USPS Not Scanning Ground Packages

[leoni-steel]

I have noticed that USPS is NOT scanning packages the same day they received the package.

specially Parcel Post and Ground packages. this may have an impact on our store status since the eBay system will mark it as LATE shipping.  I've noticed that packages can take up to 5 days without any Transit Activity. So I reached out to (2) postmasters and they both advised me that Parcel Post and Ground packages, can actually sit in a Distribution Hub for up to 5-days before they get scanned or show any Transit activity. According to the postmasters, this is due to the fact that currently, they wait until they have enough packages to fill up their trucks, and not until then packages will get scanned.

..and just like that, you have a Late Shipment.

I'm sure everyone agrees that the Post Office employees refuse to scan each individual package if you have more than 5.

Does eBay take this into consideration?

[slippinjimmy]

Any Surface. Media Mail, etc are low priority, they are cheap services and you get what you pay for.

I ship a lot of Media Mail, it's never been scanned as accepted as my First Class stuff is, goes to a completely different facility (local P.O. does not scan these) and it's can sit at that facility for up to 24 hours before being scanned.

Nothing new, between that way for Media Mail since tracking became an included feature almost 20 years ago.

If it's an issue for you add a day on to your handling time. I have an extended handling time so this has never been a problem for me.

[glgenterprise]

Each post office is different. Mine scans every single package - ground, media, first class. They'll take a bin from me and everyone else with a prepaid that don't ask for a drop off receipt and dump them in a hopper. Then during a quieter time they'll scan everything in the hopper. They've got to look at it to figure out it's ground or media and by that point they've already handled it - it's faster to just scan it and toss it in the next hopper. It's a fairly busy mid/small office - but I've never not had something scan the day I drop it off from my local office. When it scans again is anyone's guess - but at least it got the first one.

If you're regularly shipping these services, if you've only got one or two packages, wait in line for an individual package scan with a receipt.  If you've got quite a few packages - consider using a scan form which will have all your drop offs for the day on it and then the counter can scan one bar code that will show all the packages as dropped off that day.