Does USPS reuse tracking numbers?- Know More

USPS stands for the term United States Postal Service. They are the individual branches specially assigned to manage postal services in the United States. The services provided and looked after by USPS are mailing services with trustworthy security. Some of the common services are international mail, military mail, money orders, passport services, renting a post office, stamp collecting, etc. Let’s know ‘Does USPS reuse tracking numbers?’

Does USPS reuse tracking numbers?

There are additional benefits also provided by USPS to its customers such as a real-time tracking facility, additional security, services provided at the convenience of the sender, etc. One of the most loved and used features is its tracking system. Each customer is assigned a specific number known as a tracking number. Through which they can avail of the tracking service. However, as we go by the records, USPS does reuse their Tracking numbers due to the number of customers they deliver.

USPS Tracking System

EnaBling the tracking system for customers is one of the most satisfactory services. USPS takes the help of its tracking system to let customers check the status of their packages. There are multiple types of mailing services available by USPS. 

However, the tracking system is divided into four different steps.

USPS pre-shipment

This is the phase when the package has not yet arrived at the USPS delivery portal. However, an electronic verification is done by the sender of the arriving package. For most of the orders, this process is not at all shown in the tracking status.

USPS in transit to the next facility

Once the parcel is received by the USPS facility, the exact delivery date is assigned. There are multiple titles given in this step such as parcels under Custom clearance. The package has started the delivery journey from this point. It can also conclude that the package has cleared custom clearance and is now available to be delivered. The actual tracking process starts from here only.

Out for delivery

This means the package has left the USPS office and is already out for delivery. The actual date and time get assigned from here. One should keep checking after this step.

Delivered

The package has been delivered to the designated address.

What is a Tracking Number?

Each package is assigned a unique 22-digit code. The number assigned to each package contains information such as the status of the package and its estimated delivery time. Hence, it is known as a tracking number. 

Does USPS reuse their Tracking Number?

  • USPS handles multiple numbers of deliveries in a day. 
  • Hence, they do get the need to reuse their Tracking numbers often. The main reason to reuse tracking numbers is their unique tracking digits condition. 
  • The tracking code for any package should start from the number 9 as per the USPS system. Hence, they are in a continuous constraint for tracking numbers.
  • It is concluded that the tracking number once used can again be used within 1 year or less.
  • This is mainly because of the enormous amount of deliveries they have to handle each day and the people taking up tracking services for their packages. 

Issues found with re-usage of the tracking number

There are no serious issues recorded with the reuse of a single tracking number. 

However, a few ignorable mistakes are found, such as:

  • The previous person with the same tracking number gets notified of the delivery of the package each time the tracking number is reused.
  • Sometimes, the tracking system shows a package delivered even before it has been sent to its USPS station. This is mainly because the status shown is of the previous package and not the recent one. But it does make new users worried.
  • Even with this issue, real-time tracking starts once the package has arrived at the USPS station for the delivery process. From there, packages start getting scanned and real-time information is updated on the portal.

Conclusion

USPS is a postal service handling all related services across the United States and its adjacent countries. USPS is found to enable several facilities for the customers. One of such facilities is to provide them with a tracking system. The tracking of each package is done by the scanners at different places and in different steps. Basic details of the steps and tracking system are given above.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How accurate is the USPS tracking system?
  • USPS handles the postal service across the United States and some other countries also. Mistakes are bound to happen with such a vast working pattern. However, with the USPS tracking system, we can conclude they are highly accurate. If we talk in terms of percentage, the USPS tracking system is considered 90% accurate.
  1. Does USPS provide its mailing service packages with included tracking service?
  • No, not all mailing services provided by USPS have tracking services attacked with them. For some services, customers need to pay an additional amount to buy a tracking service for their package. For better-detailed information, one can visit the official website of USPS www.usps.com.
Does USPS reuse tracking numbers?- Know More

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