Ultra fast delivery in Switzerland

.... it`s amazing!!! this morning, around 09:00 o`clock, arrives my hoyapost!!!
all in best condition and soooo big!!! now i forget all all-around me and i getting to pot in the plant! and find places...if is possible...hahaha!! again very very 1000s of thank you very much!! ....

A very nice message that everyone here at aleyagarden appreciates ( like all messages received so far by the way ...)

Comment by aleyagarden : this quick parcel ( EMS ) to a city in Switzerland was posted on Tuesday 10 May at 16 : 26 Swiss time and was delivered on Thursday 12 May at around 9 : 00.

So it clearly took less than 24 hours for the parcel to arrive at the post office and be ready for the morning delivery ! Postal parcel travel on the next passenger flight, whatever the day of the week, they don't wait for the departure of non daily cargo planes and may be delivered surprisingly fast sometimes !


Hoya and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com

Which day is best for posting parcels ?

Is Monday the best day ?

- SHORT ANSWER : during the week ends sorting stations work at the posts and planes fly but Customs don't work; if the arrival country has a fast postal service, then THURSDAY is the best choice for posting parcels because these parcels take usually from 24 to 48 hrs before take off whatever the distance to the airport they are posted; and travelling in plane during the week-end is usually followed by an early arrival in the week ( Monday or Tuesday ) on the conveyor belt of the arrival country; on that condition parcels have a higher probability of being picked before the next week-end. ( ie : an arrival after the Wednesday may prevent the parcel from being picked up for delivery before the week-end ).


- LONG ANSWER : All parcels may be delayed by the Customs non working during the week end, whatever the day these parcels were posted : the rule is first out from the container first in the queue on a conveyor belt and all parcels picked from this conveyor for customs inspection will be delayed in the same way.
From this conveyor the sorting is done randomly. Assuming that the sorting is not done 24 hours and 7 days a week we want the parcel to queue as early as possible on the conveyor belt so it has the highest probability of being picked during working time : a parcel being on the conveyor as early as Monday morning has a higher chance of leaving the conveyor before Saturday than a parcel arriving on this conveyor a Wednesday for instance.

When to mail a parcel in Bangkok or at Phuket international airport so it can be on the conveyor belts abroad on Monday morning ? Assuming an average 48 hours in transport between Thailand and the destination country, Thursday or Friday should be the best days for posting your parcels. A small Parcel Air posted on a Thursday in Bangkok would arrive on the foreign conveyor on Sunday. With a fast postal service like in some European countries the parcel would typically stay in the sorting station 24 hours before being dispatched for delivery, taking 24 to 48 hours : it would be delivered luckily on Tuesday or most probably Wednesday. So the total time of travel from posting to delivery would be 6 days. With 1 more day delivery would be on Thursday, total 7 days. Would the parcel be diverted to the customs, the delivery would be delayed 48 hours, up to the Friday : total 8 days from posting to delivery.
A small parcel air posted on a Monday in Bangkok would be delivered luckily on Friday and typically on a Saturday in the same fast service : total 5 days. With 1 more day ( a more probable situation ) , delivery would be on Monday, total 7 days. But if it were directed to the customs, as they don't work on Saturday, with the average time spent of 48 hours the delivery would be necessarily postponed to Wednesday : total 9 days from posting to delivery.
Shipping small parcel air on Thursday seems the best option if we take in account the most typical situations instead of the luckiest : in a fast service 6 - 8 days versus the 7 - 9 days of the Monday posting.
But the average time in most counties is 10 - 12 days so that the parcels normally stay in the postal system over the week end; therefore the day of mailing does not matter : posted anytime from Monday to Saturday all small parcels air queuing on the conveyor belts will take 10 - 12 days to be delivered.

What about posting at Phuket International airport ?
EMS parcels from there take planes to Bangkok airport so they arrive at the sorting station of this airport faster than if carried from anywhere else in Bangkok and Thailand by truck.
Small air parcels are carried by trucks the day of posting if posted at Khok Kloi post office in our area before 15 : 30. When posted there, small air parcels take as much time as if they were posted in Bangkok : this is probably because what matters is the time of the registration at the post for loading the parcels on a plane, not the distance to the plane : queuing on a night truck or in a warehouse at Bangkok airport doesn't make any difference.

Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com

Thai tracking says " Container received " or " Outgoing international " then no information afterwards ?

" You posted my Small Parcel Air 12 days ago and looking at the tracking page it doesn't seem to have reached Canada or even left Thailand, am I right ? "

Aleyagarden answers : it is common that the tracking information reports " Container received " or " Outgoing international " ( two variations of the confirmation of departure ) and then doesn't give further information until the parcel is ready to be delivered in your country, while your Postal site has no information or informs you that the parcel is still in the sender's country. This lack of information does not seem linked to delays, nor to the method of transport or of course the day of posting : so there is no reason to worry but it is wise to contact your post office if the parcel is waiting there for you after a said unsuccessful delivery, the most common cause of delays.

Small Parcels Air under 500 gr are usually faster than above 500 gr. in particular to USA and Canada; the risk of delay is higher with heavier parcels. Some people prefer using EMS ( the express mail method ) for their parcels above 500 gr. In Europe Small Parcel Air is certainly the best option up to 2 kilos. (The Small Parcel Air is limited to 2 kilos ). EMS parcels go through customs more frequently than Small Parcels Air. 

Envelopes are the safest and the least expensive method of shipping, almost 100 % of envelopes arrive at destination. Many countries offer an express option ( which should not be confused with the method : EMS documents )

To get back to tracking information, below is an other typical case, but this time with an EMS parcel. It was posted on 30 August : the Thai site reports " Outgoing International " on 31,  while on the French EMS site Chronopost - still 3 days after, on 3 September -, we can only read : " sorting in the departure agency ".

But a phone call to EMS Thailand ( the phone numbers are on http://track.thailandpost.co.th/trackinternet/track-help/contact-thai.htm , you will be put through to an english - speaking operator ) would give a verbal confirmation of the departure, with possibly reports of the gate number and flight number. Almost all parcels depart from Thailand not later than one or two days after posting, whatever is written or not written on tracking sites, Thai or foreign, and whatever the distance of the post to the airport. For instance an EMS parcel posted on a Friday in Thailand would leave the country on a Saturday or Sunday flight.

Of course you would have to be patient the lines are busy and your request if early may not meet agents in their best mood. Sometimes the agent may just tell you that the parcel has departed from Thailand, so you would have to insist if you needed to get the exact time, the gate and even flight numbers for your personal investigation. Telling that you are calling from abroad may have a positive effect.





Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com