The package got to my Post Office today, but probably won’t be available for pick-up until tomorrow due to staff shortages because of illness. Point of entry to the USPS delivery system itself seems to be Las Vegas, where it got shipped via Illinois then back to Las Vegas:
Feb 15
10:35 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
PORTLAND,OR 97215
Feb 14
In Transit to Next Facility
Feb 13
7:37 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
LAS VEGAS NV DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Feb 13
1:04 am
Departed USPS Facility
CHAMPAIGN,IL 61822
Feb 13
12:30 am
USPS shipped item
LAS VEGAS,NV 89199
Feb 12
2:01 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
LAS VEGAS NV PACKAGE SORTING CENTER
It looks like the distribution has been set up with bulk supplies of test kits being sent out then packaged remotely. Here’s the normal route from the east coast:
Feb 02
7:26 pm
Arrived at USPS Destination Facility
PORTLAND,OR 97215
Feb 02
1:11 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
NASHUA NH DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Feb 01
11:56 pm
Accepted at USPS Origin Facility
NEWTON,MA 02458
USPS seems to be the shipper, working from possibly bespoke or reconfigured packaging centers and then mailing via the normal priority mail route using the relevant distribution center. This takes about half a day before the package gets into the “real” system. The first email I got was sent at Sun, Feb 13, 12:11 AM, corresponding to the recorded date for “USPS shipped item”; 12:30AM.
What is causing all the delays? Perhaps it was supply but it seems more likely to me that the delay was in getting specialized “package sorting centers” up and running. Looks like they might have taken over the regular package handling facilities
Bizarre - your post caught my eye – I live literally at the east coast “origin facility” site; ordered on the first day possible; still have not rec’d kits (and haven’t gotten email or any other notification!). But, I have received one shipment of 4 kits from amazon, am expecting 4 more tmrw, and placed an order for another 4 (each with 2 tests in each kit) to be shipped in March. Amazon shipment now seems to be quick for anyone who needs tests.
The second trail was for a completely different order from an east coast retail store; it wasn’t for test kits. I included it because it is a “regular” USPS priority mail delivery.
What I think is happening is that centers have been or are being set up to take large shipments from suppliers, break them apart, box them up, and send them to us. It is, indeed, possible that there is only one such center - the one in Nevada - and that they are trying to catch up with the backlog of orders. It would be nice if the press got to work asking questions and explaining what is going on[1].
That’s what I did too; I got four kits on Tuesday (the iHealth ones). The one I tried seemed to work fine but it was negative and I don’t have any symptoms.
I did find this article from February 14:
There’s no journalism in it to speak of, the “explanation” is limited to a statement from USPS:
The U.S. Postal Service wrote in a statement, “The Postal Service ships the tests out as quickly as we receive them. We’ve seen more than 60 million households request tests and tens of millions have received them. This is huge demand and we’re making incredible progress. We appreciate the patience of those that have not yet received their tests.”
So USPS is implying it is a supply problem but there’s no explanation of where the delay is in the supply chain or, indeed, any statement of current supply rate. Here’s a more recent (Feb 16) CNN article that actually says even less:
I just got my free test kits from the Post Office. They are the same iHealth ones as I bought from Amazon. The ones I got from Amazon have an expiry date of 7/22, the USPS distributed ones 7/12. There is no explicit manufacture date but the lot numbers seem to decode to 6 months before those dates; 0121 and 0113 respectively.
It certainly looks like the kits had actually been manufactured before the website started up (1/18); it’s not credible that the delays were due to a lack of supply, rather something in the chain. Not USPS priority mail something before that step though quite possibly still in the Post Office.
The actual shipping label is a “USPS Connect” one. Here’s the USPS press release from February 15:
Apparently they used the new, unreleased, “USPS Connect” service to deliver into the US mail service. Here’s the service (“Product Information”) note from the tracking information I posted before:
Postal Product:
First-Class Package Service
Features:
USPS Tracking®
Contrary to what I understood @elver to be saying above it wasn’t priority mail; it was the new package service (USPS Connect) which seems to be a two step process which ends up in regular mail delivery. The package was a bubble wrap mailer, not a box, so it would fit into my PO Box. The origin marked on the label was “USPS MDC TK”, which is Topeka in Kansas. I don’t know how to decode anything on that label to get a date of origin (if anyone knows how I can post the numbers).
Given all this new information I’m guessing DeJoy told the Postal chain gang to bring the start date forward, before the February 22 nationwide rollout (see the press release forward) and after a couple of weeks doing the headless chicken they had it up and running smoothly. Now it is in its pre-rollout stress test, handling just COVID-19 test kits.
USPS Connect was being field tested in parts of the US since last summer. There were industry announcements about it in December of 2020, basically describing their old regional plan with a new name. The only part they didn’t discuss is how the large shippers will also utilize it in zone skipping schemes to lower shipping costs (e.g. You order at Azn and it finally arrives 2 days later than expected and by USPS. The carrier delivered on time as expected, just not to you. They delivered to your local bulk mail sort facility who will ultimately deliver to you.)
Current press releases are saying that the kits are being delivered in “24-48” hours; that seems to be the time in the USPS mail system. So the announcements aren’t considering the time in the package system. My “return” address is to “USPS MDC TK”, not to the manufacturer of the kit. From what you say I suspect the information on the label identifies an original manufacturer bulk shipment to a USPS facility, possibly Nevada in my case even though the label says Kansas.
I ordered Feb 9th, and got an email that they would be delivered by 9 pm Feb 22.
I just checked the tracking and it says it has been delivered this morning: “Your item has been delivered and is available at a PO Box at 7:58 am on February 19, 2022.”
What is interesting though is the tracking history:
February 18, 2022, 2:35 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
BILLINGS MT DISTRIBUTION CENTER February 18, 2022, 1:20 pm
Accepted at USPS Regional Origin Facility
DENVER CO NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER
The dam just broke. The mystery is why; the answer lies partly in the return address on the package. So far (based on my sample and one other on the web) it is Topeka, Kansas.
I did decode my label information over the weekend; it’s a shipper reference, so it seems likely that it doesn’t implicitly contain any information (access to the shipper database would be required to find that.)
The mystery is whether that is the sole delivery origin; no one else has reported a different origin address (the point of entry to the USPS mail system, out of the package system, does vary).
I ordered at 10:15 AM Sunday and the first entry on the tracking (2 hrs later) is: February 20, 2022, 12:28 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
SEATTLE WA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER
So it must have originated in Seattle.
See above; the tracking information is partial. Sometimes it says “accepted at” sometimes it says other things. The first tracking entry doesn’t match any address on the label. You should get yours today or tomorrow so you will be able to see. It is possible they have now got more packaging centers online - my original hypothesis.
Topeka is once of the USPS data processing centers (see an OIG report from 2014). Clearly the package did not originate in a USPS NDC - they don’t make test kits ;-), more important they don’t do shipping, unless they have been repurposed (which would be a story in itself.)
