Mail delivery time calculator
 

Does anyone know of an online chart that gives a general idea of how
long it takes for one regular letter to travel from one state to another?

Thanks

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

zvnteq7 wrote:

> Does anyone know of an online chart that gives a general idea of how
> long it takes for one regular letter to travel from one state to another?
>
> Thanks

That would be impossible. There could be 2 hops between states in the
route for your e-mail or there could be a dozen with each adding more
delay. Some hops are slower than others and vary depending on their
current load. A node in the route between hosts could be dead or
unresponsive and it could be hours or days before it gets fixed. A mail
server could be busy and refuse to accept further mail sessions and the
sending mail server will have to retry later. There are no "central"
mail servers in each state that each e-mail service provider (ESP) uses.
They each operate their own mail server program on their own hosts on
their own network over various local and backbone network providers.
The Internet is a *mesh* network (and sometimes a mess network).

Networks don't have a concept of geograhical "states". That's why it's
called the WORLD Wide Web, not the Nebraska Wide Web, Madagascar Wide
Web, Zanzibar Wide Web, Signapore Wide Web, Guam Wide Web, and so on.

If you want to find out how long it took for a particular e-mail to
arrive, look at the Received headers. They are prepended to the e-mail
by each mail host, so the last mail host's Received header (for the
recipient) will be at the top of the headers and the first mail host
(for the sender) will be at the bottom. Just look at the timestamps in
the first and last Received headers, but make sure to accommodate for
timezone differences. Easiest is just to subtract the timezone offset
(to equate to GMT) from the timestamps and then compute an absolute
difference in the GMT-based timestamps.

If your mail host's Received header said it accepted your e-mail at
12:10:05 -0600 and the recipient's Received header said it got your
e-mail at 10:12:15 -0800 then it took 2 minutes 10 seconds to deliver
your e-mail:

GMT = timestamp - timezoneOffset

(12:10:05) - (-0600) = 18:10:05 GMT
(10:12:15) - (-0800) = 18:12:15 GMT
========
Difference = 00:02:10

If you want to see how long YOUR e-mails are taking for delivery when
using whatever is your ESP to the same or variable list of recipients,
you'll have to compile that list yourself in a spreadsheet. However,
since routes change, hops in the route vary in responsiveness, servers
get busy or idle, maintenance happens, various network segments get busy
or idle depending on the current load on them, and other variables,
you'll probably see a lot of your e-mails take a few seconds while some
take hours with a large discrepancy between the two extremes (i.e.,
delivery will be really short or really long and not much in between).

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

"VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message
news:gohjnl$k3$1@news.motzarella.org...
> zvnteq7 wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know of an online chart that gives a general idea of how
>> long it takes for one regular letter to travel from one state to another?
>>
>> Thanks
>
> That would be impossible. There could be 2 hops between states in the
> route for your e-mail or there could be a dozen with each adding more
> delay. Some hops are slower than others and vary depending on their
> current load. A node in the route between hosts could be dead or
> unresponsive and it could be hours or days before it gets fixed. A mail
> server could be busy and refuse to accept further mail sessions and the
> sending mail server will have to retry later. There are no "central"
> mail servers in each state that each e-mail service provider (ESP) uses.
> They each operate their own mail server program on their own hosts on
> their own network over various local and backbone network providers.
> The Internet is a *mesh* network (and sometimes a mess network).
>
> Networks don't have a concept of geograhical "states". That's why it's
> called the WORLD Wide Web, not the Nebraska Wide Web, Madagascar Wide
> Web, Zanzibar Wide Web, Signapore Wide Web, Guam Wide Web, and so on.
>
> If you want to find out how long it took for a particular e-mail to
> arrive, look at the Received headers. They are prepended to the e-mail
> by each mail host, so the last mail host's Received header (for the
> recipient) will be at the top of the headers and the first mail host
> (for the sender) will be at the bottom. Just look at the timestamps in
> the first and last Received headers, but make sure to accommodate for
> timezone differences. Easiest is just to subtract the timezone offset
> (to equate to GMT) from the timestamps and then compute an absolute
> difference in the GMT-based timestamps.
>
> If your mail host's Received header said it accepted your e-mail at
> 12:10:05 -0600 and the recipient's Received header said it got your
> e-mail at 10:12:15 -0800 then it took 2 minutes 10 seconds to deliver
> your e-mail:
>
> GMT = timestamp - timezoneOffset
>
> (12:10:05) - (-0600) = 18:10:05 GMT
> (10:12:15) - (-0800) = 18:12:15 GMT
> ========
> Difference = 00:02:10
>
> If you want to see how long YOUR e-mails are taking for delivery when
> using whatever is your ESP to the same or variable list of recipients,
> you'll have to compile that list yourself in a spreadsheet. However,
> since routes change, hops in the route vary in responsiveness, servers
> get busy or idle, maintenance happens, various network segments get busy
> or idle depending on the current load on them, and other variables,
> you'll probably see a lot of your e-mails take a few seconds while some
> take hours with a large discrepancy between the two extremes (i.e.,
> delivery will be really short or really long and not much in between).

