What Does “In Transit Departed Waypoint” Mean?

You’re expecting a package from China (likely an AliExpress or Shein order) and you have received an “In Transit Departed Waypoint” tracking update.

What does this mean exactly? Where is your package when you see this update and what do you do when it gets stuck?

Let’s take a look…

In Transit Departed Waypoint – Guide

To unpack this status alert, it is necessary to understand what a “Waypoint” is.

Essentially, any location where the package is sorted, scanned, and dispatched can be considered a waypoint.

These are basically steps along the route where the package is not in transit. Facility, sorting depot even a delivery office toward the end of the journey can be considered waypoints.

In this example, the package has departed the waypoint and is once again in Transit. The shipment is moving ever closer to the delivery address.

• Related Content: Object Routed Meaning – AliExpress Tracking Guide

So Where is My Package When I Receive the “In Transit Departed Waypoint” Alert?

When the alert has been triggered the package has been loaded onto a mode of transport. This is dependent on the type of shipping purchased, however, commonly it will mean a plane or truck.

For slower services, this could be a boat. For packages moving through China toward the export location, (i.e and airport), the mode of transport could also be a train.

As far as specific location, this can either be impossible to detect or very clear.

Some carriers will include an additional line to the “In Transit Departed Waypoint” alert, which specifically states the waypoint location where the package just departed.

In other scenarios, no location is given, so all you can really ascertain is that the package is in transit again. Its specific whereabouts remain unknown.

• Related Content: Shipment Transiting to Next Station – SF Express

Tracking Stuck on “In Transit Departed Waypoint”

There is a good chance that you have reached this article because your tracking is stuck and you want to know why.

First things first, how long has the tracking been stuck?

AliExpress and Shien orders from China take multiple weeks to reach the USA or Europe.

Not only that, the carriers involved with the standard shipping process are less than reliable when it comes to scanning and tracking.

If your package has just left a waypoint and is now on its way to customs or further still, being loaded onto a plane for overseas transit, it could be several days to weeks before you see another update.

(Shein tracking with Yanwen, for example, will no longer provide tracking updates once the package has left China).

This means that in the early stages of any shipments of this nature, you should just ignore the tracking page.

AliExpress provides a buyers guarantee period of 60 days.

In my opinion, your tracking could be stuck for almost that entire delivery window before you bother to raise a dispute or contact the seller, anything before that and you will be told to wait longer.

Just ensure you make inquiries before the guarantee period runs out mind you.

When I order items from Shein to Croatia the delivery time can be up to 20 business days. An entire month.

Only when this draws to a close, would I bother to contact Shein to see what the hold-up is.

Using a Universal Tracking App

As I have mentioned already, some carriers (Yanwen and Sunyou for example) will not provide tracking updates once the item has been shipped out of China.

However, the package will still be receiving scans as it works its way through the delivery network toward the destination address.

To see what updates are being triggered, you can simply use the tracking code in a free app such as 17Track or ParcelsApp.

These will search the database of any carrier that may be currently responsible for the shipment, and provide you with details of the progress.

Final Words

Overall, the “In Transit Departed Waypoint” status update is telling you that the shipment is on the move once more. It has passed through a waypoint (facility, customs, etc) and is now in transit.

It is a generic alert and means that the mail item is getting closer to the delivery location.

However, as it can be triggered at various points in the shipment journey, it doesn’t mean that final delivery is imminent.

As with most packages leaving China, patience is very much a virtue.

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