What do the letters in the track number mean? What is a parcel track number, what it looks like and where to find it. Strange postal services and services where it is difficult to track the package

Good day!

Shipments with numbers of the type ZA .. LV - new type postal itemsdeveloped by Aliexpress in cooperation with Russian Post. This type of mail is called "Simplified Registered Mail" and was created to reduce the cost of shipping inexpensive goods with Aliexpress. These parcels are tracked in only three statuses:

Accepted at the post office: the seller handed over the parcel at the post office;
Came to the place of delivery: the parcel arrived at your post office;
Received by addressee.

Departures are not tracked at all destinations, but all the necessary information is present. It is important for the buyer to know that the product was physically sent and arrived at the post office. For the seller, only one status is important - "Received by the addressee".

Tracking of items ZA .. LV

The main statuses of such parcels are displayed on the Russian Post website. Tracking starts working immediately after the parcel arrived at the post office. We must not forget about one nuance - parcels are sent through post offices in Latvia, but physically the goods are in China. Therefore, it takes some time (usually no more than a week) to deliver goods from China to Latvia. You can also track the movement of a parcel before it reaches the post office in Latvia, but, unfortunately, only in English:

You can do this on the official website of Cainiao: http://global.cainiao.com, which deals with all the logistics of Aliexpress.

If you still have questions or your package is not being tracked - write a comment to this answer, and I will definitely help!

When you first come across foreign shopping, you may not know what the track number is, what it means, what it shows and how much it is needed at all. It is especially difficult to deal with tracks when shopping on Aliexpress. However, it is important to understand in order to avoid losses, both direct material and the loss of nerve cells (which is perhaps even more important than money).

Important note. The article deals with international tracks (international postal identifiers, IPI). The principle and idea of \u200b\u200btracks for local mail is the same, but the format of the tracks is different.

In today's article on the site, we will tell you:

What is it and why is a track needed
What are the tracks
What is the difference between the track number and the order number on Aliexpress
Where to find a track in personal account on Aliexpress and iHerb
What is track status
Where to track tracks
How often should the status be updated
Why the track may not be tracked

Track number, tracking number, mail ID - this is a unique set of letters and numbers assigned to your parcel by postal or courier service when registering delivery. By this identifier, the postal service can uniquely find out where and in what condition your parcel is. If the mail and courier company provides such a service, then you can find out this information by this identifier. Nowadays, this is usually done using sites or applications.

The package by which the track number is reported is called a registered mailing. There is a postal item that has not yet been registered, tracks for it are not issued to the sender.

To some extent, the track can be compared to a license plate, passport number or birth certificate.

What are the tracks

During its, sometimes long, journey to the recipient, the parcel can be delivered by various services, companies or government post offices. In the most standard case, the parcel travels through the country of the sender by the state mail of that country (for example, China Post), and across the country of destination by its own state mail (for example, Russian Post). Sometimes this chain is longer.

International postal identifier

In order for the sender and recipient, as well as the postal services, to know where the parcel is now, the tracks had to be standardized. Imagine if there was no standard, and the Chinese wrote tracks using hieroglyphs, and the Russians using the Cyrillic alphabet.

To prevent such misunderstandings from happening, an international postal identifier standard was developed. This is a set of two Latin letters at the beginning, 9 numbers and two Latin letters at the end.

Type CA123456780CN.

But these letters and numbers are not chosen from the lantern, but according to the standard. That is, it is not enough just to come up with any letters / numbers and this will already be the correct tracked track, no! You can read more about how an international track number should look like in.

According to the rules, the track must be unique for at least a year.

If you know the track number of your parcel and this track number is international, you can track the location and current status of your parcel at any time using the website of your state mail. There are also many other ways, but more on that below.

Non international track

If the parcel was sent by such a company, then the company may issue the sender not an international track tracked around the world, but its own internal one. The format of this track can be anything at all.

Fake track

Also, there is such a thing as a "fake track". It can be like a meaningless set of characters that is never tracked anywhere. So is a more complex scheme with the creation of sites for pseudo transport companies.

What is the difference between track number and order number for Aliexpress

The order number is just a set of numbers in your personal account. You cannot track the movement of a parcel using this number. Track is a PARCEL ID (parcel, small packet). The order number for Aliexpress and the track number are completely different things. Don't be confused.

How to find a track in your Aliexpress account

How to find a track in your iHerb account

What is track status. What can he show.

During the movement of the parcel, it moves from one department to another, goes through sorting, customs clearance, and the destination comes. A lot can happen to her. All this information is displayed briefly in the form of the status of the package. You receive this information either in the personal account of the store, or when tracking on the mail site, or on the sites of services for tracking parcels.

Please note that track status and order status (especially on Aliexpress) are different things.

