101 Guide to Carrier Facilities (Including FedEx, UPS, USPS, & Amazon)

After you pick and pack your orders to perfection (or a 3PL does it for you), the carrier of your choice picks them up and delivers them straight to your customer’s front door. Simple, right?

Well, not quite. Once it’s handed off to a courier, an order’s last-mile journey is just beginning — and your responsibility isn’t finished yet. 

While each package’s journey can vary, almost every ecommerce order will spend time in a carrier facility before arriving at its final destination. It is crucial that ecommerce businesses understand what goes on at a carrier facility, as these facilities and their operations directly impact the delivery and customer experience — and, by extension, your bottom line. 

In this article, we’ll break down what a carrier facility is, answer common questions about popular carriers, and discuss the importance of real-time carrier tracking.

What is a carrier facility?

Packages that arrive at a carrier facility are processed, scanned, and sorted before they are either sent to a different carrier facility or delivered to the end customers. Carrier facilities can be large or small, depending on the size of the area they cover. 

What you need to know about carrier facilities as a business

When your business works closely with carriers to complete their order fulfillment, it’s important to understand how a carrier facility works. There are plenty of activities that take place within these facilities, and for orders to reach the right customers within the right time frame, these activities must be impeccably coordinated. 

The chain of activity begins when trucks bring in packages addressed to destinations in the cities or localities that the facility serves. The trucks drop off the packages at designated locations within the facility, and the facility logs each package based on certain criteria, such as its shipping journey, destination region, or mode of travel.

Once logged, packages are then sorted based on the criteria listed above and assigned to specific storage locations based on product type. 

For example, some parcels may require special storage spaces (such as freezers, refrigerated rooms, or darkrooms), some may be set aside for forwarding to a different facility even closer to the final destination, and some may be transported from truck to truck without being stored at all (which is called “cross-docking”).  

From there, packages are loaded onto other trucks or delivery vans, which will either take them closer to the final delivery destination or complete the delivery.  

Through this organized process, carrier facilities ensure that the right parcels are routed to the right destinations, and that products are stored properly while in transit to prevent spoilage or damage.

4 biggest carrier facilities (+ most common Q&A)

The biggest players in the domestic shipping and delivery industry have their own carrier facilities. Here are answers to common questions about four of the most popular carriers and their carrier facilities. 

Carrier Facility	Pickup option at carrier facility	Retail pickup or rerouting services available	Processing timeframe
Amazon	With Amazon Hub delivery notice	Yes	Varies
UPS	No	Yes	1-2 days
USPS (United States Postal Service)	No	Yes	1-2 days
FedEx	No	Yes	A few hours to 2 days

1. Amazon carrier facility

Can I pick up an Amazon package from a carrier facility?

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to pick up your Amazon package from the carrier facility, as it’s not open to the public. However, customers who specified that their order should be delivered to an Amazon Hub can pick up their package after receiving the delivery notice. 

How long does a package stay at an Amazon facility?

Amazon carrier facilities don’t hold packages for any specific time frame. Factors such as the type of shipping service used, the product itself, and seasonal pressure affecting a carrier’s service bandwidth will impact the hold time. 

What does it mean when Amazon says a package has “left the carrier facility”?

This means that the package is in transit from the carrier facility to a different location. This new location could be either the customer’s doorstep, or a different carrier facility closer to the order’s final destination. 

“Everybody expects Amazon-level shipping speeds and 2-day or next-day delivery. To provide that to our customers via ground shipping, we need to increase the number of fulfillment centers we use to reduce shipment time. Instead of partnering with a bunch of different providers that each have one or two warehouses, we can just distribute inventory across ShipBob’s dozens of US fulfillment centers.”

Jessica Cedarleaf, VP of Operations at Tonies

2. UPS carrier facility

Can customers pick up packages from a UPS carrier facility?

While it isn’t possible to pick up a package at any carrier facility (as it isn’t safe for laypersons to be near industrial equipment and operations), UPS does give customers other ways to pick up orders.

Customers can leverage services such as UPS Delivery Intercept to eschew delivery, or redirect the package to their preferred UPS Access Point or retail location from which they can pick up the package.

How long do packages stay at UPS facilities?

As with most carriers, there is no set time frame a package must stay at a UPS facility. However, on average, packages spend 1-2 days at UPS facilities before they’re transported to the next destination.

What does it mean when a package is “processing” at a UPS facility?

This means that a UPS facility has received the package and is currently preparing to ship it to the next destination.

3. USPS carrier facility

Can customers pick up packages from a USPS facility?

