Many shipping companies don’t have the delivery network to handle door-to-door delivery for every single package that’s shipped through them. Their operations are limited in some areas, and delivering directly to doorsteps would cost them more than they charge customers.
Even big names, like UPS and FedEx, with an extensive network, understand that the additional cost of making the last 1% of the journey to residential addresses accounts for a huge portion of the dollars that go into shipping every year, so they came up with a strategy to reduce costs.
This explains why “tendered to delivery service provider” is showing up on your tracking notification. It’s a way of telling you that your package was sent through a service that involves a third party.
What does “Tendered to delivery service provider” mean?
“Tendered to delivery service provider” simply means that the shipping company has handed your package over to the nearest post office, who will then proceed to complete the delivery to your doorstep.
This switchover arrangement is known as “last mile” delivery. How it works is simple; the shipping company covers the long distance up to a point where packages are sorted by zip codes and delivered to the nearest post office, who’d then be responsible for making the last leg of the delivery.
Tendered for delivery with FedEx
FedEx has an extensive network and can deliver FedEx packages every step of the way by themselves. You don’t have to worry about seeing the “tendered for delivery” status on your tracking notification if the sender used any of the traditional FedEx shipping options. But it’s different if your parcel was sent through FedEx Smartpost.
FedEx entered into a business arrangement with the United States Postal Service in 2004 to create FedEx Smartpost, which allows the courier to hand over packages to USPS to complete the last mile. Shippers get to pay less for this service, FedEx covers the long-distance, then drops it off at the nearest post office.
“Tendered to delivery service provider” for FedEx packages means your package has been dropped off at your local post office, and you should expect delivery in a few days.
In another case, although it’s rare, you may see “tendered to FedEx” instead. This one has nothing to do with USPS. It means another company (for example, DHL), contracted FedEx to handle the last-mile delivery.
Tendered for delivery with UPS
Like FedEx, UPS also teamed up with the US postal service in 2011 to create their own service — UPS Surepost.
Surepost is a lot cheaper than traditional UPS services. It’s the main reason it’s a popular choice for eCommerce sellers and why you’re likely to get the “tendered to delivery service provider” notification if your online vendor ships with UPS.
With Surepost, UPS transports the parcel within its network up to a point and drops it off at the post office to complete the last leg.
In this case, a “tendered to delivery service provider” status is a confirmation that UPS has handed your parcel to the nearest post office and delivery is imminent, usually within two days from the time of seeing this message.
Tendered for delivery with DHL
If you’re having a package sent through DHL, you’re likely going to end up with a “tendered for delivery” notification every time. The DHL takes advantage of USPS’ last-mile services more than any other courier in the U.S. The reason lies in how they operate.
DHL specializes in international deliveries. They don’t have the sort of extensive network that UPS or FedEx has, and as a result, they have limited operations in certain areas. In this case, making house-to-house delivery for every single package would be cost-prohibitive.
The company handles 99% of the transit, let’s say from Italy, for example, and hands it over to the US postal service to complete the remaining 1% to your address.
When you get a “tendered for delivery” notification for DHL shipments, it’s an indication that your package is close and it’s going to arrive from the post office in a few days.
Tendered for delivery with 4px
4px is China’s top shipping company with a solid presence in the US, Australia, Germany, UK, etc.
Due to the nature of the 4px shipping service, the company partners with different local and international services, including USPS, FedEx, Aramex, TNT, etc., to boost their universal capability. That goes to say that if your order is coming through 4px, you’re almost certainly going to get this message, and oftentimes, it’s the USPS that ends up delivering to your doorstep.
“Tendered for delivery 4px” means that your package has left the 4px transport network and has been handed to another shipping service, who will be responsible for making the last mile to your address.
Do I need to do anything specific when I see this message?
UPS, FedEx, DHL, and similar services update their tracking Status by scanning packages every time they get to a new location en route delivery address. When your package is delivered to the post office, the shipping company updates the delivery progress to show the “tendered to a delivery service provider” message. From this point, the US postal service is responsible for your package, and there won’t be any more updates till it’s scanned at the post office. There’s not much you can do at this stage other than wait (at least four days) for your package to arrive.
What happens next after the “tendered to delivery service provider”?
Usually, the package should arrive within two days after “tendered for delivery”, “arrived at facility partner”, or “out for delivery” shows up. It’s more like telling you that everything is progressing smoothly, and you should expect delivery soon.
But if things take an unusual turn and the message persists for more than four days, up to a week or longer, the first call would be to reach out to the sender, who’d then contact the shipping company. At the very least, they should be able to provide you with the contact details of the post office for you to be able to track your parcel.
On second thought, it won’t be a bad idea to head over to your local post office and see if they could help. Usually, the courier delivers the package to the nearest post office, and for all you know, your package might just be tucked away by the corner, forgotten, or overlooked, and you can leave with it. Make sure to go with your tracking number and any other relevant information about your package.
The more information you can provide about your shipment, the more chance they’d be able to help locate your package and, hopefully, fast-track the journey to your address.
FAQs about “tendered to delivery service provider”:
Check out these answers we provided for some of the most recurring questions on this topic.
1. How long does it take to deliver when the status is “tendered to delivery service provider”?
You can expect delivery in 2-4 days. It simply means your parcel is nearby, and it’s just a matter of the post office making the delivery to your address. But if it delays more than four days, that means something’s wrong. In that case, you need to contact the sender or the shipping company to complain. It may also help to go over to your local post office and check if they have it.
2. What does “Arrived at facility partner” mean?
When you see “Arrived shipping partner facility, USPS Awaiting item”, It means that your package was initially picked up by a third-party shipping service that’s affiliated with the USPS, which will transport the item to your local USPS hub for the final delivery to your address.
3. My package has been stuck at “tendered to delivery service provider” for a long time. What can I do?
The first approach would be to contact the company you ordered from to see if you can get an update concerning your item. It may also help to check with your local post office to see if your package is held up there, and if that’s the case, they’ll let you leave with the package after presenting matching tracking details.
4. The tracking number says that the post office has my package, but they say they’ve delivered it. What can I do?
If USPS tracking says USPS has delivered your package, then they probably did, just not to your address. First, confirm if the sender has the correct address. If it is, you might want to check with your neighbors to see if they took delivery of the item, but if not, you should contact your postmaster.
