Who Is The Last Mile Carrier for AliExpress Standard Shipping / Cainiao?

Just wondering whether anyone knows who the "Last Mile Carrier" is for AliExpress Standard Shipping / Cainiao.

A couple of weeks ago I got an item delivered that way, took 1 week from "Shipment dispatched" to "Arrived at destination country". Same timestamp it shows "Accepted by Last Mile Carrier", then the domestic transport took a full 3 weeks to hit my letterbox.

The person dropping it off wore no uniform and used a Budget rental car (I was surprised it wasn't even a van). No idea who they worked for.

Must be some of the slowest domestic shipping anywhere. Even 'Fastway' is a lot better than that since they have re-branded to 'Aramex'.

Comments

  • -1

    Probably Auspost parcel contractor assistant helping with xmas surge.
    The majority of time after arrival in country it was likely sitting in customs, that can often take a week or more.

    • Thanks. Customs delays would explain the delay.

      I had not considered that since I (probably wrongly) read the "Accepted by Last Mile Carrier" as something that happens after customs is cleared.

      • I'm having the same problem, team teri, Other times get packages fairly promptly, supplier now phoning me asking if I have got the goods. Got nothing to do with what you pay for shipping.
        I want a doorbell and a little dance too
        .

  • +1

    AliExpress Standard Shipping

    Must be some of the slowest domestic shipping anywhere. Even 'Fastway' is a lot better than that since they have re-branded to 'Aramex'.

    You're paying next to nothing for the AliExpress Standard Shipping and you're here complaining about it being slow. If you want it faster, you simply pay more for a different "class" of postage. If you're willing to pay, someone can even personally escort your package through customs and do a little dance at your front door after they ring the door bell.

    • +2

      Thanks for your gratuitous sarcasm without any useful information.

      FYI: when eParcel is available I usually upgraded to that, with the result that my parcels spend a lot longer in international transit before getting to Australia, but once in Australia they get delivered within a week or so. All up nothing gained.

      In this case the choice was free shipping or pay US$31 for DHL.

      Perhaps time AliExpress finds a way to combine the impressively quick international shipping they include with their standard shipping with a somewhat quicker 'last mile' option, at a price closer to eParcel rates than DHL rates. Now that would be something useful.

      • …without any useful information.

        If you read between the lines, it says "You get what you pay for".

        In this case the choice was free shipping or pay US$31 for DHL.

        At least they give you an option. Just like everything else, you have choices to make - If you don't think it's worth paying US$31 for faster shipping, then you just have to wait for their standard delivery. You can't have both. Have you tried buying anything off the US sites? The shipping prices aren't that much different to that.

        Even though you sound unhappy with the longer delivery of this purchase, I bet my left nut that the next time you buy and they give you those shipping options, you still won't pay for the faster delivery option because the $$ is your priority.

        • If you read between the lines, it says "You get what you pay for".

          And if you read my reply, you'll see that is not true. Cainiao (usually free) and ePacket (usually $3-$8 when offered as an option) currently take about the same time to arrive.

          If the same $3-$8 were used to combine the quite quick and often 'free' Cainiao international leg with a fast domestic option, it would get quite close to DHL delivery times at a quarter of the DHL cost.

          As to the 'free' delivery: I am not unhappy about the overall time it takes. I am just surprised about the inefficiencies in the logistics chain that don't stem from the obvious issue: "few flights due to COVID". Perhaps mskeggs found the explanation with customs queues. No way to know for sure…

          • @team teri:

            Cainiao (usually free)

            There is no such thing as free shipping. It'll be costed in somewhere. If it's not your item alone, it'll be split amongst others. The courier/shipping company still needs to get paid.

            I used to wonder how they could ship some items internationally for so cheap and someone mentioned that some places will put together the items going to the same local area (country, state or city) and ship it as one bulk shipment (so it's cheaper) and then split it up into individual packages at the end destination before that "last mile". I have no idea who they use to split it up but I can't imagine it'll be a huge operation. That's where I suspect it might take up a lot of time after customs.

            But in order to do the above, all the items have to come out of the same distribution centre. So it may or may not be an option for some businesses.

  • +1

    Most of the time it is Australia Post, it just delivered as a standard untrackable letter or small parcel.

    Source: I am a developer of package tracker app.

    bobbified is correct, Cainiao is a cheap delivery service and you should expect a slow delivery.

    • Yes, I do expect slower delivery. Especially with limited international flights. The reason for this post is that things are turned on their head. International is fast, domestic is very slow.

      I don't see any benefit for domestic carriers to store stuff for weeks. That causes them extra costs. Sure, stuff will be sent by truck rather than plane, but regular parcels seem back on track with 1 week coast-to-coast for most couriers.

  • A couple of weeks ago I got an item delivered that way, took 1 week from "Shipment dispatched" to "Arrived at destination country". Same timestamp it shows "Accepted by Last Mile Carrier", then the domestic transport took a full 3 weeks to hit my letterbox.

    That is brilliant.

    I recently sent a International Express Post package to the UK and after paying $45 it hasn't reached its destination after 20 calendar days. When I called up Australia Post they said once it gets to the UK it is outside of their network and all they can do is launch an investigation.

    I asked what is the most likely outcome. Either your are compensated or they send it back to you. Either way it doesn't look like it is going to get there.

    • Why would you think that? I sent a parcel to Japan, it took 1 month but it arrived no issues.

  • +1

    My experience with Aliexpress shipping is that while it is very slow (5-8 weeks!), it does seem to have some form of tracking in Australia - I've had emails notifying me the day it gets delivered.

    I suspect all "Aliexpress shipping" items to Australia are sent in single batches (and the items are often drop-shipped from various locations around China), and are very slowly sorted in Australia, hence the very long shipping times.

  • I'VE HAD NO UPDATES from AliExpress since 4 weeks ago "departed country of origin" nothing at all from auspost

  • So no one has actually answered the OPs question ( "Who Is The Last Mile Carrier for AliExpress Standard Shipping / Cainiao?" ) as far as I can tell…
    In my case it appears it might be Ubi Logistics.
    If you track the item on Cainiao, on the tracking results page it shows Destination Australia in a box in the upper left corner, in that box it shows Ubi and there's a phone icon that I can click on to get there phone number.

  • +1

    So I actually found a parcel tracking page that gave me the carrier for the local delivery and their respective tracking number.
    In my case it turned out to be Auspost. I was able to use the Next Tracking Number field to get on Auspost, and lodge a missing item report (in my case it's showing as delivered, but I haven't receoved it).

    I used https://parcelsapp.com/en.
    When you enter the tracking number from Ali Express, it shows a bunch of really helpful information:

    Destination Australia
    Next tracking numbers 33XHDxxxxxxxxxxx
    Tracked with couriers Yanwen Logistics 4PX Express UBI Smart Parcel Australia Post Landmark Global Winit
    Shipper Code LP00503357209162
    Reference AUS6xxxxxxx1512
    Service Parcel Post

Login or Join to leave a comment