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I suppose that you have now learned to not trust the United States Postal Service with your $10,000 package. FedEx or UPS do cost a little more, but in this case I think you would agree that it would have been worth it.

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If you read, it was sent by DHL from Germany. Within Germany, DHL is the defacto choice for courier. The problem is where DHL hands it off to USPS for US delivery, since DHL has pretty much pulled back from trying to compete directly with Fedex and UPS in the US48 market.

I get packages from Europe via DHL every week at work. They are never handed off to USPS, they come in a DHL van. However, they certainly might use USPS for some residential deliveries.

What DHL doesnt do anymore is US->US (domestic) shipments. International delivery is still definitely handled in the US by DHL themselves.

I think this might depend on what city you're in. DHL has definitely pulled back from the US:

http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20131125-five-years-on-dh...

http://www.economist.com/node/12607051

There is still a direct DHL presense in larger areas/markets like Seattle, San Francisco or Dallas. But not so much in other parts of the country.

Sounds like the original package was sent DHL and then dumped to USPS for delivery.

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