1,500 miles in six days: A two-day guaranteed package’s journey on the Postal Service scenic route

On Tuesday, Sept. 15, I paid $36 to send a small box containing a Minnesota Vikings jersey from Watertown to Rapid City by two-day mail guaranteed to arrive Thursday. It arrived Monday. 

By then, U.S. Postal Service tracking information indicated it had traveled some 1,500 miles: from Watertown to Huron, Fargo, West Fargo, possibly Clearwater, Minnesota, Sioux Falls, then back to Huron, Fargo, West Fargo, Sioux Falls and finally Rapid City. 

The second trip from Sioux Falls to Huron is where the routing system evolved from absurdity to performance art.

My usual route from Watertown to Rapid City is 360 miles, but perhaps I am not curious enough about the world.  

After its first arrival in Fargo, the location data next placed it in Clearwater at 5:04 a.m. Thursday. Clearwater is southeast of St. Cloud — roughly 130 miles east of Fargo and decidedly not on the way to Rapid City. 

Postal Service’s plan to speed up delivery in South Dakota is a ‘good first step,’ US senator says

It then supposedly reached Sioux Falls at 6:45 a.m. Either the Clearwater entry was delayed, or my box covered a four-hour drive in 1 hour and 41 minutes. If the Postal Service can move that fast, missing the two-day guarantee becomes even harder to explain.

The box also was recorded passing through Summit on Interstate 29 — maybe stopping for gas and directions. 

The package likely passed through Watertown five times — plenty of time to see attractions including the Redlin Art Center and Bramble Park Zoo, and maybe a boat ride on Lake Kampeska.

Somewhere inside the Postal Service, there must be a Scenic Route Division — an office where someone says, “Sure, Rapid City is west, but have we considered that it might take two trips to see all the sights in eastern South Dakota and North Dakota before moving on to Wall Drug and Reptile Gardens?”

In 1860, the Pony Express could move a letter more than 180 miles a day by changing horses and riders. My box had trucks, scanners and a two-day guarantee. The horses have a better performance record.

A friend of mine who owns a ranch in Wyoming has a building full of original Pony Express equipment. Who thought 166 years later he might be on the cutting edge of a new delivery system?

Meanwhile, Amazon says U.S. Prime members received more than 8 billion items the same or next day in 2025. 

A colleague said I should have just ordered a new Vikings jersey from Amazon. But this one is a replica of the one former Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson once wore. 

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, has been asking for explanations for two years. He mailed a test letter from Rapid City to Pierre. According to Rounds, it visited Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and North Dakota before reaching Pierre 10 days later.  

That’s nothing compared to what a woman in line Monday in Watertown said. Her mail from June just reached its destination. “And it was all local,” she said.

Rounds asked the Postal Service inspector general to investigate, invited South Dakotans to document delays, proposed withholding bonuses from postal executives when service fails and put a hold on nominees to the Postal Service’s governing board.  

The rest of the delegation also raised concerns. In 2024, Rounds, Sen. John Thune and Rep. Dusty Johnson warned postal leadership that moving processing out of South Dakota could mean delays and higher costs for rural communities. Johnson pressed the postmaster general again in July. Rounds has been the most persistent public voice in this fight. Thune, as Senate majority leader, needs to put more weight behind the demand for answers.

The independent Postal Regulatory Commission warned of harm to rural communities and found that pilot versions of one transportation change slowed mail without producing the hoped-for savings. Somebody ought to ask executives how a missed guarantee, 1,500 miles worth of fuel and a subsequent refund fits in the savings calculation.

A glimmer of hope arrived Tuesday when the Postal Service announced improvements to its Sioux Falls plant that will keep more South Dakota mail in South Dakota for processing, hopefully reducing delivery times for some packages.

Meanwhile, there is a second trip in this story: mine. I took the package to the post office anticipating only one trip. I was told if it didn’t arrive by the guaranteed time to return with the receipt for a refund. I returned Friday and was told a refund must wait until the box was delivered.  

I returned Monday after it was delivered. They gave me a $36 postal money order redeemable at the post office. “But we can’t cash this one for 24 hours,” the clerk said. Even the refund can’t be delivered on the day it was promised.

So, I must return again. Maybe they will give me a commemorative stamp.

The package’s tracking receipt also doubles as a recruitment tool: “Looking for a new opportunity? Join a team that delivers!”

I may apply. The travel benefits look excellent.