Imagup General Magazine 2024
China Post is one of the largest postal and packages shipping companies in the world. With almost 1 million employees and 33 aircraft, the company delivers packages from Chinese sellers to consumers all over the world by collaborating with local shipping companies, such as USPS in the US. If you need more details on china post tracking, read this comprehensive guide by pkge.net shipping experts.
How Does Package Tracking Work?
How do package tracking services do their job and predict the exact date of your package arrival? Well, that’s quite a challenge, but it’s almost entirely automized today! All shipping services have package tracking systems that are based on unique barcode generation and multi-stage scanning. The entire process looks like this:
- The seller delivers a package to the nearest shipping company office;
- The shipping company generates and attaches a unique barcode to the package and scans it. The barcode already includes all the information about the delivery, including the final destination. When the barcode is scanned, the tracking system receives an update. The first scanning tells the system that a package is delivered to the shipping office and prepared.
- When the package reaches the delivery vehicle, it’s scanned once again to tell the tracking system that the shipping is in process. That’s when you are given an approximate date of arrival. It may change depending on the circumstances.
- When your package arrives at the delivery point, it’s scanned once again so that you can come and receive it, or a local delivery worker can pick it up and deliver it to your door.
As you can see, the entire process is automated, and the shipping company employees only have to scan and relocate the packages from vehicle to vehicle and transfer them from depot to depot.
Some storage facilities are equipped with robots and involve minimal human labor. That’s how China Post and all other companies in the field process your shipments.
China Post Services
China Post ships packages of three categories internationally, including small parcels, large packages, and EMS (Express Mail Service). There are also three different transportation methods, including Surface Parcel, Surface Air Lift Parcel (SAL), and Air Parcel. When you order shipping to the US, only the third method is applied.
In most cases, China Post shipping to the US and most other countries takes from 7 to 14 days. This company cooperates with the USPS service within the US, and it’s important to ensure that your seller chooses this option when sending you the package. Fortunately, large marketplaces know about this rule and don’t fail the process. If they do, the package may freeze for over 70 days, but it will arrive anyway. In rare cases, the parcels are assigned to the surface parcel depot, which can deliver packages up to 120 days, which is totally disastrous.
The faster option is called ePacket or EUB, and it’s purposed for lightweight packages under 2 kg or 5kg for shipping to the UK. If you order goods from China on AliExpress, eBay, or other major marketplaces, this express delivery option should be enabled automatically. Still, we recommend you insist the seller make ePacket shipping if you don’t want the whole story to take over 70 days.
Best Tracking Methods for China Post Parcels
Tracking China Post parcels isn’t harder than tracking any other shipping services, and it’s available on multiple websites. For some reason, the main website of the company isn’t available in English, while the link to the English version is not secure and doesn’t offer any parcel tracking features. The solution to the problem is quite simple.
Method 1: USPS Tracking Tool
Given that all small packages from eCommerce websites are shipped according to the ePacket regulations, and China Post passes them to the USPS, you may think that you can simply enter your China Post tracking number on the USPS official website. Unfortunately, that’s a bit more difficult than you’d want it to be. If you already have a China Post tracking number but want to use a USPS tracking service to track parcels from China along with the rest of your USPS deliveries, you have to do the following:
- Copy your China Post tracking number;
- Paste or type it into the tracking bar on tools.usps.com (you can enter up to 35 tracking numbers at once);
- Make sure to add letters R and CN to the number to make it look like this: R**********CN.
- Now your ePacket parcels will be tracked successfully
Method 2: Parcel Tracking Aggerators
This category includes pkge.net and similar websites that offer one tracker for multiple shipping companies, including China Post, USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc. All you have to do is:
- Enter the tracking website or download the smartphone application;
- Enter the tracking number(s) into the search bar.
- Study the results and check the numbers for mistakes if they don’t work.
Why can’t I track my package by China Post?
The most common reasons for the issue are as follows:
- “Logistics order creates” or “Order Information Received” – these messages mean that the seller hasn’t delivered your order to the postal office yet. You can contact the seller to ask them to proceed faster.
- China post hasn’t updated the system cache yet – usually, this organization updates tracking info every 2-3 days, and it’s normal for them.
- Your package can be untrackable by the China Post tracking system, or it may be trackable only by the seller. In both cases, the seller has to inform you.
- The tracking number expired, or the seller faked it – in both cases, contact the seller.
- Scam – if the tracking is unavailable for more than a week, it’s almost a 100% sign of a scam.
Mind The Details
Although China Post isn’t the most convenient way to receive goods, it’s usually the only way to get things from China. Now you have enough knowledge to ask for the right delivery type and know the best ways to track your parcel. Good luck!
