Have you noticed a recent pattern of early delivery for ordered items? Good or not good?

Recently I’ve had quite a few orders come earlier than expected, one by as much as a week. A day or two early is becoming common.

This is true of Amazon, but not only Amazon; and all carriers, not just USPS, UPS, and FedEx but independent delivery services also.

Has this happened with you? What do you think of it?

To me this is not good. Packages are at risk for theft, especially when delivery people leave them conspicuously right in front of our door and don’t bother to put them to one side, never mind ringing the doorbell.

It may not matter much if I lose a paperback book or a pair of slippers; but yesterday a large box containing an expensive piece of prescribed medical equipment arrived three days early, just as I was leaving the house. I had planned to be home on Monday to receive it. If it had come while we were out, we probably would never have got it.

Are schedules deliberately showing later expected arrival so shippers can get good marks for being early? Isn’t on time better than either late or early?