Where to track tracks

In the case of a purchase on Aliexpress, the track status, in most cases, can be tracked directly in your personal account. For international tracks, you can get information on the website of your state post office. Well, not international tracks can be tracked on aggregator sites. We analyzed these services in detail with links in the article about.

How often the track status should be updated

There are no rigid regulations. In addition, during the movement of a parcel by sea or by land over long distances (from one country to another), as well as during periods of excitement, the status can freeze for a long time. But in our experience, statuses on the international track rarely get stuck for periods longer than 2 weeks. More and more depends on what status everything has risen.

Why is the track not being tracked?

Perhaps you have a fake track. Or the track is not international standard, which was tracked only by the country of the sender (so often among the Chinese), after which it was handed over to regular mail under a different track.

Is it worth tracking the track at all

Worth, but without fanaticism. Check once a week - that's enough. In the case of Aliexpress, it is not necessary to check at all. Set yourself a reminder on a date the day before the expiration date and sleep well. The nerves will be more intact.

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In this article, we will get acquainted with all types of postal services and logistics companies, the services of which are used by suppliers, carrying out the shipment of the ordered.

How to find out where the package is online:

Enter the track code, click "track" and find where your package is.

One of the most common delivery methods is ChinaPost, which, in turn, is divided into 2 types:

China Post Air Mail - delivery of small packages;
China Post Air Parcel - delivery of parcels weighing up to 20 kg.

Registered shipments China Post Air Parcel is assigned a track number that starts with a capital Latin letter C, China Post Air Mail - with a capital letter R. The last 2 letters of the track number are CN. Thus, the track number of a small package will look like this - RA123456789CN, parcels - CD123456789CN.

HongKongPost is more commonly seen as a paid mailing service. Its rates are slightly higher than those of ChinaPost. Small packages weighing up to 2 kg are dispatched via Hongkong Post Air Mail, up to 10 kg - Hongkong Post Air Parcel, over 10 kg - Hongkong SpeedPost. Hong Kong Post also has restrictions on the size of shipments.

Hongkong Post items can be registered or unregistered. Hongkong Post's track numbers for registered international items are as follows:

Rx123456789HK - small package;
Cx123456789HK - package from 2-10 kg.

You can use the website to track such shipments.

Example of track numbers for EMS shipments from China:

EE123456789CN;
EA123456789CN;
EV123456789CN;

The EX-EZ sub-series can only be used for postal items within one country.

Statistically, Singapore Post takes longer than HongKongPost to deliver, but shorter than ChinaPost. Registered mail items by the Singapore Post are assigned a unique track number, which looks like this - Rx123456789SG.

The main tracking site for Singapore Post - Singapore Speedpost (EMS) -.

Private express delivery services

Track numbers of postal items, private express delivery services such as:

FedEx;
Aramex;
HHEXP;
FLYT;
XRU, etc.

YANWEN LOGISTICS

It is a logistics company in China. YANWEN Logistics shipments are tracked only in the territory of the sending country. Once the package leaves the country, the track number will not be tracked. As a rule, YANWEN Logistics track numbers begin with the Latin letters SN, PK, UA, etc., followed by 10 or 9 digits and at the end two Latin letters YP.

YANWEN Logistics shipments can be tracked on the website

Track code (tracking number, postal identifier, tracking number, tracker) is a unique code that allows you to track the movement of a postal item around the country / world.
According to the regulations of the "Universal Postal Union", the track number (postal item identifier) \u200b\u200bconsists of 2 Latin letters, 9 numbers and 2 Latin letters indicating the country of the sender.

The first letter serves as an indicator of the type of shipment.
The second letter is used to designate the type of shipment, for example: air, sea, railway or as an ordinary letter.
The last two letters are used to designate the country of the sender.

Options for designating the type of shipment:

"C" - ordinary parcel (over 2 kg)

"R" - registered letter (less than 2 kg)

"L" - an ordinary (express) letter, tracks starting with this letter are not tracked

"E" - express delivery (EMS), the second letter is an ordinal

"V" - insured letter

"A" - letter, not tracked and not insured

"ZA ... HK" - the innovation of Aliexpress ... With tracking only in China. (2 statuses from PR are possible; "reception" and "arrival at the place of delivery." But the departure data, very often wrongly marked - Received)

Track numbers that start with LJ or LС are sent USPS First Class Mail / USPS Priority Flat rate Envelope and cannot be tracked.

How do I know where my package is?

In order to track and find out where your package is located, just go to the site " Track24"and enter her postal ID in the empty search field.

Click on the button - To track the package, and you will almost instantly find out where and when your parcel passed, and where it is at the moment.

Sending a parcel by Russian Post

The Russian postal identifier (RPO) consists of 14 numbers and is on the check issued when the mail is received.
It looks like this: 6201035400541 5

Enter in the tracking field without brackets and spaces: 62010354005415 .

