I have a question about book route. How does a book that is mailed by a member from Minnesota show tracking starting in Iowa? I have a book headed to me that was sent out by a member living in Minnesota. but when I looked at the tracking info it says it originated from Iowa. No mention of Minnesota in the tracking at all. I am a little puzzled. I contacted the sender and its the same one I ordered from. No roll over to another member or anything. They said they shipped it from their local post office.

It was either not scanned until it got to the processing center in Iowa (weather related? who knows)....OR maybe the member didn't get to the PO before they left on a trip and mailed it on thier way.

I just received a book from a member in PA...I'm in Michigan...the first scan was in Atlanta, GA, nowhere close to either of us. Some books do take the scenic route for no rhyme or reason, other than it was mistakenly routed in the wrong direction somewhere on it's postal trip.

Maybe they live close to the Iowa border and their media mail goes through an IA distribution center.  Some of my mail goes through Hartford CT and some of it goes through Springfield MA.  I am right on the CT border. 

Depending on where I'm mailing to, my books either go through Des Moines, IA or Kansas City.  Most of the time though they go through Des Moines.  Pat

If I use PBS postage or the APC, then my books will not be scanned until they reach the sorting hub.  Otherwise known as the black hole of Bell, CA. 

I live in Central California.  Bell is hours away, down near LA.   Very different universe.

IA is now the nearest major outgoing sorting hub closest to us up here. The one in St Paul is mainly incoming mail I believe.

I live in Southern Indiana-right on the Ohio River. If I mail an item across the Ohio River to my sisters house in Kentucky (a 45 min drive from my house), the mail goes to Northern Indiana to Indianapolis, then to southwest KY which is Bowling Green, KY, and then to the address in KY that is a 45 min drive! This generally takes 3-4 days...The mail can be crazy!! 

I had a book mailed from WV to got to MI.  Mailed directly from the PO with DC.  Tracking showed the first scan at the PO then nothing for 10 days, then scanned in Washington state on the West Coast, then nothing again for another 10 days.  After 20 days, the scan showed it left WA state to IN to PA to finally MI, had 5 scans in 2 days and was finally delivered.  Nobody could tell me where the book was for those first 20 days or why it went all the way to the West coast for an East coast delivery.

I live just north of Minneapolis/St Paul.  I use printable postage and have found the following trend on most of my book packages.

• First class book packages get the first scan in St Paul MN
• Media mail book packages get the first scan in DesMoines IA

Was it an acceptance scan? If not, it could have just had a first scan in a sorting facility. My sent packages go through Sioux Falls, SD as the originating sort facility.
 

Depends on the book rate (first class vs. media mail), sorting center locations, and first scan.  My First Class usually picks up a scan at Kent but my Media Mail is scanned at Federal Way...unless they don't, in which case the first scan can be anywhere enroute.

My media mail package sent from Oakland, CA 1/21 to NM, went first to Denver, CO, then to Salt Lake City, UT, finally reaching NM on 2/3.

I once mailed a book to a member in the same town as me.  It went to Iowa first.