Similarly to UPS, USPS provides customers with ways to pick up packages that do not involve pedestrians visiting actual carrier facilities. For a fee, customers can use the USPS Package Intercept service to stop delivery, and have the package sent to their local Post Office for pickup. 

How long do packages stay at a regional USPS facility?

As with most carriers, there is no set time frame a package must stay at a USPS facility. In most cases, though, packages spend 1-2 days at a regional USPS facility before they’re transported or delivered to the next destination.

What does USPS’ “Delivery status not updated” mean?

This can mean a few things. It may be that there has been no change in the status of your order and that it is still in the delivery stage it was when you last checked. It could also mean that USPS’ order tracking system has not refreshed yet, often as the result of scanning errors, a bug in the system, or issues with the delivery.  

4. FedEx carrier facility

Can customers pick up packages from a FedEx facility?

FedEx also provides customers with ways to pick up packages that avoid carrier facilities. Through the Hold at FedEx Location option, eligible packages can be rerouted to and picked up from a nearby FedEx retail location.

How long do packages stay at a FedEx facility?

Depending on the type of shipping service, some packages spend only a few hours at a FedEx facility, while others may have to be held for 1-2 days before being processed.

How can customers find out which FedEx facility is holding their package?

Customers can use the FedEx Tracking tool to track the movement of your package and find out which FedEx facility has it ready for pickup.

“We love all the features of ShipBob’s dashboard. We especially love the timeline feature, which shows which orders are processed, which are labeled, which are shipped, and so on. You can track orders all the way through the supply chain to your customer’s doorstep, and get full visibility into the fulfillment process.”

Maria Osorio, Logistics and Operations Director at Oxford Healthspan

The importance of real-time carrier tracking

With so much else to juggle in an ecommerce business, it’s tempting to think your job is done once an order is in the carrier’s hands. However, it is crucial to stay invested even after the package leaves your fulfillment center.

Here are just a few of the reasons why ecommerce businesses should keep track of packages in real time. 

Optimize logistics process

Tracking and reporting on individual shipments allows you to estimate how long it will take for a package to reach its destination.

Using these reports, you can work backwards to plan your shipping schedules and your production and procurement timelines accordingly to ensure that your supply chain functions seamlessly and to increase efficiency through optimized logistics processes.

Avoid package losses and delays

By knowing exactly where packages are and how they’re moving at all times, you’ll be able to detect any issues early on and address them in a timely manner. For example, if a package seems to be lost in transit, you can proactively send a replacement without waiting for the customer to reach out.

This type of responsiveness is crucial to ensure that a package arrives on time and to the right destination, and to keep customers informed and happy. 

“Even though ShipBob is fulfilling our orders, I still get visibility into and control of the process with what they’re doing. Wherever I am in the world, I can log in to my ShipBob dashboard and know exactly what’s going on with our orders. ShipBob is dependable, so I can trust that a customer will get their product within two days, even if I’m not in the office or even near the vicinity. If an issue does pop up, like a missing order, I can just log on to ShipBob, repeat that order, and have it sent out to them in a flash. It’s just handy.”

Kelly Bond, Operations Manager at Elle Sera 

Account for damages

Real-time tracking is essential to maintaining quality all the way from your ecommerce fulfillment center to the customer’s doorstep. By following the package at every turn, you’ll be able to determine where damage occurs during transit and hold the correct party responsible. 

This also makes it easier to detect signs of unreliability, malpractice, and bad service. As such, you can make informed decisions about existing partners and whether to switch to a different business partner.

Maximize customer satisfaction

When real-time tracking helps you improve logistical efficiency, stay on schedule, and avoid damage in transit, your customers have a better experience with your brand.

Customers love (and expect) a seamless delivery experience with tracking and order status updates — so when your brand can provide it all, shoppers are more likely to purchase again and recommend your brand to others.

ShipBob maximizes your shipping performance

While you can’t control what happens in the carrier’s facility, you can control how fulfill and prepare orders before you hand them off to the carrier. In fact, by optimizing your inventory, order, and fulfillment operations, you can set your carrier partners up for success and boost your own brand’s efficiency, order accuracy, and customer satisfaction.  

That’s why a lot of brands choose to partner with an expert fulfillment and supply chain platform like ShipBob. Here are just some of the ways that ShipBob goes the extra mile beyond fulfilling orders for you to facilitate the easy, cost-effective last-mile experience customers expect.  

Integrate with your favorite carriers 

As an expert logistics provider, ShipBob partners and integrates with major last-mile carriers, including USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and more to outsource and streamline the carrier handoff process. Through ShipBob’s software, merchants view carrier rates in real-time and either select their carrier or choice, or automatically opt to ship each package via the most cost-effective courier. When coupled with bulk discount shipping rates negotiated with major carriers, ShipBob’s shipping solutions let you save money on shipping without sacrificing quality.  

