She’s a 10, but she’s one of the oldest postal systems in the world. USPS is a renowned postal service that delivers more than 660 million packages every day. The tracking that comes with each package is also a unique innovation that its customers appreciate. Sometimes during a chaotic delivery, you do not see the tracking updates. That gets you worried.
Article summary
The most common reason your USPS tracking isn’t updating or is available is that the package hasn’t been scanned or overloaded at the company. However, other reasons include the following:
- It’s sitting at customs.
- The package has been lost.
- Harsh weather
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That’s where we can help you. Here are some of the problems you’ll see when tracking updates aren’t available and how you can solve them.
Maybe you’re waiting for your cat backpack, vermeil earrings, or a ceiling fan.
Table of Contents
- How can I track my package?
- 7 Reasons Your USPS Tracking Is Not Updating or Available
- When will I get my shipment?
- Certified mail
- It’s been a week. What should I do?
How can I track my package?
USPS has a unique tracking number given to each of its customers. It helps them track the package and see where it is and how long they can expect to wait before they receive it.
However, for multiple reasons, the tracking is unavailable when you enter it into the system.
7 Reasons Your USPS Tracking Is Not Updating or Available
Let’s take a look at these reasons your USPS tracking is not updating or available.
1. Package not scanned
You can only view the tracking of the package since it gets scanned at every location. Now thousands of packages get scanned at a single location. In this commotion, it is easy to forget a scan or two.
If yours is the unfortunate package that hasn’t been updating its tracks, it could be possible it was never scanned.
Although batch scanning limits this possibility, some packages are scanned alone. Therefore, it is easy to skip them.
2. Harsh weather conditions
It’s a bummer to shovel out the snow in your front yard. Just imagine the trouble the pioneers of the USPS delivery system go through. They have to battle the snow and sleet and the slippery roads that result from the snow and sleet.
There are various weather conditions across the country, and your package must move through them. In some places, there’ll be heatwaves. There will be rain in others, and even a bit of snow in some colder regions. In the midst of all this, some delays are only natural. It means even slower tracking updates.
Just imagine the trouble when the barcode on your package gets disfigured due to the rain.
3. Package overload
Sometimes it is nothing but your package that is causing the delay. In certain seasons like the holiday season in December, there is a huge influx of packages and mail and thus causing a major delay in delivery.
In times like these, there are bound to be logjams and glitches that prevent the updating of the status. Sit tight and be patient until your turn comes round. Father Christmas has something for everyone!
4. Updated but moving
Sometimes delivery personnel might be in such a great hurry that they deliver the package but forget to update the tracking.
You’ll be staring at the ‘Out for Delivery’ sign while the package lands on your front porch. If it’s been a couple of hours since the Out for the Delivery update, it’s best to check outside and around the house. Yours is likely sitting patiently waiting for you to discover it. The poor USPS personnel probably just forgot to update the status.
5. Shipment lost
USPS is known for its promptness and reliability, but there are glitches in every system. Although it is very unlikely, some packages never see the light of day in such large operations. They may get left behind and thrust into a warehouse corner, never to be found again.
Large facilities also do not have the time to allocate someone to find a single package.
Maybe you fear yours has been lost. You can file a complaint with USPS and receive compensation for the same if you had an insurance cover.
6. Incorrect tracking ID
In a few cases, the customer often enters the wrong tracking ID the entire time to view their package progress. When this is the case, it may be possible they are either looking at some other customer’s package or even a non-existent tracking number.
To avoid this, always look at the tracking ID and copy it carefully. Or you can also copy and paste it into the tracking site.
7. Sitting at customs
There are chances that you will experience a lag in updating simply because the progress has been halted. The courier must suffer through endless border security in international packages. It includes sitting at the airport’s customs authority. Since it does take a few days to clear, delivery personnel will often delay their visit to pick up the parcel from the airport.
If you suspect this is happening, give the concerned delivery hub at the destination a call. They should give you a call back about the status of your delivery soon.
| Service | Starting Price | Ship time | Pricing Options | Where to pay postage | Insurance |
| Priority mail express | $28.75 | Next day to 2 days by 6pm | Flat rate and variable price both | Online and post office | $100 included |
| Priority Mail | $9.35 | 1-3 days | Flat rate, variable price, prepaid | Post office and online | $100 included |
| First class mail | $0.63 | 1-5 days | Variable price | Post office | Available |
| First class package service | $4.75 | 2-5 days | Variable price and online with click and ship business account | Post office | Available |
| USPS retail ground | $8.95 | 2-5 days | Variable price | Post office | Available |
| Media mail | $3.65 | 2-8 days | Variable Price | Post office | Available |
Here is a list of the full media mail:
- Books
- Printed music and test material
- Printed educational charts
- Video and sound recordings
- Medical loose-leaf and binders
- Computer-readable media
Restricted items include:
- Video games
- Computer drives
- Digital drives
When will I get my shipment?
It depends on the mail service that you paid for. You can expect it overnight if you’re paying for Priority Mail Express. Anything less than this, and you can expect 1-3 business days. In the case of Parcel Select, USPS Retail Ground, and Media Mail, you can expect a longer waiting period of 2-8 days.
Certified mail
First, you ought to know what certified mail is. Certified mail is just regular mail but with a simple feature of letting the sender know that the mail has been delivered. The sender receives an electronic verification and mailing receipt to inform them that a delivery attempt has been made.
How can you track certified mail, then? There are three ways specifically to check the delivery progress:
- Enter the tracking ID you found on your mailing receipt online at www.usps.com.
- You can also check it over the phone with text tracking with the USPS hotline at 1-800-222-1811.
It’s been a week. What should I do?
If your package’s whereabouts haven’t been notified to you in a week, it’s probably gone missing. USPS considers an MIA duration of more than a week to indicate that it is probably lost.
It’s still best to wait one or two days before filing a missing shipment search with USPS. Sometimes delivery is delayed, and the tracking has not been up to date.
The first thing to note is that track online progress is seen only after 24 to 48 hours. And it will change after a day or two. The progress is only updated once the package reaches a new facility and is scanned as part of a batch.
However, the package is sometimes scanned separately. It makes it prone to being left out of the updating process.
There could also be weather conditions delaying the overall delivery of your package. A snowstorm, slippery roads, or a tree falling on the road. They’re all very human realities of the world can get in between your receiving a package on time. It’s best to wait a week before drawing any conclusions.
Tracking status is not available
The first thing to do here is to check whether your tracking number is correct or not. If you are entering the wrong number, this could lead to a non-availability of status. One of the most likely explanations for this is if the shipping vendor has not received or collected the package information and updated them on their end.
When that happens, you are not able to view where it has reached.
It could also be that it is sitting at customs, and no information is available about it until it enters the country officially.
It says delivered but I haven’t received anything
When there’s a delivered status at your end but the bell never rung and nothing was handed over, you should thoroughly search your property. Look around the house outside, near the garage and the mailbox. If you still don’t find anything, it is worth asking a neighbor if they have seen anything on their property.
If you still don’t find anything, you should bring this to the attention of your local post office or file a missing package search online.
Delivery attempted – no access to the delivery location.
It is the USPS way of apologizing to you for not being able to deliver your package. The delivery personnel attempted to make a delivery and several obstacles prevented them from doing so. In this case, perhaps the residence was not readily available, or the address was not found even after considerable efforts.
