ground transit, a day or 2 fumbling between FedEx and USPS, and a day for USPS leg, but in this case it appears the entire journey was via USPS Parcel Select (impossible to tell for sure, but officially USPS has it logged as Parcel Select - you can see that by tracking it at USPS and view the "Product Info" on the tracking page). Timeframe fits with cross country PS delivery especially with the infamous USPS Bell Gardens California facility blackhole in the loop.

That updated FedEx tracking makes no sense when viewed with the first tracking series you posted, but it's a done deal.

Woohoo!

[lotsaguystuff]

Fedex is slow in updating the tracking... but I am here to encourage ALL that if you can AVOID Fedex SMARTPOST do so... our tracked package went to indianapolis with a 300.00 item and then fell off the planet earth... made claim and nothing...you have to file claim thru ebay and at the end it says... DO NOT CONTACT EBAY OR FEDEX ABOUT THIS CLAIM,.... it has been three months and nothing. just trying to pass on info to hopefully save someone else the problems we have had... 

[j.hopkins]

Stay away from FEDEX.   The ebay calculator for fedex is a scam.   

[kh-stanley1]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies.  Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!