I perfectly know what you mean Joe..
Some drivers still use older computers that do not update shipping states over the air, so the data is updated once they're back in their docking station at best..
some are simply not put back correctly and the absolute worst:
Some drivers cheat if they need to fullfill a certain amount of deliveries per day.. so they themselves sign for a parcel and deliver it the next day (or don't) if they cannot seem to make it because of traffic or a mishap of some sort (accident, truck issue...)
So the online info is simply crap..
I was waiting for an update on the FedEx website for months (after the parcel was delivered)
just to see when they update... at one point the tracking number was just deleted and it never seen any update (other than the initial "left XYZ on ABC")
Other parcels have been marked as delivered to my door.. signed by ME!
that took another five days for the driver to show up with said item I signed for days before
(guess what.. I haven't! but I called DHL a day later how I could've signed for something I haven't received... I think him showing up was the result of internal investigation)
So yeah it needs an update, but frankly.. most of the time it works well enough for me.. it's just the bad occasions you seem to remember later on.
A friend of mine for example ordered a laptop one saturday evening; and the following Monday at 2 pm he received a notification that said laptop was successfully delivered.. and it indeed was waiting for him when he got back home. and the message was dispatched and updated online within ten minutes of the arrival.
Absolutely perfect... but something he'll certainly will not remember in a year or so
(like counting red/green lights on your daily commute... you remember the red ones only

)
But truth is, the hardware should be upgraded where neccessary to make that experience as consistent as possible at least,
and IMHO those false info must be punished; I don't mind if my parcel takes a day longer to be delivered in most occasions a truck can have an issue, a driver might have gotten sick ... shirts happen.
Heck even a lost item isn't ruining my life (insured shipping assumed I don't care too much frankly)
But telling me I got something I did NOT..that makes me nervous!
'sid