The last scan is the only thing that tells the three cases apart.
Branch one: no acceptance scan at all
The label exists, the tracking page says a label was created, and nothing else has happened. This is the least alarming of the three and the most often misread.
- A parcel handed to a carrier at a residence or dropped in a collection box is frequently first scanned at the processing plant rather than at pickup, so a gap of a day or two on the front end is ordinary.
- Check that the piece physically left. Drop boxes have collection times, retail counters have last-dispatch times, and a Sunday handoff sits still until Monday.
- If several days pass with no movement, the shipment has not entered the network as far as the record shows, and that is a conversation with the accepting Post Office rather than a claim. Our awaiting item status guide covers that specific reading.
Branch two: accepted, then silent
Scans exist, the parcel moved, and then the page stopped updating. This is where most impatience lands and where the fewest genuine losses are.
- Measure the silence against the transit window your service was sold with, counted in business days. A ground parcel quoted at 8-9 business days is not late on day five, whatever the map suggests.
- Long silent stretches between facilities are normal, because the record only updates when a barcode meets a scanner.
- Once the quoted window has fully passed, the Missing Mail search request is the next move, available from 7 days after mailing. Our search walkthrough covers the form.
Branch three: scanned delivered, nothing there
This is the branch that behaves differently from the other two, because the postal record already says the job is done.
- USPS lists the places a carrier may have put a parcel to protect it: a garage, with someone else in the household, the mailbox, the porch, somewhere sheltered from weather, or somewhere out of street view such as under a mat or near a back entrance.
- Apartment residents are told to contact building management, and communities with parcel lockers to check the locker.
- More than one postal business day after a delivered scan, a service request can be submitted to the local Post Office for eligible items. All of this is per faq.usps.com, checked 2026-07-27. Our delivered-but-missing page works the branch in full.
The routing table
One line per branch, with the remedy and the page that covers it. The claim mechanics themselves live on their own pages rather than being repeated here.
| What the scans show | Reading | Next move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| No acceptance scan | Label created, nothing since | Confirm it was collected, then ask the accepting Post Office | Awaiting item |
| Silent in transit | Scans stop mid-journey | Wait out the quoted window, then a search request from day 7 | Search request |
| Window passed, still nothing | Search running or exhausted | Claim from day 15, or day 7 on Priority Mail Express, closing at day 60 | Lost package claim |
| Delivered scan, no parcel | Marked delivered | Sweep the property, ask the household, then a service request after one business day | Delivered but missing |
| Evidence of theft | Taken after delivery | Crime report to the postal inspectors, separate from any claim | Reporting mail theft |
One warning worth carrying into the last two rows: postal rules put "loss, damage, or missing contents that occurred after delivery" outside what a claim can pay, per DMM 609 section 4.3 at pe.usps.com checked 2026-07-28. A delivery scan therefore changes the nature of the case, not just its paperwork.
Coast to coast, priced the same day
Long lanes are where silent stretches get longest, so here is what one costs. A 12 by 10 by 6 in carton at 5 lb went through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-07-28, Newark to Los Angeles.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | Ground Saver | $19.14 | No window returned |
| UPS | Ground | $19.30 | 6-7 business days |
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $19.64 | 5-6 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $20.50 | 7-8 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $31.43 | 2-3 business days |
Look at the windows rather than the prices. Three ground rows within 50 cents of each other promised anywhere from five to eight business days, and the row with no window returned at all is the one people most often assume is fastest because it is cheapest. Judging a parcel late means judging it against the row it actually shipped under.
Screenshot before you escalate
Scan histories get rewritten as new events land, and a page you can produce later is worth more than a page you remember. One image of the full history, taken the day you first worry, saves an hour of retyping.
Recipients see things you cannot
Ask the person at the destination to check with neighbours, building staff and everyone in the household before anything formal starts. A surprising share of these cases close in that one message.
Send the replacement on your terms
Nothing obliges a seller to wait for a resolution before making a customer whole, and nothing obliges them not to. Price the reship, decide, and keep the claim running in parallel through the filing process.
Missing package questions
My USPS package is missing, what do I do first?
Open the tracking history and find the last scan. No acceptance scan, a stalled journey and a delivered scan with nothing present are three different problems, and the remedy for each one is different, so the branch you are in decides every step after this.
How long should I wait before treating a package as missing?
Count business days against the transit window the service was sold with, not against a hope. Once that window has fully passed, a Missing Mail search request becomes the next move and can be submitted from 7 days after mailing.
The tracking says delivered but nothing arrived, is that a claim?
Not straight away. USPS suggests checking sheltered spots, the mailbox, other members of the household, building management and parcel lockers first, and allows a service request to the local Post Office more than one postal business day after the delivered scan for eligible items.
Where does the claim fit in all this?
At the end of the transit branch, not at the start. A covered domestic parcel can be claimed from day 15, or day 7 on Priority Mail Express, with every type closing 60 days after the mailing date, and the filing detail sits on our dedicated claim pages rather than here.