the shipping business has gotten so complicated...

[connorlindeman]

As someone who ships over 100 boxes a week through USPS, I have noticed a considerable increase in packages lost in transit. USPS needs major reforms quickly or its only going to get worse. Roughly 3-5% of packages I drop off never get scanned into the system. Another 5% never get scanned until delivered. This makes it very difficult for my customers to predict when a package will arrive. Just last month a package headed to PA from NJ went all the way to HI, then to Utah, then to Florida before finally showing up at the customer's address. This was a priority mail parcel. Needless to say, the plants were DOA.

 

[GaryE]

Aquatic Clarity finally has wc Chili rasbora. I want 15 for my nano tank. But alas it would be foolish to order the fish now. Of course by April the Chili will be all gone.

And once again, we mourn the local aquarium store, which could order in sufficient quantities to keep the fish warm. Our little, solo traveling fish boxes are very vulnerable to cold and to delays...
La Maison du Poisson in Montreal has Iguanodectes geisleri and some lovely corys. They'll have sold before I can get them too. Well, I hope they will have because that's a good seller I don't want to see out of business!

 

[fishorama]

I try to never order anything late Nov. through early Jan. Even in my moderate climate it gets too chilly for fish or plants now; too hot later.

Other stuff can get lost or delayed no matter the shipper especially now. My husband ordered us new computers in mid Nov. His laptop came in abour 2 weeks. My PC delivery changed dates almost daily then came earlier than predicted. It's a crap shoot.

Sad, because like gwand said, some fish are seasonal. Snooze & lose the cool fish or risk them dying in transit. My best option is to request fish from an independent shop & hope they arrive healthy. None are close enough for me to be a "regular customer" so that's not good for them either unless I want an entire box'o'fish, maybe 6 or 12 (ok for some) or 50 or more (sigh).

 

[Magnum Man]

the set of wheels I ordered for our old convertible, that only 3 arrived, has been a challenge they want the seller to notify of a missing package, it's not easy for the final receiver to notify the shipper... of course with the holidays, that's been a challenge... each wheel had it's own tracking number, and I followed them as group, almost until they were out for delivery... turns out they got separated the hub before the delivery location... I was able to go back to my shipping email, and track each individual number... looks like the lost number has now arrived to the delivery location, and they acknowledge it is supposed to be out for delivery today... this worked for a large box, like a car wheel, I'm sure smaller packages are easier to lose, and for longer...

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

USPS raising rates effective January 2026.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

I bought a new canister filter on Ebay the other day.
It arrived at my local UPS hub at 4:57 am this morning, plenty of time to load it on a truck for delivery. But they didn't. The tracking said Monday the 26th the whole time. I think they held it just because it's UPS Ground. You would think they would want to get out every package they could knowing that Monday conditions would be horrible and cause further delay.

So I don't get to tinker with my new filter during the storm.

 

[MattW]

I ordered my new lid the other day and used UPS day delivery (Friday) as I was home, cost me 12.99 for that. Out for delivery at 9:37am and never turned up, 1am Sat morning they say it will be scheduled for next available day and was returned to depot. The depot is a 45 min drive away.. It hasn’t updated at all. I hope it comes Monday now

 

[Salamandra]

I bought a new canister filter on Ebay the other day.
It arrived at my local UPS hub at 4:57 am this morning, plenty of time to load it on a truck for delivery. But they didn't. The tracking said Monday the 26th the whole time. I think they held it just because it's UPS Ground. You would think they would want to get out every package they could knowing that Monday conditions would be horrible and cause further delay.

So I don't get to tinker with my new filter during the storm.

I like ebay but stopped using them as USPS in my area is simply terrible so can only use UPS or FedEx . I ordered shrimp on ebay but due to USPS stopped I did find a place that uses FedEx so bought all the shrimp colors I needed via them.

Here due to serious Summer temps I can only order mid Jan to March as avoid Christmas holidays .

 

[Salamandra]

As someone who ships over 100 boxes a week through USPS, I have noticed a considerable increase in packages lost in transit. USPS needs major reforms quickly or its only going to get worse. Roughly 3-5% of packages I drop off never get scanned into the system. Another 5% never get scanned until delivered. This makes it very difficult for my customers to predict when a package will arrive. Just last month a package headed to PA from NJ went all the way to HI, then to Utah, then to Florida before finally showing up at the customer's address. This was a priority mail parcel. Needless to say, the plants were DOA.

