Powerhouse9 said:
why is it easier to get things from china on the east coast as opposed to the west coast?
The simple reason is this. When mail comes in from other countries, it is put on flights where its destination is closest directed to.
The two major custom inspection points in the US are in San Francisco, servicing the west coast, and New York, servicing the east coast.
When a flight goes from China to New York, mail will simply be put on that flight as a way to save the USPS money, instead of any other flight into the US. The USPS have agreements with various airlines to transport packages, letters, etc on commercial flights. The next time you come from China, you might have 100kg of Test in the cargo area
The matter of fact is this. In terms of Volume, New York handles mail from all European flights because New York is the most often destination into the US from flights from other countries. The mail is unloaded and inspected at JFK by customs. San Francisco does not have the volume that New York does, hence they can conduct more thorough inspections.
So, if you are expecting something in the mail, it's better to get it sent to the east coast as it has a better chance of escaping detection.
Last year, Customs and USPS were supposed to make the security at JFK with screening packages much better due to 9/11. Better machines and more personnel were planted at the screening center. IMHO, the chance of your package making it through any customs checkpoint, depends on your source. There are ways to package items that make detection almost 0%...almost is the key word.
San Francisco is pretty tough! I have a few pkgs. that are pending their, well more like......they got taken up by our friendly customs!
