Amazon sure has some weird ideas about geography. I mean, I live in Oregon, which isn't *that* far from Nevada. Yet, look at the route that my package is taking:
October 12, 2009 12:24:00 PM LOUISVILLE KY US Arrival Scan October 12, 2009 11:42:00 AM LOUISVILLE KY US Arrival Scan October 10, 2009 12:10:00 PM LAS VEGAS NV US Departure Scan October 10, 2009 01:43:00 AM LAS VEGAS NV US Arrival Scan October 10, 2009 12:54:00 AM LAS VEGAS NV US Departure Scan October 9, 2009 06:58:00 PM LAS VEGAS NV US Shipment received by carrier October 9, 2009 05:39:08 PM North Las Vegas NV US Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit
Kentucky?!? Why is my package going to Kentucky first?
It's probably because UPS has a massive hub in Louisville. Amazon and many other businesses actually keep a lot of stock in Louisville, and the order is filled there. So your package probably didn't "go[] to Kentucky first," it probably started from there on its way to you.
John McPhee wrote a typically brilliant New Yorker article about this UPS hub a few years ago: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/04/18/050418fa_fact_mcphee
Posted by: Milbarge | October 12, 2009 at 02:04 PM
Hmm, that would make sense, but this is even more weird -- now Amazon shows:
October 12, 2009 04:00:00 PM PORTLAND OR US Arrival Scan
October 12, 2009 03:59:00 PM LOUISVILLE KY US Departure Scan
Wow, does Amazon have a "Star Trek" transporter or something? I mean, getting from Kentucky to Portland in just 1 minute!
(I guess this means it never actually went to Kentucky.)
Posted by: Tung Yin | October 12, 2009 at 02:19 PM
I, too, believe all packages go through hubs for, say, FedEx and UPS. It's actually faster portal to portal, apparently, to bring them (or as Milbarge says) already have them (called "insourcing" I believe) in one place, and then most efficiently dispatch them around the country.
As for the "one minute miracle" I'm assuming those are local times, and that it was probably a three hour trip.
Posted by: Nick | October 14, 2009 at 02:24 PM