Any known issues with USPS Sacramento Ca Distribution Center?

[fergua3]

I have a package that is seemingly just circling endlessly at the USPS Sacramento California Distribution Center.  Note that the facility is just 12 miles from the delivery address.

1. Aug 17, 2022

   12:00am
   PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

   SACRAMENTO CA DISTRIBUTION CENT, 95799
2. Aug 16, 2022

   12:23am
   PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

   SACRAMENTO CA DISTRIBUTION CENT, 95799
3. Aug 15, 2022

   5:23pm
   PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

   SACRAMENTO CA DISTRIBUTION CENT, 95799
4. Aug 14, 2022

   12:49am
   PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

   SACRAMENTO CA DISTRIBUTION CENT, 95799
5. Aug 13, 2022

   2:15am
   PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

   SACRAMENTO CA DISTRIBUTION CENT, 95799
6. Aug 10, 2022

   8:22pm
   PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY

   CHICAGO IL INTERNATIONAL DISTRI, 60688
7. Aug 9, 2022

   5:14pm
   INBOUND OUT OF CUSTOMS

   60688
8. Aug 4, 2022

   12:22pm
   INBOUND INTO CUSTOMS

   60688
9. Aug 4, 2022

   12:21pm
   ARRIVED AT INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CENTER

   ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS), 60688
10. Aug 3, 2022

    4:52pm
    ORIGIN POST IS PREPARING SHIPMENT
11. Aug 2, 2022

    8:59am
    Tracking number provided

    Anyone know of problems there or what could be causing this?  Buyer is getting testy.

[reallynicestamps]

These long lists are hard to read.

The seller printed the label on 2/8

By 3/8 noon it was accepted in Chicago.

It goes to Customs.

10/8 leaves Customs off to Sacramento

13/8 arrives Sacramento

15-17/8 in Sacramento.

Yes there have been reports that LA shipments have been offloaded to Sacramento because the LA plant was overloaded.

Note that the facility is just 12 miles from the delivery address.

If the shipment is going from a US address to a US address, why did it go to Customs at all? That seems to have caused a week's delay.

When is the last estimated day for delivery? That is more important than tracking.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@reallynicestamps wrote:

These long lists are hard to read.

The seller printed the label on 2/8

By 3/8 noon it was accepted in Chicago.

It goes to Customs.

10/8 leaves Customs off to Sacramento

13/8 arrives Sacramento

15-17/8 in Sacramento.

Yes there have been reports that LA shipments have been offloaded to Sacramento because the LA plant was overloaded.

Note that the facility is just 12 miles from the delivery address.

If the shipment is going from a US address to a US address, why did it go to Customs at all? That seems to have caused a week's delay.

When is the last estimated day for delivery? That is more important than tracking.

---

Most likely a UR tracking number. First physical scan to show from eBay is the acceptance scan in USA. Almost never see any kind of scanning for my parcels in Richmond.

-Lotz

[fergua3]

it's  a UR tracking number.....they don't show scans by Canada Post...first scan (for my packages) is always in Chicago.  My  concern is that for 5 straight days in a row it has been at the Sacramento facility, seemingly going in cirles and making no progress.  I was just noting that the delivery address was just 12 miles from that facility, so it seems strange to me that all these scans at the Sacramento facility would be necessary; it seems like it's just going round and round for some reason.

[reallynicestamps]

Possibly because the UR number is not a tracking number?

What Canada Post service did you buy?

And again, what is the last estimated date for delivery?

[fergua3]

you've never used UR tracking numbers?  The service is small packets US.  The UR tracking numbers work great.  The tracking number isn't the problem, the problem is the package is doing loops at the Sacramento facility and making no progress.   Last date is August 21.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@reallynicestamps wrote:

Possibly because the UR number is not a tracking number?

What Canada Post service did you buy?

And again, what is the last estimated date for delivery?

---

Tracking in eBay UR number:

-Lotz

[gwrocen]

Here is the eBay tracking on a small packet that was mailed on July 29.

Apparently it sat in limbo in Chicago for two weeks ....August 3 to August 17

but appears to be on the move again.

CPC: UR4xxxxxxx4CA

Aug 17, 2022 9:50am PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY CHICAGO IL INTERNATIONAL DISTRI, 60688 Aug 3, 2022 8:17am INBOUND INTO CUSTOMS 60688 Aug 3, 2022 7:54am ARRIVED AT INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CENTER ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS), 60688 Aug 2, 2022 4:51pm ORIGIN POST IS PREPARING SHIPMENT Jul 29, 2022 4:32pm Tracking number provided

My buyer was not happy when he messaged me three days ago. 

[fergua3]

for a couple of months now, there have been delays clearing Customs at Chicago.  Most are in the 4-5 day range but some much longer.  Yours is cleary one of the much longer delays.  Not  sure why it's happening.  Packages used to fly through Customs in Chicago....and clearing Customs more quickly was one of the selling features touted for using electronic customs forms, when we were forced to switch over.

Anyway, another day, another"PROCESSED THROUGH FACILITY' scan at Sacramento.  That makes 6 days in a row with the same scan there.  It seems to be just  bouncing back and forth  between different sections of that facility.  Buyer telling me to do something....

[msau4301]

I don't know about the Sacramento distribution center but I did one time have a parcel stuck in limbo in Chicago with no updates for over two weeks. Buyer had started asking me about it also (not sure why they think we have a crystal ball but they do!) so I called Canada Post and they of course said they saw the same thing I did and suggested going to the USPS site. When I put my number in there it did show more information than I could see on my end and I also hit the "request updates by email" button so at least when there was any activity I'd get a notification (instead of running to the computer checking and driving myself nuts!). 

