How Can I Find the Origin And Destination Carriers of a Postal Parcel?
A tracking number is like a passport for your package. Learn how to decode the last two letters of the tracking ID to instantly identify the Origin Carrier (sender) and understand which local postal service acts as the Destination Carrier for final delivery.
Are you expecting an international parcel but only have a confusing string of letters and numbers? You can actually learn a lot just by looking at this code.
For postal operators that belong to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the tracking format is standardized. An international shipment always involves two players:
- Origin Carrier: The company that accepted the parcel in the sending country;
- Destination Carrier: The local post office that delivers it to your door.
The key thing to remember is that for standard postal mail, the tracking number remains the same for both carriers.
How to Determine the Origin Carrier
In our tracking number guide, we mentioned the UPU S10 format. It typically looks like this:
XX 123456789 YY
To find out where the package is coming from, you simply need to look at the last two letters (the suffix YY). According to the international ISO 3166 standard, these two letters represent the country code of the sender.
Here is a quick reference table for the most common codes:
| Suffix | Country | Origin Carrier |
|---|---|---|
| US | United States | USPS |
| UK / GB | United Kingdom | Royal Mail |
| CN | China | China Post |
| CA | Canada | Canada Post |
| AU | Australia | Australia Post |
| NL | Netherlands | PostNL |
| DE | Germany | Deutsche Post |
| SG | Singapore | Singapore Post |
| FR | France | La Poste |
| UA | Ukraine | Ukrposhta |
Examples:
- CQ062355471US - Ends in US, handled by USPS;
- AT308916683CN - Ends in CN, handled by China Post;
- SP472847658GB - Ends in GB, handled by Royal Mail.
How to Determine the Destination Carrier
The tracking number tells you where the package came from, but it doesn't explicitly say where it is going. However, determining the destination carrier is simple logic:
The destination carrier is always the national postal service of the recipient's country.
- If you live in the USA, the destination carrier is USPS;
- If you live in the UK, it is Royal Mail;
- If you live in Canada, it is Canada Post.
Once the package clears customs in your country, the Origin Carrier hands responsibility over to your local post office. They will use the exact same tracking number to complete the delivery.
The Easiest Way to Check
Memorizing country codes is unnecessary. The fastest way to get full details on both the sender and the recipient is to use our universal parcel tracker.
Our system automatically analyzes the number, identifies the Origin Carrier by the suffix, detects your location to find the Destination Carrier, and pulls data from both sources simultaneously. This gives you a complete picture of the journey without needing to guess.
