Effortless Shipment Tracking

Posted by webchicklet in Cool Web Sites on February 18th, 2009 | no responses

Scenario: You’ve placed an order online and want to track the shipment’s progress until it reaches its destination.

Problem: You have to continually go to the carrier’s site to check the status of the shipment via its tracking number, but it is often a waste of time, because the status usually hasn’t changed since the last time you checked.

Solution: Be notified every time the package’s status changes.

I do most of my purchasing online, so I get a fair amount of packages delivered. I also don’t have a lot of spare time available to me (who does?), so I don’t like wasting it by checking shipping status every so often, with nothing to show for the time I wasted. Now I don’t have to waste my time, because I now use a free service called TrackMyShipments.com.

Want to know what it does? After you register for a free account, here’s how it works.

As soon as you receive a “We’ve shipped your order” email from any company you ordered from that contains a tracking number, just forward that email to track@trackmyshipments.com. That’s it. From then on, every time the package’s status changes (arrives at a location or leaves a location, gets checked in, etc.), you’ll get notified. Simple as that. You forward just ONE email, one time, and from then on, you’ll know exactly what’s going on with your package. Here’s a sample of some emails I’ve received for a package I’m expecting to be delivered today.

Email received: 2/15 15:50

Your email with the subject line:

‘[Fwd: Your Amazon.com order has shipped (#105-….’

was successfully received and we
have begun to track that shipment.

www.trackmyshipments.com
—————————–

Email received: 2/15 16:52

At 02/15/2009 16:16:47

Your shipment from AMAZON sent via UPS
has a new status.

The new status is: BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED.
The destination is: MYTOWN, MYSTATE, US.
Expected Delivery: 02/18/2009
—————————–

Email received: 2/16 13:17

At 02/16/2009 12:57:00

Your shipment from AMAZON sent via UPS
has a new status.

The new status is: ORIGIN SCAN.
This shipment is currently in: SHARONVILLE,,OH,US.

The destination is: MYTOWN, MYSTATE, US.
Expected Delivery: 02/18/2009
—————————–

Email received: 2/16 21:33

At 02/16/2009 21:33:00

Your shipment from AMAZON sent via UPS
has a new status.

The new status is: IN TRANSIT TO.
This shipment on its way to: JACKSON,39201,MS,US.

The destination is: MYTOWN, MYSTATE, US.
Expected Delivery: 02/18/2009
—————————–

Email received: 2/17 01:11

At 02/17/2009 00:55:00

Your shipment from AMAZON sent via UPS
has a new status.

The new status is: ARRIVAL SCAN.
This shipment is currently in: NASHVILLE,37201,TN,US.

The destination is: MYTOWN, MYSTATE, US.
Expected Delivery: 02/18/2009
—————————–

Email received: 2/17 3:24

At 02/17/2009 02:58:00

Your shipment from AMAZON sent via UPS
has a new status.

The new status is: IN TRANSIT TO.
This shipment on its way to: JACKSON,39201,MS,US.

The destination is: MYTOWN, MYSTATE, US.
Expected Delivery: 02/18/2009
—————————–

Email received: 2/17 8:53

At 02/17/2009 08:25:00

Your shipment from AMAZON sent via UPS
has a new status.

The new status is: ARRIVAL SCAN.
This shipment is currently in: MEMPHIS,37501,TN,US.

The destination is: MYTOWN, MYSTATE, US.
Expected Delivery: 02/18/2009
—————————–

Email received: 2/17 11:23

At 02/17/2009 11:22:00

Your shipment from AMAZON sent via UPS
has a new status.

The new status is: IN TRANSIT TO.
This shipment on its way to: JACKSON,39201,MS,US.

The destination is: MYTOWN, MYSTATE, US.
Expected Delivery: 02/18/2009

Pretty cool, huh? Of course, you can also look at the statuses on trackmyshipment’s web site as well, and visualize it on a map there. I prefer just getting the emails, however.

I use the free version currently, which lets me check up to 10 shipments at one time. If you want to be able to track unlimited shipments, and get SMS alerts, you can opt for the Pro version which is $20/year.

And yes, there’s an iPhone app for it too! (Not that I have an iPhone). The free version of the iPhone app only lets you track 1 shipment at a time.

If you’ve got a tracking number for Fedex, UPS, USPS (United States Postal Service) or DHL, you’re able to use this service. I love this one!

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