Are you expecting an international package from China and AliExpress tells you “Arrived at departure transport hub?”
You could be wondering what that status means, how long it will take to receive it, and if there is anything you can do to necessitate a faster delivery.
What gives? Let’s jump into it right away.
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What Does Arrived At Departure Transport Hub Mean?
The “Arrived at Departure Transport Hub” tracking status means that the package is already at the International Shipment’s hub to leave China, and AliExpress is awaiting the relevant airline to pick it up and deliver to the most favorable route toward the destination country.
Before the package leaves the departure transport hub, activities such as customs clearance will be conducted before the handing over process to the relevant international airlines happens.
Under most circumstances, the airline that takes the package from China won’t be the one to bring it to your country.
Instead, such an airline takes that package to a different country with the most favorable direct route coming to your country.
For example, when I had this status happening on my package, AliExpress gave the package to an airline heading to Belgium, and then my parcel was delivered from there.
Also Read: What Does The AliExpress Airline Handover Problem At Departure Transport Hub Status Mean?
What Is A Departure Transport Hub For Packages?
When AliExpress talks about a departure transport hub, they mean a facility that handles international packages for customs clearance before they leave China, and processing parcels for cross-border transit mostly through international airlines.
It’s vital not to confuse a departure transport hub with a transport hub, though. In transport hubs such as airports, railway stations, and seaports, facilitation of the movement of people and packages happens while in departure transportation hubs, it’s a beehive of activities pertaining to facilitating packages to cross-borders.
Why Is My AliExpress Package Stuck On “Arrived At Departure Transport Hub” For Several Days? 5 Main Reasons
Backed Up Customs Offices
Depending on the time of the year, packages might take longer to go through the customs clearance process.
It takes even longer while nearing the holiday season, and where a physical inspection of your package has to go through before departure.
Insufficient Airlines
Since AliExpress has to find an airline heading to the best route toward your country, it sometimes happens that all the available flights are booked to capacity.
Under that circumstance, AliExpress will have to await any next available airline, which can take several other days or even weeks to find.
Understaffing
The ratio of the available AliExpress staff to the international packages is sometimes disproportionate, meaning there is a backlog, especially during the peak shopping seasons.
By the time all the customs processes go through to the package status moving, it could be such a long gap.
Lack Of Sufficient Packages
One of the facts we have noted is that packages that come from the Hong Kong transport hub delay somewhat more compared to those in the bigger hubs.
In Hong Kong, the freight volumes are lower, making packages coming from there stay stuck on a specific update for long. See, there must be sufficient volumes of packages heading to your route to fill a plane before it leaves.
In cases where there are insufficient packages to fill a plane, it’s where senders choose the cheapest and slowest forms of postages and they have to wait for the containers to be full before leaving.
Inaccurate Tracking
We have had many instances where due to inaccurate tracking, AliExpress packages didn’t update until they got delivered.
The tracking page might fail to update due to issues such as technical glitches or missed scans.
What we know is that inaccurate tracking or the tracking page failing to get updated might lead to recipients getting unnecessarily anxious.
What Should I Do When My Package Is Stuck At, “Arrived At Departure Transport Hub?”
Be More Patient
When international packages are stuck at a specific tracking update, we recommend that recipients be more patient.
There is no point in panicking if yours isn’t a time-sensitive parcel. Really.
For instance, if the reason for the package to stay stuck on that update is due to an ongoing customs clearance process, it means that AliExpress isn’t in possession of your item. Instead, it’s getting handled by the customs office.
In that scenario, the package status will only change when customs has cleared it and proceeded in its journey.
Use A Third-party Tracking Service
If you get overwhelmed with anxiety and would rather have any update as the package makes any step, you can use third-party package tracking sites such as ParcelsApp.
To get your required results, just paste the AliExpress tracking number to the provided button and you will get finer details about your package.
Let The Sender Know
Since you are the sender’s client, they are responsible for ensuring that you receive your package within the agreed timeframe.
If yours was a time-sensitive package and you can’t really wait any further, we recommend getting in touch with the sender and letting them know.
After letting them know, you can then settle on them sending you a replacement package or a refund.
If you prefer to deal with AliExpress directly, you can opt to seize their guaranteed protection offer if they delay your package for more than 90 days to Russia, 120 days to Brazil, and 60 days to any other country.
How Long Are Packages Stuck At Departure Transportation Hubs?
We have had instances where packages were stuck on the “arrived at departure transportation hub” for 2 business days and we have also had instances where it took more than 3 weeks for the package status to move.
Basically, it depends on the reason why the package is stuck there before you can get any worthwhile update.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- When AliExpress says that a package has arrived at departure transport hub, they mean that the parcel is getting processed before getting loaded to an airline heading towards the recipient’s route
- Reasons such as backlogs, lack of scanning, insufficient planes, understaffing, and high volumes of packages in the customs offices explain why packages take longer while stuck on that update
- You should be more patient while expecting international packages as they will eventually get them to you
- If your package takes more than a business week to move, know that it’s normal for AliExpress international packages. Don’t panic.
