This isn’t supposed to sound like a math problem, but I’m afraid it will.
I have two packages coming via UPS Ground at the moment. One is a guitar in a hardshell case, weighing about 20 pounds, originating from San Diego. One is a CompactFlash card, a warranty replacement for one that went bad, weighing 0.10 pounds, originating from South Carolina. Both were shipped to the same ZIP code; both entered the UPS tracking system within two hours of each other. Which one will arrive first, and by how many days?
That’s right–the 20-pound guitar in the ginormous box will arrive September 6, but it will take five additional days for the fits-in-your-pocket CF card to reach my door. Keep in mind that USPS’s results would be about opposite. Is it simply that UPS is better equipped to handle large boxes and USPS is built around letters an smaller parcels? I’m not angry, just surprised.
For extra credit, please explain why it takes longer to enter a tracking number and get a result through UPS.com than it does to enter that same number into Google and have it get the same information, only with less clicks/no need to say “I live in this country” followed by “yes, I check this box to agree to the Terms and Conditions and hereby verify that I want this information, because the simple act of requesting it is apparently not proof of intent.” Try it: 1Z Y44 88X 03 1564 010 5