United Parcel Service of America Inc. has finally responded publicly to several mail-tracking efforts the U.S. Postal Service has either launched or plans to.
In a news release Tuesday, the Atlanta-based shipper answered repeated press requests over several months for comments about Confirm, an electronic monitoring system for letter-size mail the USPS introduced in October, and about USPS plans for the future rollout of two other monitoring or tracking programs.
The release was sent as a “backgrounder” entitled “When Is Package Tracking Really Tracking?” It did not mention Confirm or the planned services specifically but listed a number of differences between the USPS’ tracking services and its own. UPS’ are automatic and free, while the USPS’ must be requested and there is a charge. Also, the postal service only confirms that the package was delivered while UPS tracks it along the way.
UPS also stressed that its tracking system “relates to [a] guaranteed, time-definite delivery,” adding that it provides “a money-back guarantee on all air and commercial ground deliveries.”
The postal service, which had no immediate comment about the UPS statement, has in the works two tracking services that would bring its capabilities closer to the private company’s. An identification code sorting/tracking service is slated for later this year, and a more sophisticated tracking program is planned for the distant future.
