i have noticed this in the last few weeks. i seem to have more packages (books) i ordered from here marked as in transit arriving late from the post office. i used their informed delivery  tracking service. but the problem is this message seems to be popping up more frequently lately. i've had some of the members sending me books complain because i haven't received/ marked their book as received after 2 weeks and it's because it's still in transit  and will be arriving late.

i even had 2 different members tell me to mark the package as received even though i hadn't gotten it yet because they sent it out on time and they wanted their credits now. i kindly refused and said when i received the books they would receive their credits. i have noticed on a few of the arriving packages the members used PBS DC and then the mailing date is more them 4 days after the date they say they mailed. is anyone else  seeing this message on their tracking?

I recently had one book, supposedly mailed 9 April, arrive late. The date on the postage was 20 April. However, the member didn't contact me at any time, so I guess they knew they sent it late.

The only time recently that I've had a book come 'late' was when the sender didn't send the book when they said they did, and sent it about 2 weeks later. Pat

Media mail can take up to 14 business days to arrive.  This type of mail has a low priority when mail is loaded onto planes.  So if there is limited space, media mail may have to sit and wait for more space on another flight.  The USPS relies on the airlines to have mail flown, not like UPS or FedEx, who have their own planes.

In the instances where the book takes longer than the 14 days, in 99% of the time, it has been that the sender did not mail the book on the day they clicked/claimed.  With free tracking now, almost all books can be traced from when mailed to delivery.  In addition with tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, blizzards etc., mail is often delayed.  Unfortunately, things like these disasters do affect the movement and delivery of the mail.

And the grounding of Boeing's Max planes following the second major crash may be affecting our books coming by air.

Got 2 packages of WL books yesterday, the one mailed from 500 miles away took 9 days to get here (coming straight down I-95) while the one that came from over 1000 miles only took 6 days.

I have had some books take three days.  Really!  Three days.  But usually books take a week or 10 days if they are mailed on the day they clicked mailed.  

I'm waiting on a book that was mailed on 18 April. Curiously the label was printed and the book marked mailed at the exact same moment. Then and again the times here aren't always accurate, I note deviations when posts pop up out of order.

I checked tracking today on two books I mailed on 5/2; it seems they were sent from my post office late and there was a statement on 5/6 stating they were intransit and would arrive late.   Today, the tracking finally said they reached Memphis and then later departed from there.   This has been unusual for shipments from my post office.    We've had lots of storm and rain systems come through so maybe that is why they were delayed somewhere.

PO Miracle!   Today I received a book that was mailed media mail at the PO counter on TU from almost 1000 miles away.  I can't get first class mail that quickly!

Another WL book arrived in 2 days flat from 1000 miles away.......what is going on?  Are media mail pkgs shipping with first class cause there is room?

I have 2 books out that ar every late..couple of scans witht he your package is traveling to it's destiny thing..

I'm waiting on a WL book from California. It was mailed on the 17th, arrived in a network distribution center on the 19th and then languished there for 5 days before moving on. Informed Delivery lists it only as 'In Transit, Arriving Late'.

My books going out of California are taking about 5 days longer than they used to. Even to locations on the West Coast that used to - reliably - take no longer than 3 days door to door.

My best guess is that they have started inspecting media mail packages, and they sit in a pile for a couple of days before they are inspected. I;ve had a couple of peopel tell me that the boxes I sent got inspected. I can see that they are sitting in LA without anything else happening to them for 3-5 days before they get processed to the next mail processing center,

Sara, I wonder if they have been finding more illegal enclosures with books or just outright fraudulent use of the media mail option, thus TPTB may have ordered more openings of media mail to check.  I know I had one inspected at the counter as I dropped it off recently.

Informed Delivery still notes my package from California as 'in transit' and 'late' but know information as to where is or has been since the 24th when it left the LA Distribution Center. I hope it doesn't become 'lost in the mail'.

Better late than never, the WL book mailed from CA on 17 June has finally arrived.

Marya,  !!

Considering what it has to deal with, our USPS does a pretty decent job! 

I always thought the Postal Service did a fantastic job considering what they have to work with and other things. 

I had a book offered last week from Massachusetts, it was mailed on Saturday (7/6) and I received it today (7/8. Can't beat that considering I'm in a very small town in southwest Colorado (4 Corners area). 

I think California has always been a "black hole" where media mail takes forever to get into or out of.  I know the postal system closed a lot of service centers (mail sorting facilities) in Kansas a couple of years ago, so I imagine that was a nationwide thing. I'll bet the mail volume at the remaing centers is CRAZY. I'm glad you got your book Marya!

How to understand this? And it's from a neighboring state not CA or NJ with those usual porblems. It's a PBS postage label---still accepted by the PO 21 days after printing?

• 6/25/2019 8:59 PM - Label Created 
• 6/27/2019 5:10 AM - Electronic Shipping Info Received 
• 7/16/2019 6:10 PM - Acceptance 

Here are some possibilities:

- the book was mailed late

- the book was mailed on time but the P.O. temporarily lost it and scanned it when they found it

- the operator chose the wrong reason on the scanner (though if it's still in the same ZIP code where it started, this is probably not it)

Today the book was marked lost in the post by PBS. Interestingly PBS marks it as mailed on 6/29 which doesn't match the PO's data.

I hope your book arrives, Marya!

Thanks, I hope so too.