I'm in South Florida and no way you can order anything live via USPS here , you always get package but can be a week or 2 delay so anything live even if 2 day shipping which does not mean a thing here is out of the question .

FedEx or UPS is outstanding but most sellers only use USPS .

 

[Back in the fold]

I'm in South Florida and no way you can order anything live via USPS here , you always get package but can be a week or 2 delay so anything live even if 2 day shipping which does not mean a thing here is out of the question .

FedEx or UPS is outstanding but most sellers only use USPS .

The whole package shipping / delivery system has undergone a huge transformation in the past six years . Package volume has increased so much that I think the Postal Service and UPS and FedEx got blindsided by it . I saw a Discovery Channel show about UPS’s World Port facility in Louisville shortly after they built it and the UPS bigwig was crowing about many packages they could handle . It is outdated and insufficient now . I don’t fault any of the shippers . They’re scrambling to get their footing and make it happen .

 

[Salamandra]

The whole package shipping / delivery system has undergone a huge transformation in the past six years . Package volume has increased so much that I think the Postal Service and UPS and FedEx got blindsided by it . I saw a Discovery Channel show about UPS’s World Port facility in Louisville shortly after they built it and the UPS bigwig was crowing about many packages they could handle . It is outdated and insufficient now . I don’t fault any of the shippers . They’re scrambling to get their footing and make it happen .

USPS delivery in my area is great as far as on the ball carrier however the package depot ( think called that ) for south Florida is a nightmare and that is where packages linger so impossible to order live stuff using them but other delivery services work great .

 

[Back in the fold]

USPS delivery in my area is great as far as on the ball carrier however the package depot ( think called that ) for south Florida is a nightmare and that is where packages linger so impossible to order live stuff using them but other delivery services work great .

I’m not sure what they call an end of the line place so depot sounds good to me . You have hubs where packages from everywhere come to be sorted and then sent to the final destinations . Most states and regions have several or more hubs . I think the final destinations are the last to be modernized and updated and that may account for your experience .

 

[gimme30]

They're just called distribution centers. Florida may not be updated yet...they're getting around to it but it's an expensive time-consuming process. In CO they had to add floor space to continue processing in a limited capacity while the conversion was made but there were still huge backlogs. The new tech is some pretty amazing stuff, very accurate. Trouble is, there's still the human component to deal with. Clerks sort the packages once they reach the station and honestly, if you saw how some of them handle things you'd never order anything fragile, let alone alive, shipped via the USPS.
I'm lucky in that my PO and carrier are very good so given the choice I always pick that option. UPS isn't too bad here but will sometimes send packages on a trip around the world first. FedEx is awful. 85% of the things I get via them, if it shows up at all, are beat to hell.

 

[Back in the fold]

if you saw how some of them handle things you'd never order anything fragile, let alone alive, shipped via the USPS.
I'm lucky in that my PO and carrier are very good so given the choice I always pick that option. UPS isn't too bad here but will sometimes send packages on a trip around the world first. FedEx is awful. 85% of the things I get via them, if it shows up at all, are beat to hell.

I used to work air cargo for UPS and I can tell you some stories . Taking care with your packages is way down the list of priorities . That cargo jet’s schedule is the first priority and packing as much into the feeders , cans and package cars as possible is next . And FAST ! Gotta do it FAST ! I once watched some FedEx guys across the ramp unloading mail bags out of the belly of a 757 . They were kicking them into the baggage carts to get them down to the sort unit faster .

 

[Salamandra]

I used to work air cargo for UPS and I can tell you some stories . Taking care with your packages is way down the list of priorities . That cargo jet’s schedule is the first priority and packing as much into the feeders , cans and package cars as possible is next . And FAST ! Gotta do it FAST ! I once watched some FedEx guys across the ramp unloading mail bags out of the belly of a 757 . They were kicking them into the baggage carts to get them down to the sort unit faster .

You mean they were not careful with packages like Doug was ( King of Queens ) ?