Very detailed and erudite answer...to the wrong question. Reread OP ;-)

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

Charlie Darwin wrote:
> "VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message
> news:gohjnl$k3$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> zvnteq7 wrote:
>><snip>


> Very detailed and erudite answer...to the wrong question. Reread OP ;-)

You're right, I meant U.S. Postal Service Mail

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

Charlie Darwin wrote:

> "VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message
> news:gohjnl$k3$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> zvnteq7 wrote:
>>
>>> Does anyone know of an online chart that gives a general idea of how
>>> long it takes for one regular letter to travel from one state to another?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>> That would be impossible. There could be 2 hops between states in the
>> route for your e-mail or there could be a dozen with each adding more
>> delay. Some hops are slower than others and vary depending on their
>> current load. A node in the route between hosts could be dead or
>> unresponsive and it could be hours or days before it gets fixed. A mail
>> server could be busy and refuse to accept further mail sessions and the
>> sending mail server will have to retry later. There are no "central"
>> mail servers in each state that each e-mail service provider (ESP) uses.
>> They each operate their own mail server program on their own hosts on
>> their own network over various local and backbone network providers.
>> The Internet is a *mesh* network (and sometimes a mess network).
>>
>> Networks don't have a concept of geograhical "states". That's why it's
>> called the WORLD Wide Web, not the Nebraska Wide Web, Madagascar Wide
>> Web, Zanzibar Wide Web, Signapore Wide Web, Guam Wide Web, and so on.
>>
>> If you want to find out how long it took for a particular e-mail to
>> arrive, look at the Received headers. They are prepended to the e-mail
>> by each mail host, so the last mail host's Received header (for the
>> recipient) will be at the top of the headers and the first mail host
>> (for the sender) will be at the bottom. Just look at the timestamps in
>> the first and last Received headers, but make sure to accommodate for
>> timezone differences. Easiest is just to subtract the timezone offset
>> (to equate to GMT) from the timestamps and then compute an absolute
>> difference in the GMT-based timestamps.
>>
>> If your mail host's Received header said it accepted your e-mail at
>> 12:10:05 -0600 and the recipient's Received header said it got your
>> e-mail at 10:12:15 -0800 then it took 2 minutes 10 seconds to deliver
>> your e-mail:
>>
>> GMT = timestamp - timezoneOffset
>>
>> (12:10:05) - (-0600) = 18:10:05 GMT
>> (10:12:15) - (-0800) = 18:12:15 GMT
>> ========
>> Difference = 00:02:10
>>
>> If you want to see how long YOUR e-mails are taking for delivery when
>> using whatever is your ESP to the same or variable list of recipients,
>> you'll have to compile that list yourself in a spreadsheet. However,
>> since routes change, hops in the route vary in responsiveness, servers
>> get busy or idle, maintenance happens, various network segments get busy
>> or idle depending on the current load on them, and other variables,
>> you'll probably see a lot of your e-mails take a few seconds while some
>> take hours with a large discrepancy between the two extremes (i.e.,
>> delivery will be really short or really long and not much in between).
>
> Very detailed and erudite answer...to the wrong question. Reread OP ;-)

"regular letter"

Considering the prevalence of e-mail, especially for the audience that
visits here to read that post, do you think "letter" meant postal mail
or an e-mail? My guess was e-mail.

