My tracking number says that my package is still at your facility!
With the exponential growth of internet retail business and shipments via USPS, USPS budget cuts, USPS personnel turnover, and most recently being short-staffed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, USPS has had their hands full, and it is showing in their service. We have been getting many calls from our customers about receiving our Shipping Confirmation emails with tracking numbers, but when they go to check the status of their package by entering the tracking number, many find absolutely no shipping information or updates, other than that the label was created for the package. This has raised concerns for all and prompted us to create this page to help you fully understand what is happening, and to satisfy any concerns you may have, if you are experiencing these same issues.
- When you receive a Shipping Confirmation email from us with USPS tracking, your order has been processed, packed, weighed, labeled, and either placed in huge 5 foot tall mail bags and pallet racks full of boxes all staged for pickup by a USPS truck pickup that day.
- With each truck pickup, the driver is handed one or multiple scan sheets, which are scanned downloads of all the shipment run's packages from Indicia's mail servers which are connected to USPS servers. The drivers are supposed to scan the scan sheets for all the shipment runs for the load they are picking up.
- ALL packages are then supposed to be scanned again when the driver unloads the truck at the local USPS center in Lemont, IL.
- ALL packages are then supposed to scanned again, when the packages are transferred to the Bolingbrook IL hub center.
- ALL packages are then supposed to be scanned again when the packages are shuttled to the major Chicago (Forest Park) IL hub.
These steps are supposed to take place regardless of whether the package is First Class, Priority, Media or International.
But, as it has been apologetically explained to us by the USPS Director of Transportation, due to USPS's internal issues and USPS being short staffed during the COVID-19 pandemic, that the proper handling and scanning is not happening in some areas of the country.
Thus, in many cases as reported to us by a number of our customers and when we investigate package tracking on Track and Confirm in a number of cases, tracking may only show that there is only Pre-Shipment tracking information (electronically created through Indicia when creating the shipping labels and the USPS truck load scans). Unfortunately in many cases, the only updates entered in the USPS tracking status to most shipments lately is the scan made when out for delivery, and upon delivery or when the package has been misrouted and totally off course (like a package shipped from Chicago, to Milwaukee WI, sitting in a Texas hub for two weeks).
So, in other words, as implied in a censored USPS email response, forwarded to us from one of our customers (see below), USPS's lack of scanning, and updating the information in their tracking information when leaving our facility and traveling through the Chicago USPS system, and then routed intra or interstate, would lead one to think that Oakridge is merely just printing shipping labels and paying USPS large sums of money daily for postage ... But it doesn't explain the huge truck loads of mail parcels being picked up by the USPS trucks each day. Thus, if you received an email from us with tracking number, or one of our customer service and support team members provided you with a tracking number, your package is on its way to you. Once your package has been picked up by the USPS trucks and has left our facilities (the day the label was created), it is totally out of our control.
Here is a typical example USPS management response letter forwarded to us recently from one of our customer's hometown post office managers.
"Dear XXXXXX XXXXX,
Thank you for contacting the Postal Service with your concern.
In investigating your package on Track and Confirm, it shows that there is only a Pre-Shipment information that was sent out electronically. In other words, this is something that is done electronically by the shipper or vendor when they are preparing a shipping label.
It also does not show that this item has been handed over to the Post Office for shipping. You may want to contact the vendor and inform them that you are waiting for a shipment that has not been entered into the mail stream.
Again, I understand that you may be frustrated and I do apologize for the delay that COVID-19 has caused on packages arriving timely. If you would like to reach me, please contact me at the number below.
Thank you for contacting the US Postal Service.
Sincerely,
XXXX XXX
Supervisor Customer Services
XXXXXXXX Detached Delivery Unit"
Thanks for your patience and understanding and your business!