PostNL is gearing up to handle up to two million parcels a day for the coming peak delivery season, double its usual daily volumes.
The Netherlands and Belgium celebrate the Feast of St Nicholas Eve on the 5th December where people traditionally exchange small gifts, and this is another spike in the peak season that in addition involves the international shopping festivals of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the final rush before Christmas. As with all postal operators it expects a rush of returns after Christmas until around mid January.
To support the efforts, PostNL has opened a fully automated parcel sorting centre in Nieuwegein which will operate 24/7 with extra vans and trucks put into operation to support the push. The postal operator is running 1,250 trucks and 6,500 delivery vans to meet demands.
The postal operator and other carriers have been encouraging e-commerce companies and online shoppers alike to sell and buy outside of the traditional spikes to avoid delivery delays. The campaign, ‘Wees voorbereid – Bestel op tijd’, is hoped to manage pressures on the logistics network as it reaches full capacity.
Source: Apex Insight