Through Rain and Snow... But Not Directly!

I ordered some items from ThinkGeek. The shipment was in prior to 1 pm EST, so the order was cleared that day and the next day it shipped. The warehouse the order shipped from is in Edison, NJ. I'm following the UPS Tracking on the order as it is being shipped to ME and I will need to run down to get it (plus some groceries and such).

Here is, so far, the route this one 3.7 lb package has taken:

• Departed Edison, NJ 3/14 and arrived in Parsippany, NJ 3/14 (about 40 miles).
  
• Departed Parsippany, NJ 3/14 and arrived in Hartford, CT 3/14 (about 145 miles).
• Departed Hartford, CT 3/16 and arrived in Chelmsford, MA 3/16 (about 105 miles).

The package still has about 330 miles to go from Chelmsford, MA to Calais, ME, and I expect it to make at least one more stop along the way. And, of course, the extra 75 miles that I get to drive (one way) to get it from there to here.

My question: is this the best route this package could take? There isn't a way to ship it straight to, say, Portland or Bangor and then drive it up to Calais in a "usual" shipment? It just seems odd that this one package is taking the scenic route and stopping so many places along the way.

It seems more efficient to me to have large city transports on a regular basis, and then drive from those large cities to the smaller ones as needed and as packages come in. These shipping companies have been doing this along time; I'm guessing they've worked out the kinks by now. Still surprises me to watch this package go through its paces.

Addendum 3/17:

Sure enough, the package finished with:

• Chelmsford, MA 3/16 to Brewer, ME 3/17.
• Brewer, ME 3/17 to Baileyville, ME 3/17.
• Baileyville, ME 3/17 to Calais, ME 3/17 (final destination).

What a way to go!