How do delivery companies track packages? That is what we will answer in this guide.
We’ve broken this guide into two sections. The first section includes the actual process of tracking an order. The second section deals with the actual “technicalities” and behind-the-scenes of the process. How and why does order tracking work? What are the best ways to track orders and so on.
When a customer places an order, they expect to be able to verify the status of the consignment in real-time. Even the company sending the product needs parcel tracking to verify that the order is on time and at the right location.
Let’s get started and see how delivery companies track packages then.
Table of Contents
- Why do delivery companies track an order?
- Step 1: Setting up or acquiring a traceable identification
- Step 2: Actually tracking the package
- Where is this tracking ID found?
- Understanding the process of an order being shipped
- Understanding the tracking ID
- How is the order information updated?
- More advanced ways delivery companies use to track orders
- Conclusion
Why do delivery companies track an order?
Before the how, let’s discuss the “why” even if it’s briefly so.
Order tracking can be massively helpful and in fact even contributes to revenue growth (or loss).
For starters, the fact that whoever needs the order can trace its real-time update is a massive trust builder.
Secondly, being able to track the order helps prepare contingencies. If the order is delayed, an apology notification can be sent to the receiving party. If the order can’t be delivered at all, its replacements can be sent sooner and so on.
In some cases the order is stuck at certain points and the delivery company can then get in touch with the problem and help solve it.
Point being, it’s almost impossible to imagine sending an order today without being able to track it. Of course, exceptions exist where orders are shipped without an ID.
Let’s not beat around the bush and see how delivery companies track orders then.
Step 1: Setting up or acquiring a traceable identification
The first step to track a package, either by a company or individual is to make the item trackable. To do this, all delivery partners attach a “tracking ID” to each parcel around the globe.
The tracking ID can be in many forms:
- It generally is just a long string of numbers and alphabet.
- It can be a QR code
- It can be a Bar code.
- There are other advanced ways of attaching an identification to an item as well. The ones mentioned above simply are some of the most common options.
QR and bar codes are preferred over simply a text-based tracking ID for multiple reasons. For starters, it’s easier and faster to scan QR codes and bar codes as compared to manually writing down a tracking ID throughout the checkpoints of the order.
Secondly, QR codes and bar codes can hold more information and can be accessed faster as compared to simple text IDs.
Do note that this ID is attached by the delivery partner. The actual owner of the product (the sender or receiver) doesn’t have to do anything manually to create this ID.
Step 2: Actually tracking the package
Once the tracking ID has been assigned and attached to an item, actually tracking the package becomes extremely easy.
Delivery companies or anyone trying to track the order simply has to go to any order tracker and enter the tracking ID they obtained earlier.
The order tracker then shows all the updates about the order and its location. In most cases, no further registration/signing up or verification is required to access the order details. Of course, in some cases you may be required to enter an OTP sent to the sender/receiver’s e-mail, whatsapp, SMS or other modes but that’s rare.
The amount of information available, OTP-requirements and everything else will depend on the exact delivery company and their tracking policies.
Where is this tracking ID found?
The obvious question now is, where will a delivery company or owner of the product find the said tracking ID?
If you’re the sender of the order, you’ll find the tracking ID generally either on the courier receipt (physical copy) or in your e-mail or whatsapp if you’ve provided the same and depending on the delivery company’s mode of communication.
If you’re the receiver of the order, you should receive the tracking ID in your e-mail or any other order updates that the sender/delivery company is sending you.
In some cases, you may have to manually ask for the tracking ID as it may not be included by default with your communications.
In more physical terms, the tracking ID (QR/Bar code) can be seen as a form of a sticker attached on the physical parcel at random locations.
Understanding the process of an order being shipped
You can understand how companies track orders by understanding how an item is shipped to begin with.
When an order is placed, the company accepting the order or selling the product often isn’t the one delivering it.
It means, the delivery company is often independent and not related to an e-commerce website or any other platform where customers place orders.
Once an order has been placed, or anyone has to send anything, they take their products to a delivery company.
The delivery company then accepts the shipment, writes down the address, and assigns a tracking ID to the order.
The delivery company generally shares tracking info with the receiver’s contact details as well. However, it also is the responsibility of the sender (owner of the product) to update their receiving end with the tracking information.
Understanding the tracking ID
The tracking ID is the key to tracking any item that has been shipped via any mode. The type of item, mode of shipment, value of the contents do not matter. There always is a tracking ID (unless it’s been hidden willingly, of course).
The tracking ID is unique to each order. No two active tracking IDs are ever the same. The tracking ID contains a ton of information, this generally includes but isn’t limited to:
- The identification of the order
- Last location it was scanned at
- Current location
- Future location it’s being forwarded to etc.
- Weight changes (if any).
Do note that the tracking information is subjective. The frequency of updates and the information in each update will depend primarily on the shipping partner. The same sender may be using multiple partners for different orders hence resulting in different tracking information with each order.
How is the order information updated?
So, a delivery partner assigned a tracking ID to an order. How is this information updated across the internet and how can delivery companies actually trace it?
The easiest and simplest answer is barcode scanning. When a parcel passes through any checkpoint, storage warehouse, or any other place that has an update system installed, this barcode/ QR code is scanned.
As soon as the system sees the code, this event is noted down and broadcasted in the system. The fact that the code was scanned physically proves that the item has reached that point.
Hence, anyone trying to trace the code knows the exact date, time and location of where their parcel last was.
Do note that the traditional order tracking does have blind spots. This is the spot between an order’s last scan, and its future scan. Meaning, once it’s scanned, this information is updated on the tracking system. It’s then forwarded to the next checkpoint. So the item’s status isn’t known after it’s scanned and before it reaches its next scan-point.
More advanced ways delivery companies use to track orders
We just discussed tracking blindspots. Fortunately, these are only true for the most basic order tracking systems.
There are more advanced ways orders can be traced which eliminate these blindspots and bring in more information.
- GPS based tracking: More expensive than traditional systems but in some cases orders are equipped with a GPS tag and hence their location is updated in real-time on the order tracker. This eliminates the blind spot and also ensures that scanning of the tracking ID isn’t required to get information about the order’s status.
- Manual tracking: Apart from checkpoints, some delivery partners may update an order’s status each hour or on any other predetermined tie periods. This is done manually which means it may carry some margin for error however it offers more frequent updates on the order.
- Map-based tracking and routing: In some cases a delivery company may visualize an order’s exact route, traffic and even recommend better/faster routes.
Conclusion
I’m sure you now know how delivery companies track packages. At the end, it’s just a system of assigning a tracking ID > scanning the ID at checkpoints to update the location and status. Of course this changes if the delivery company is using GPS-based tracking or manual tracking for more updated information.
Do note that not all delivery companies provide a tracking ID. Some prefer shipments without tracking if they like more private couriers. In this case, privacy is bought at the cost of order updates and uncertain delivery times.
In the simplest of terms, delivery companies can use an order tracker to enter the tracking ID and track the order if a tracking ID has been provided.
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