Why does a UPS shipment get scanned more than once in some areas?

Answer 1

Most major shippers within the United States, at least, have instituted computerized tracking methods. Say you live in Philadelphia, PA. You buy a Air Purifier from a company in southern California. The company uses UPS as its shipper.

When the driver picks up from the California company, all packages are tagged --if not already labeled--and scanned. This verifies that the shipper now has control over the package. Your package is now on its way to you, but it may go through numerous cities and States along the way, including via air transport and trucking. So 1st trucker picks up the package at the company and drives it to a nearby airport, where it is scanned again to show that "custody" has changed. Your package goes through 2 air cargo "connecting flights" and is scanned at each airport. You are tracking it at the UPS website and see it "in" various Midwest cities on its way to you. The act of scanning at each location allows the company--and you--to track the package.

Finally, it arrives in Philadelphia. But in a huge city, there may be numerous UPS offices. Any package does not automatically come in to the office closest to your home. Instead, it goes to a main hub local office of UPS, which then uses local deliveries to send packages throughout the city. But one city's UPS may use chains of delivery, with each office getting closer to the destination. So your package may go through 3, 4, or 5 local offices before getting to your door.

It's very nice that companies have created ways that customers can check on packages. It's a much improved system from how shipping was done even 30-50 years ago, or the long wait customers went through 100 years ago as shipments went by railroad.