Is it really that hard to track a package?

Specifically, the Post Office. I made an online purchase on Monday. Vendor sent me the tracking number Monday night. USPS didn’t show it is active until yesterday (Thursday), and then all they showed was “label has been created”.

Today (Friday) the item arrived – the mailman just brought it o my door. But the USPS tracking website doesn’t even show the item as having left the shipper.

UPS and Fedex seem to be able to give exact and accurate indications of package status and location. After all, we’re talking about scanning a barcode and uploading it to a server. Not rocket science.

Why is it so difficult for the Post office?