PostNL adds staff and delivery runs for holiday parcel rush

PostNL plans to increase parcel capacity during the Black Friday, Sinterklaas and Christmas period, adding staff and delivery runs as it prepares for the busiest weeks of the year.

The Dutch postal company expects to handle about 1.7 million parcels on peak days, compared with an average of 1.2 million on a normal delivery day. It says lorry journeys between sorting centres will rise from about 950 to 1,250 a day, while delivery rounds will increase from roughly 4,500 to 6,300.

Office staff will also help with the extra workload. PostNL has arranged with major online retailers to manage promotional activity and parcel volumes, and says customers can help spread demand by choosing delivery dates that suit them.

The company has scheduled an extra parcel delivery day for Sunday 29 November to help get Sinterklaas gifts and Black Friday orders to customers on time. An additional day for letter delivery is planned for Monday 21 December.

PostNL advises shoppers to order early and to post Christmas cards in good time. Selma Postma, the company’s managing director of e-commerce, said PostNL was prepared for the peak and was working with online shops and customers to distribute demand.