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- Packages end up in the wrong place sometimes but usually make it to their destination.
- Extra transit days add frustration for consumers and costs and emissions for logistics companies.
- UPS and USPS have plans to reduce these "misloads."
The package started out like normal. A small bubble wrap envelope of cosmetics shipped by the US Postal Service from Mississippi headed for Michigan — 750 miles away. But something happened when it got to Memphis, Tennessee, and suddenly, it was in Puerto Rico. Eight days later it arrived at its destination.
It's a strange path, but not completely unheard of. When USPS analyzed the tracking for this package a spokesperson told Insider it was simply a mistake.