Receiving a parcel by Russian Post

After your parcel has arrived / arrived at your post office, you will immediately receive a "Notice" in the mail about the arrival of the parcel in your name

If you order a lot of parcels from the aliexpress website, you can find out what exactly came to you by the track number, which is indicated in your Mail Notice.

How do I know what's in the package?

In order to find out what exactly came to you from the site Aliexpress, you just need to go to "MY ORDERS", then open additional menu filters by clicking More filters

And we will see a field for input track number, which is indicated in your notification.

Fill in and press the button Search

And we will immediately see what exactly came to you from China.

When you fly your parcel from one country to another, the weight may differ by a couple of grams. And that's okay ...

Tracking postal items. With parcels sent within the country, everything is more or less clear: at any time you can write or call the sender and (or) to the post office and in your native language to find out any question. The postal item sent within Russia has a 14-digit code, which consists only of numbers. Example: 19208347377612.

With orders sent from foreign online stores, everything is a little more complicated. The international postal item until it reaches the recipient is processed by the postal services of at least two states and passes through two customs - for export from the seller's country and for import in the recipient's country.

Let's try to figure out what international postal items are, what the track number looks like, what stages an international postal item goes through until it reaches the addressee and where to track it.

International postal items are conventionally divided into two large categories:
small package and package. A small package differs from a parcel in weight, everything that weighs less than 2 kg is a small package, everything more than 2 kg is a parcel.

Postal items can be registered and unregistered. The movement of the former can be tracked by the track number, the movement of the latter cannot be tracked, this applies to both parcels and small packages. It should be noted that postal items sent by international private courier delivery services (DHL, Fedex UPS, etc.) are always registered and accordingly have a tracking number for tracking. The movement of such parcels can be tracked on the website of the respective courier service. If the goods are sent by express service EMS, then the parcel will definitely be registered, but the small package may not be.

It is advisable to place an order with sellers who send the goods in a registered mail (they give out a track number). This does not affect the speed of delivery, but for the recipient it is much calmer, more convenient, and if something goes wrong, then it is easier to find the postal item in this case.

International postal items are assigned a 13-digit code, which consists of four Latin letters (two at the beginning, two at the end of the track number) and 9 digits between them. The track number of a postal item is assigned by the postal service of the country from which it is sent. Examples of international track numbers:

RB520579731CN - postal item from China (registered small packet).
СQ630697711CN - postal item from China (package).
EE564518664GB is a postal item from the UK. Shipped by express mail EMS.
LK172747585US - Postage from USA (small package without traceability).
RJ361456831GB UK Mail (Small Trace Packet).

The last two letters in the track number indicate the country from which the mail was sent. It should be noted that after the arrival (import) of an unregistered international mail item to Russia, the Russian post assigns it its own internal tracking number for tracking, of the type RAхххххххххRU. This track number is not available for the recipient and is intended only for internal accounting of international mail and subsequent settlements with the postal service of the country of departure.
Very often people ask: The seller writes that the delivery is free - is it true or not? I ordered a product, paid for its cost and delivery. Is this shipping cost only for China (USA, UK, etc.)? How much will the delivery cost in Russia? Do you have to pay extra on our mail, upon receipt?

The recipient does not need to pay extra for delivery, the seller pays for everything when he sends the parcel in his country, and the postal services of the country of the sender and the recipient only then carry out mutual settlements between themselves.

The track number of the mail item is assigned by the postal services in accordance with the rules of the International Postal Union (standard S10) and, as mentioned above, consists of 13 characters (four Latin letters and nine digits).
The first two letters (always in capital letters) indicate the type of postal item.
The most common combinations in a track number look like this:

A combination of letters from EA to EZ (the second letter can be any of the Latin alphabet) is a registered international mail item (you can track the movement), sent by the express service EMS (the first letter of the track number, in this case corresponds to the first letter of the name of the postal service).

A combination of letters from LA to LZ is an unregistered international mail item weighing less than 2kg - a small package. No traceability.

A combination of letters from RA to RZ - registered international mail, weighing less than 2kg - small package. Tracking. The first letter "R" corresponds to the first letter of the English word "Registered", which means "registered" in translation.

A combination of letters from CA to CZ is a registered international postal item, weighing more than 2kg - a parcel. Tracking.

After the first two Latin capital letters, there are nine digits in the track number.
The first eight digits are a unique number, the last ninth digit serves as a control and is calculated using certain mathematical formulas from the first eight.

The track number is closed by two capital Latin letters, which indicate the country from which the mail is sent. The combination of these letters is in accordance with the ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 code standard. The most common ones: CN (China), SG (Singapore), HK (Hong Kong), GB (UK), CA (Canada), DE (Germany), FR (France), IT (Italy), US (USA) , JP (Japan). It should be noted that the recipient country is not indicated in the track number.

