What does it mean to receive an “Arrived at Hub” tracking status update from USPS?
Is the package about to be delivered to your door? Or has it only made it to the nearest facility to the sender?
Can you pick up a package when it states “Arrived at Hub?”
Let’s take a look…
Summary: Arrived at Hub USPS
“Arrived at Hub” means that the package has arrived at a USPS sorting facility prior to being sent to the local post office for final delivery. USPS Hubs are distribution centers that service a number of regional post offices within a certain geographical area. The package will still have a few more steps on its journey before reaching the delivery destination.
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From “Arrived at Hub” to Final Delivery
After the mail item arrives at the Hub, it is sorted for delivery to the post office closest to the location of the recipient.
A USPS truck will then pick up the mail from the Hub Facility, where it will be delivered to the appropriate Post Office.
From there, the mail is sorted again so that it is given to the relevant driver that covers the area of delivery.
At this point, your package will state “out for delivery”.
To confuse matters, this doesn’t necessarily mean the mail item is out in a vehicle for delivery, it just means that it has been allocated to a driver. It could still be in the post office.
All the same, once the relevant USPS driver begins his round, your mail item will be part of their delivery schedule.
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How Long Until I Receive My Mail After it has “Arrived at Hub”?
This can vary depending on the time of day the mail arrived at the hub, and the delivery service used.
Arrival at the hub essentially means that the mail has yet to be sorted and put in the relevant pile for delivery to the local post office.
This could happen within an hour. However, if the next truck scheduled to drop mail at the post office isn’t until the following day, well, clearly you will have to wait that length of time.
There can then be a delay if the item arrives late at the post office and the USPS driver for your area has already begun their round.
Essentially, however, once a mail item has “Arrived at Hub” you should receive your package within 24-48hrs, (longer if over weekends).
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USPS Arrived at Hub Can I Pick it Up?
Unfortunately, you cannot pick up a package when it states “Arrived at Hub”.
This is because hubs are sorting facilities that are not open to the public, nor do they have customer-facing staff ready to hand you your package.
The “Arrived at Hub” status alert gives you some warning, enabling you to contact your local post office for pick up.
Knowing that the next step of the package journey is the post office, you can phone there with your tracking number and ask them to hold the item for collection, once it arrives.
Your cut-off point for arranging pick up at the post office would be when you receive the “Out For Delivery” notification.
As mentioned above, this alert means that the mail item has been allocated to a local USPS driver.
It has been scanned for final delivery and your chance to pick it up has passed.
Tracking Stuck on “Arrived at Hub” USPS – What Now?
If you have encountered a situation where your tracking has become stuck on “Arrived at Hub”, a problem may have occurred.
While far from insurmountable, it is likely that your mail item has been held up inside the hub due to high volumes and delays.
Here are some examples of what might have caused your tracking to be stuck:
- High seasonal volumes (Christmas period etc)
- Technical issues within the hub/facility (machine breakdown)
- Mail items being misplaced within the hub and not being sorted for dispatch in a timely manner
- Mail item missing a scan, (and has in fact been dispatched toward the next location)
- Staff shortages (prevalent during the covid pandemic) causing back-log
Whatever the cause, if your tracking is stuck on the “Arrived at Hub” status alert for more than 5 business days (less on expedited USPS services), you should contact customer services at 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777)
A USPS representative should be able to shed more light on the exact location of your package and what has caused the delay.
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Final Words
Essentially, the “Arrived at Hub” update is a standard status alert that signifies your mail item is moving through the delivery infrastructure as it should.
The next step will be sorting within the hub, before onward distribution toward the destination address.
If a local post office to the recipient is the next location, delivery is just one or two days away.
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I’m a 25 year veteran of USPS. I’m retired now, but as the editor of Mailbox Master, I can’t quite remove myself from the carrier industry just yet. 🙂