What is tracking and what it eats

Fifteen years ago, sending a letter or a package, it remained only to wait patiently for an answer. It was almost impossible to find out any information about where the correspondence was.

Letters came to the wrong address, returned to the sender or simply disappeared. If the parcel was lost, you had to go to the post office, write a statement about the loss and wait for months to receive any information about it.

Fortunately, technology is evolving, production and processes are automated. Similar changes have affected the delivery services operating around the world. Mail is not an exception. Tracking is a great opportunity for any person to control the movement of his / her departure. Obviously, such control has a lot of advantages.

What is tracking and what is it for?

The word "track" (watch, watch) came from the English language, and with respect to the mail it means the ability to monitor the location of the sending via the Internet. This service greatly simplifies the work of the delivery service. Simultaneously, we can talk about improving the quality of its work, since tracking:

• Makes it easier to find losses, monitor delays in correspondence, thereby reducing delivery time, and minimizes the number of complaints and proceedings initiated by customers;
• Helps to reduce the number of calls from senders and recipients to the customer service in order to obtain information about where parcels and shipments are located at a given time.

This is the answer to the question about what is tracking.

How it works

A tracking number is assigned to a postal item, the data on it is applied to its packaging (envelope, box or box). When it passes through control points, such as marshalling centers, airport terminals, customs control points and so on, the identifier is scanned, and the information falls into a common database in which the history of all movements of this shipment is displayed.

The user entering the request containing the tracking number on the relevant site sees information about the list of passed cut-offs and the time in which it happened.

If you know what tracking is and where you can find out the corresponding identification number, there will be no problem with determining the location of your correspondence. Also the assigned code is proof that the dispatch was made. The obvious advantage of tracking is that post tracking of correspondence can be carried out without leaving home.

Does all correspondence be assigned a tracking number

In the US and many European countries, all shipments receive the corresponding identifier. In Russia, the number is assigned to registered correspondence (with declared value or customized).

What does the tracking number look like?

Domestic dispatches in Russia have an identifier consisting of 14 digits, and information about it is contained in the receipt received when it is sent to the post office. The marking of foreign correspondence looks somewhat different and consists of an alphanumeric code (2 letters, 9 digits, 2 letters).

Can the departure be lost?

The introduction of the tracking system did not relieve these situations, but the number of them decreased noticeably. There are cases when the parcel is assigned a number, but it does not move to the destination, and then it turns out to be the recipient. In any case, having an idea of what tracking is and how to track correspondence, the customer of the postal service can in time notice possible problems with delivery.

The delivery time of any shipment is strictly regulated, either completely or separately for each control point. Thus, if the parcel is delayed, for example, by sorting, the tracking information serves as the reason for the official submission of the application for the loss of correspondence.