Ecommerce is amazing. You order an item, and it arrives at your business a few days later. This extraordinary convenience is part of the reason why ecommerce has become a $517 billion industry.
However, sometimes things go wrong. Your package may not arrive as scheduled. In fact, you could end up waiting days or even weeks more for it. If you are frustrated by delayed shipments, it’s good to understand exactly why they happen. With that in mind, below are five common reasons why your shipment may have been delayed.
Bad Weather
One of the most common reasons, if not the most common reason, why shipments get delayed is because of poor weather. When the weather is bad enough, such as during a winter storm, highways are closed and flights are delayed as a precaution. As such, packages can also be delayed while in transit.
Mechanical Issues
Packages don’t move from one point to another through magic. Instead, they have to make that journey via automobile, plane, ship, train or drone. Sometimes, mechanical errors do happen. If you have traveled by train or plane frequently, you have certainly witnessed many delays due to mechanical issues or trailer repairs that were needed.
Congested Ports
Thousands and thousands of companies ship supplies, products and materials through the same ports. During certain peak times, these ports can become congested. This can cause significant delays in regards to items you ordered actually being unloaded off of a ship. These bottlenecks are sadly more common than one would like.
Customs
In other cases, a shipment can become delayed indefinitely after becoming stuck in customs. This tends to happen because the laws regarding mail and shipments between different countries can be extremely complex. Sometimes, packages never make it out of customs. This could be the case if it has been held by customs for a week.
International Holidays
As you surely know, the US Postal Service does not work on most federal holidays. The same is true of other countries. Those countries have their own specific federal holidays tied to their nations and cultures. These too can produce delays in the shipment process. If you are able to track your shipment, researching these holidays can give you more insight into why your shipment is being delayed.
There are a plethora of different reasons why a shipment to your business may be delayed. Many of them, unfortunately, cannot be prevented. Still, it’s good to be more educated on why these delays happen so you can plan for them in the future.