“What impressed me most was their robust software, which also has all of the carrier’s rates and carrier selection logic. For example, if we want to sell a certain bottle of wax, we can see which carrier can send it the cheapest: DHL, FedEx, USPS, and even others.”

John Lewis, President and COO of Vision Investments (parent company of AutoGeek) 

Ship from anywhere, fast 

With 50+ fulfillment centers across the US, UK, Europe, Canada, and Australia, ShipBob can store your inventory in multiple regions to place inventory closer to your customers. This enables you to use affordable ground shipping and still reach customers quickly, so you can cut delight customers without breaking the bank.  

ShipBob’s ideal inventory distribution tool helps you calculate the most strategic inventory allocation plan to minimize your average shipping time and cost.  

ShipBob will even handle physically distributing your inventory for you through our Inventory Placement Program. Simply send your inventory to a single ShipBob receiving hub, and we’ll take care of sending the right quantities to regional hubs for you.  

“By leveraging ShipBob’s US fulfillment network, we’ve significantly reduced shipping times. Previously, it would take us five to six business days to deliver items to customers. However, with the utilization of four of ShipBob’s US fulfillment centers, the average delivery time has been reduced to just two and a half days from order receipt to customer receipt.

Expanding our warehouse network from 2 to 4 warehouses has translated into substantial cost savings, amounting to $1.5 million in freight expenses for Our Place. Currently, only 2% of our parcels are reaching Zone 7 or Zone 8 collectively, indicating that 98% of our parcels are reaching Zones 1 through 6. By shipping locally to lower zones, we’re achieving the most significant reductions in outbound costs.”

Ali Shahid, COO of Our Place 

Simplified package preparation 

ShipBob streamlines the picking, packing, and labeling processes to simplify the process of carrier pickup, and to boost your fulfillment accuracy and efficiency. Specifically, ShipBob will:  

• Scan each individual product’s barcode upon picking and packing for tracking, updating inventory counts in real-time. 
• Select the correct size packaging for each unique order using our proprietary box-selection algorithm, minimizing unnecessary dunnage and weight. 
• Automatically generates shipping labels for your brand (even enabling custom sender labels so that packages appear to come “from” your business’s name”).  

“One of my favorite things about ShipBob is the visibility, one example of which is receiving a breakdown of how much it costs to fulfill each of our items.  ShipBob uses a Cubiscan, so they have the correct measurements of each product. From there they say, ‘Based on these dimensions, this specific product mix will be packed in this specific box size. Here is the rate.’ So, by that system, we know that one of our bottles is going to cost us let’s say $4 to pick, pack, and ship.”

Cesar Contreras, Head of Supply Chain of Wholesome Goods 

2-day shipping

If you are passionate about providing 2-day shipping, ShipBob’s 2-Day Express Shipping program lets you guarantees faster transit times to carrier facilities, making expedited shipping more accessible for ecommerce merchants. This way, your customers will get the speedy and affordable delivery they want, helping your business to increase loyalty, sales, conversions, and revenue. 

“With our last 3PL, if our customers wanted free shipping, they had to have economy shipping and wait 5-8 days for delivery. Whereas with ShipBob, we can offer free shipping and customers receive their order in 3-5 days. I believe part of our increased conversion rate is due to our customers seeing the option for faster shipping at checkout. ShipBob’s 2-Day Express ship option definitely helps this.”

Peter Liu, Co-Founder of RIFRUF   

While tracking statuses and their meanings often vary from carrier to carrier, there is some common verbiage. Here are a few key terms to help you understand how your packages are moving through a carrier facility.  

“Package arrived at carrier facility”

This means that the package has reached a carrier facility. It could mean that the package is now at a facility close to the final destination — but if the package must make multiple stops, this status could just mean that the package has completed just one leg of a longer journey.

“Package has left the carrier facility”

This means that the package has just been shipped out from the carrier facility. Depending on which stage of the shipment journey the package is in, it could either be headed for the customer’s doorstep or for another carrier facility.

“Package being processed at carrier facility”

This means that the package has been received at the carrier facility and is currently being scanned and sorted to get it ready to travel to its next destination. 

“Package delayed at a carrier facility”

This means that there has been some delay in moving the package to the next destination. Often, this happens because the carrier facility is experiencing some bottlenecks due to a backlog of packages or a shortage of delivery trucks and drivers (usually resulting from seasonal pressures). 

For more information on how ShipBob can optimize your brand’s fulfillment and delivery strategy, click the button below.

Carrier facility FAQs

Here are answers to the most common questions about carrier facilities.