If the OP actually meant a postal mailing, and because he is in the USA,
then he could check at usps.com. Their estimates are the only ones that
matter because they're the one handling that postal mail.

Of course, the OP might've been sending the "letter" in a FedEx envelope
and so obviously it would be FedEx that you get that info.

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

zvnteq7 wrote:

> Charlie Darwin wrote:
>> "VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message
>> news:gohjnl$k3$1@news.motzarella.org...
>>> zvnteq7 wrote:
>>><snip>
>
>> Very detailed and erudite answer...to the wrong question. Reread OP ;-)
>
> You're right, I meant U.S. Postal Service Mail

Then go to usps.com to find out what they say for delivery time based on
WHICH delivery mode you pay for.

Express Mail
Priority Mail
First-class Mail
Bulk Mail

Use their "Calculate Postage" wizard to walk through an example scenario
of whatever type of mailing you intend to track. Based on your
selections and the start/end locations, they'll tell you an expected
range for delivery time (you'll see a Speed column when you get to
choose which service to use based on your prior selections [to determine
which services are available for your particular package]).

Since USPS uses truck, train, and airplane to move the postal mail
items, and until you pick a class of service that can dictate speed of
delivery, how long it takes depends on your choices and what you send.

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

VanguardLH wrote:

>"regular letter"
>
>Considering the prevalence of e-mail, especially for the audience that
>visits here to read that post, do you think "letter" meant postal mail
>or an e-mail? My guess was e-mail.
>
>If the OP actually meant a postal mailing, and because he is in the USA,
>then he could check at usps.com. Their estimates are the only ones that
>matter because they're the one handling that postal mail.
>
>Of course, the OP might've been sending the "letter" in a FedEx envelope
>and so obviously it would be FedEx that you get that info.

Does it hurt?

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

nobody > wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>> zvnteq7 wrote:
>>
>>> Does anyone know of an online chart that gives a general idea of how
>>> long it takes for one regular letter to travel from one state to another?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>> That would be impossible. There could be 2 hops between states in the
>> route for your e-mail
> ^^^^^^
>
> 8< snippage >8
>
> Dude, the OP was talking about SNAILMAIL

I didn't figure the OP was so stupid as to not realize that the postal
service provider that he uses would be from where he gets the delivery
times. However, many users don't know about reading the Received
headers in e-mail. E-mail and mail are now used interchangeably. So
why not letter and message? Then consider the venue in which the OP
asked the question.

Oh, I forgot. You're God.

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

"Bill" <spamtrap@tinlc.lumbercartel.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.24162359fb394b50989687@localhost...
> In article <gohjnl$k3$1@news.motzarella.org>, V@nguard.LH says...
>>
>> zvnteq7 wrote:
>>
>> > Does anyone know of an online chart that gives a general idea of how
>> > long it takes for one regular letter to travel from one state to
>> > another?
>> >
>> > Thanks
>>
>> That would be impossible. There could be 2 hops between states in the
>> route for your e-mail or there could be a dozen with each adding more
>> delay. Some hops are slower than others and vary depending on their
>> current load.
>
> <snip>
>
> When I read the original post I thought the OP was talking about snail
> mail.
>
> Bill

Me too because he mentioned the mail being delivered between states. Why
would that have anything to do with email?

Re: Mail delivery time calculator
 

zvnteq7 wrote:
> Does anyone know of an online chart that gives a general idea of how
> long it takes for one regular letter to travel from one state to
> another?

The variables in the equation are greater than the fixed points.

That is, about a mile from my house is a huge regional postal center.
Several states away there will be another regional postal center, which,
like mine, also provides postal mailboxes.

If you are measuring the time from posting at the/my postal center to
delivery in a postal mailbox in some other state's postal center, the time
will be markedly less than if you are counting the time for a mail carrier
to pick up the mail from my residence, take it to the nearest carrier
center from which it will later travel to a regional center and then later
travel to the distant regional travel center to be distributed to a local
postal facility where it will be dispensed to the mail carriers which will
eventually deliver it to some other residence or business.

The deadtimes at the 6 or more stops are much much greater than the travel
time between states. If you eliminate most of the deadtimes by picking up
and delivering at the regional centers, most of the delivery time lag is
eliminated.


--
Mike Easter