How to Track Mail Delivery

How you go about tracking mail depends on which service you use to send it.  A popular service to send a letter or parcel that can be tracked is the U.S. Postal Service, but it does not have the most in-depth tracking capabilities unless you upgrade the service level.  Commercial services like FedEx and UPS do a good job of giving detailed tracking information.

• Visit USPS.com to track your Postal Service mail.  The better the service you pay for, the more tracking information is available to you.  Certified Mail with Delivery Confirmation tells you only whether the letter or package has been delivered.  By upgrading to express mail, you can get point-by-point tracking details.  To track incoming Postal Service mail, ask the sender for the tracking number and enter in at tools.usps.com.


• Visit UPS.com to track your UPS packages.  Ask the sender for the tracking number for your package.  Some senders use a shipment reference instead of a tracking number, which can also be entered at the UPS website.  Once you enter the tracking or shipment reference number at the UPS.com website, a detailed point-by-point status page will show you the exact location of your package at any point in time along its delivery path.


• Visit Fedex.com to track your FedEx letters and packages.  FedEx shipments can be tracked via tracking numbers, Door Tag numbers (which start with the letters "DT" followed by 12 numbers) or order numbers.  After you have entered this information at Fedex.com, the status of your letter or parcel will be shown along with its exact location and expected delivery date.