PostNL will increase its capacity during the holiday season to cope with higher demand for parcel deliveries around Black Friday, Sinterklaas and Christmas. The holiday period is the company’s busiest time of year.
PostNL will deploy extra staff and increase the number of trips made by trucks and delivery drivers. Office staff will also help handle the higher volume of parcels.
On peak days, PostNL expects to process around 1.7 million parcels, compared with an average of 1.2 million on a normal delivery day. During the busiest period, trucks transporting parcels between sorting centres will make around 1,250 trips a day. On a normal day, they make about 950 trips.
The number of delivery trips will also rise. PostNL expects around 6,300 trips per day during the peak period, compared with an average of 4,500 on a normal day.
Sunday, 29 November, will be an additional delivery day for parcels. This will help ensure that as many Sinterklaas gifts and Black Friday orders as possible arrive on time. For mail, Monday, 21 December, will be an additional delivery day.
Online stores
PostNL says it has agreements with major online retailers about promotions and expected parcel volumes. According to the company, the choices consumers make when ordering can also help spread demand more evenly.
For example, PostNL says a Sinterklaas gift may need to arrive quickly, while a Black Friday purchase could wait until a day when the recipient is at home.
The company also advises consumers to place their orders on time. It gives similar advice for Christmas cards, encouraging people to put them in the post in good time.
“We are well prepared for the busiest weeks of the year. In doing so, we are looking not only at extra capacity, but also at how we can better distribute the peak. By collaborating with webshops and giving consumers more choice, we can effectively manage the busiest period of the year,” says Selma Postma, Managing Director E-commerce at PostNL.
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