You can download an Excel file (taken from the postal service website) with which you can check the correctness of the track number of the parcel, as well as calculate the verification code for the first eight digits of the postal item.

Attention! Track numbers of postal items, private express delivery services (DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc.) are not subject to the standard of the International Postal Union and may contain any combination of letters and numbers.

Stages of movement of international mail

Before an international postal item reaches the recipient, it goes through several stages. The first stage is acceptance in the sender's country, then sorting takes place. If the sender is far from the point of international exchange (customs), then the postal item can go through several sorting points.
Then comes customs clearance and export to the country of delivery. The next stage is import in the recipient country, then the passage of the international exchange point (inspection and clearance by the customs service). If the customs office has no complaints, then the postal item goes to the sorting point (sometimes there are several sorting points), from where it is sent to the recipient's post office.
All stages of the movement of a registered international mail item are tracked using a track number. Below is a real-life example of such tracking. This is how it looks on the Russian Post website.

Below is another example. As you can see, in both cases the mail was sent from China, only in the first example, in the very top line you can see when the parcel was accepted for shipment by China Post (the information appeared immediately after the seller sent the parcel), and in the second, the information appeared only after import to Russia. What it depends on is not clear, but both of these options are quite possible. It is also possible that postal items will be “imported” in different cities. In the first example, the postal item was imported in the city of Moscow, the second in the city of Petrozavodsk. There is also the city of Bryansk, St. Petersburg.

Please note that in the first example 1.5 months elapsed between the sending of the postal item from the seller's country, before importing into the recipient's country. This period is of course very long and this is rather an exception than a rule (in this case, the sending of the parcel coincided with the beginning of the Chinese New Year). It happens that the postal item is moving, but the mail does not enter data on its movement on time.

In practice, it can take from one week to 1.5 months from accepting a postal item to importing it into the recipient's country. It is during this period of time that the information is not updated and it seems to the recipient that the seller deceived him or the package was lost somewhere and something urgently needs to be done. Especially impatient ones begin to open disputes and make claims to the seller. Unfortunately, neither the seller (sender) nor the buyer (recipient) can influence the speed of the mail and customs service, therefore, if there is no information about the mailing for a long time, then it is better to wait patiently. You will have time to open a dispute and submit a claim to the seller, the main thing is not to miss the time allotted for delivery, after which the transaction is closed as executed.

Delivery times of postal items

Delivery times depend on many factors:

Postal items delivered by private courier services (DHL, Fedex, UPS, etc.) have a much shorter delivery time compared to regular state mail. Truth and services of such courier services are much more expensive.

Larger mailings - parcels sent by regular mail are delivered a little faster than small packages, as they have priority in processing.

The delivery speed of international mail depends on the country of dispatch. IN different countriesah, postal services have different delivery deadlines and different mail handling technologies.

The speed of the postal services depends on the season. Or rather, not from the season, but from the passing in the country national holidays... As a rule, for postal services around the world, the most difficult period is new year holidays and this is not necessarily only the end of December and the beginning of January.
For example, in China, they celebrate new Year according to the lunar calendar and New Year's holidays they last almost all of February. If you are not ready to wait for a parcel for a long time, then it is better to refrain from ordering in China during this period.

In practice, during the non-peak period, the delivery time for international postal items sent by regular state. by mail to Russia, can be from three weeks to one month.

Tracking postal items. Where can I get the track number?

The track number of the parcel can be obtained in several ways:

If you are the sender of the parcel, then the track number of the parcel will be given (indicated in the receipt) at the post office in which you registered the dispatch.

If you are a recipient of a postal item (an online store buyer), you can see the track number in your account of the trading platform on which you made the order. Also, the track number of the parcel can be sent in a letter to your email address. Stores often duplicate these two methods. There are also online stores that send a track number only after you ask them about it. Note that the track number is given not after payment for the order, but after it has been sent. Example of how track number is indicated in Chinese trading platform aliexpress.

And this is how the track number is indicated on the Chinese dhgate trading platform.

It should be noted that the track number begins to show information about the movement of the parcel not immediately, but only a few days after it was sent. You also need to keep in mind that postal services can enter information about the movement of a parcel with a small delay (sometimes with a long one). In this case, you just need to be patient and wait a bit.

Where to track the movement of mail

The main source of information about the movement of postal items are the sites of postal services. Each postal service on the site has a special page where you can "punch" the track number and see information about the movement of the parcel.
There are also numerous third-party services for tracking parcels, where you can check the track numbers of various postal services from around the world.

It is up to you to use the official website of the postal service or a third-party tracking service. Both have their pros and cons. Personally, I always use only the official sites of postal services.

To check the track number of the parcel, you must enter it in the appropriate field on the postal service website. Latin letters in the track number must be written in capital letters. Example, a form for checking the track number on the Russian Post website.

The process of checking track numbers on the sites of postal services in other countries of the world is almost the same.

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