I feel for you, DR Elmore. It is unnerving to think that your mail and packages could be getting delievered to wrong places, or just not at all!
I'm irritated because I do not like situations where the inmates are running the asylum. It's bad the post office manager is a fool, but some of the workers are worse. My carrier is a good guy, but while he's away, I'm suffering from fools.
The Postal Service lost a package that I was expecting last summer from Astoria, NY. The tracking number would only show that it was delivered, but I never got it. It wound up in Jersey City, NJ. When I tracked down the manager in New Jersey, I was told that the USPS would place a tracer on the package. The Post Office then blamed the shipper, but I already had credible information that it was the Post Office's fault. Needless to say, the package was lost somewhere in New Jersey and the tracer did nothing.
The year before that, I had been expecting a package of vintage NY Metropolitan TV Guides to add to my collection. There was several hundred dollars worth of TV Guides. However, all the precautions taken by the shipper came to naught. The package was delivered but was empty with USPS tape all over the box. There was a Postal Inspector notice on the box stating something to the effect that while the USPS is very sorry that the package was damaged during shipment, it was pleased to complete the delivery!
I am sorry to say, but the only reliable tracking numbers are (always) FedEx and (98% of the time) UPS. I've had items delivered to me successfully before the Postal Service even updated the tracking number information. From my experience, I've learned that if it's late in the day, the package may be marked as delivered even though it may not show up until the next day.