I'm not sure if this is available with the UR packages but thought I'd mention it.

If it's any consolation my package did end up arriving safely...took almost a month to get there but it got there!

All you can do for your testy buyer is try to explain you've done all you can, it is stuck in distribution center, maybe people are on holidays, and so on and please be patient I'm sure it will get through. Worse case even if they open a case you'll have at least 4 days and hopefully it moves through by then! Usually after a long stagnant nothingness, the next message showing is "at delivery office" and they should have it that day.

Good luck!

[reallynicestamps]

Small Packet isn't tracked.

USPS sometimes mistakes the barcode for tracking but it's really just a bookkeeping tag.

That might be what is sending the package around and around. Some machinery thinks it is tracked, other robots know it is not. GIGO.

Last date is August 21.

This is why it's a bad idea to watch tracking.

The buyer will either get the package by August 21 or she won't.

If she does, there is no problem.

If she doesn't, you will lose the INR because Small Packets are not tracked.

[reallynicestamps]

I don't know if this will show up but:

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s3

I'm trying to show that Small Packet USA does not include Delivery Confirmation. Which is why Tracked Packet  USA and Expedited Packet USA exist-- for a higher fee.

[fergua3]

???

As i said, UR tracking numbers are very reliable, nearly as reliable as regular tracked packet tracking numbers.  About 7% of the time, from my experience over the last year and change, there is no delivery scan, but there are scans right up to and including the 'out for delivery' scan.  The other 93% of the time there is also a 'delivered' scan.

The UR barcodes are scanned just like any other barcode.  The ONLY difference is that USPS won't publish the results on their website, in order to force people to pay for the more expensive tracking services, for which they will publish the results of the scans on their website.  Through special arrangement with Ebay, USPS has agreed to provide the UR barcode scan info to Ebay, so they can publish it on Ebay.  Which Ebay does.  This issue at at Sacramento has nothing to do with the UR barcode.

I've already won a couple of INR cases in the past year, specifically because the UR barcode showed delivered.   It didn't show up at all on USPS website, but it did show up on Ebay and that was good enough for me to win the two INR's.  UR barcodes are virtually as good as regular tracked shipping barcodes.  Not quite but virtually.  Have you ever used one?

[fergua3]

Well, after 11 days of bouncing around inside the Sacramento  Distribution Center and 12 'Processed through facility" scans today there was finally an 'Item Departed' scan.   Hopefully it's departed to the right place.  Should know soon.

[clemowbooks]

UR tracking numbers are very reliable, nearly as reliable as regular tracked packet tracking numbers.

They are not tracking, they are not sold as tracking, and eBay will not accept them as Proof of Delivery.

That they are mistaken to be tracking my USPS employees does not change that.

They work well to soothe US customers who are used to cheap tracking and get obsessive about it, and sketchey types who think the item is tracked and therefore do not try to claim INR.

[fergua3]

well, i beg to differ.  I've won 2 INR claims in the last year thanks to UR tracking numbes showing delivered.  So Ebay does definitely take them as proof of delivery.

They get scanned like a tracking number, they show each step of the package's progress like a tracking number and most of the time they get a delivery scan, like a tracking number.  So i don't really see how they are not tracking numbers.  The only difference is that the scan results are not posted on the USPS website.  But they are posted on Ebay, via the scan information provided to Ebay by the USPS.

BTW my package just showed up in San Francisco.  It is now 100 miles from the delivery address.  At the Sacramento facility it was 12 miles away.  So now it's going in the wrong direction.  oy.

[pjcdn2005]

@clemowbooks 

Correct- Small packet labels are sold as non trackable labels.

However, as explained dozens of times (or more) on these boards, if the seller enters the UR bar code on eBay, there is a 90% + chance that Usps will scan the package when received in the US.  They will also scan it throughout its trip AND when delivered.   

This information shows up only on eBay, not on either of the postal sites.

As long as the package is scanned as delivered, eBay DOES consider it as delivered.  The information looks exactly the same on eBay as any other trackable service looks. Myself and many other ebayers know this first hand.  I'm not sure why you think a delivery scan would not be accepted by eBay, but is definitely is.

[fergua3]

just to reinforce what was said above, i have entered UR barcodes now over 200 times.  Well over.  And in every single case the package was fully tracked from beginning to the point of delivery.  In all but 7% of the cases i also received a delivery scan.  I assume this is because below the barcode it says 'No Delivery Scan'.  I assume that most of the time the delivery person does not notice this and scans the barcode anyway, as they do on pretty much every package they deliver, no doubt.  About 7% of the time, in my case, the delivery person does notice this phrase and does not bother to scan the barcode at delivery.

Nobody was more skeptical of the usefulness of the UR barcodes than i,  at first.  But after 16 months of using them, i am very happy they are available and work so very well.

[fergua3]

Now the package is in Los Angeles 400 miles from the destination.  It's gone 400 miles in the wrong direction in one day, after sitting for 11 days at a distribution center that was 12 miles from the destination.  what the..?

[marnotom!]

Only thing I can think may be going on here is that your item was waiting in Sacramento to be sent off to Los Angeles for further international processing. I would think that the usual path for an item like this would be from Chicago to Los Angeles, *then* to Sacramento.

I think a few weeks ago @lotzofuniquegoodies reposted a service alert stating that one of the two International Mail Sorting Centers in California (San Francisco or Los Angeles) was having difficulties and items originating in western Canada were being directed to the other one.

EDIT: Here it is, though keep in mind it originally dates from five months ago:

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Sellers-shipping-by-CP-to-USA-from-W-Canada-Aug-2022/td-...