Christmas: This is how parcel services prepare for the coming weeks

Because of the Corona crisis, parcel services and delivery people will probably have to work at maximum load in the run up to Christmas.

Whether GLS, Hermes, DPD or Deutsche Post: The large logistics companies expect significant growth in the parcel business in the run-up to Christmas this year due to the corona pandemic. Online orders are booming during the crisis – and the Christmas presents have to get to the customers somehow.

Send packages as early as possible

"We are assuming a record volume this year and expect an increase of over 100,000 parcels a day compared to the previous year," confirmed a spokeswoman for GLS when asked by spot on news. 3,500 additional employees support the parcel service nationwide in the autumn and Christmas business with sorting and processing. Up to 1,000 additional vehicles are to be used in delivery and scheduled services.

GLS advises "sending the parcels as early as possible, since unforeseeable events such as traffic jams, blocked roads or highways, weather conditions such as snowfall etc. can lead to delays, especially in the run-up to Christmas". For parcels within Germany, an order should therefore be placed no later than December 22nd, for shipments to neighboring EU countries by December 21st and for other European countries by December 18th.

Deliveries also in the evening

Deutsche Post recently announced that it would also deliver parcels in the evening in some places during the run-up to Christmas. Tobias Meyer, Board Member for Post and Parcels, told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers that they wanted to work "with several waves throughout the day". Due to the boom in online orders in 2020, a new record for deliveries is expected.

On peak days, up to eleven million parcels are expected. Otherwise this value would be around 5.2 million. According to this, 10,000 new employees are to be hired by the end of the year. If you want to ensure that a parcel arrives on time, you should hand it in by 12:00 noon on December 19th. Letters and postcards should be in the mail by December 22nd.

Up to 2.5 million packages

A spokesman for DPD Germany confirms that "there will indeed be significant increases in parcel volumes over the next few weeks". Therefore the capacities are being expanded. In contrast to Deutsche Post, DPD does not plan to deliver in the evening during the Christmas period. So that a parcel can arrive on time by Christmas Eve, it should be posted by December 22nd at the latest.

As early as May, a new record had been reached with almost 2.2 million parcels a day, according to a press release. One expects to deliver up to 2.5 million parcels a day in the run-up to Christmas. In order to be able to cope with this additional effort, more than 2,000 additional vehicles and 4,000 additional workers – in the sorting centers and in the delivery area – are in use.

Fight the winter weather

"We are also expecting record quantities in the coming weeks and months and are preparing for around 120 million shipments that we will move between October and December," confirmed a spokeswoman for Hermes Germany on request. That corresponds to an increase of a good 20 percent over the previous year. However, one is well prepared for the high season. Since we have been working towards this for months, "with our capacities and the various precautions we have taken, we are well positioned for the additional quantities that are now rolling in".

The fleet will be increased by around 3,900 additional vehicles, 3,500 additional employees will support their colleagues and the sorting capacity will be increased by 30 percent. An evening delivery is currently not planned and delivery bottlenecks are not expected due to the measures taken, it continues.

Hermes had previously announced in a press release that shipments within Germany should be handed in by 12:00 noon on December 21st, so that they are sure to end up under the Christmas tree. Pick-ups at the front door should also be planned for December 21st at the latest. For international deliveries, December 15 is the key date. Hermes advises: "It is better to place Christmas orders early and also not to send off private shipments at the last minute. In this way, punctual delivery is usually ensured if the parcel deliverers are slowed down by the winter weather."

Amazon does not give a date yet

"Basically, we hire thousands of additional seasonal colleagues every Christmas. This is also the case this year," confirmed a spokesman for the shipping giant Amazon when asked. In addition, "two new logistics centers (in Oelde and Sülzetal) and additional distribution centers have been opened this year". In the Amazon blog you can read that up to 10,000 seasonal workers are wanted for the Christmas season.

However, the group does not want to communicate fixed order deadlines because it is still too early for that. Customers can always see the expected delivery date on the page of the respective article.

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