Courier worker calls for compassion ahead of Mother's Day delivery surge

Friday, 8 May 2020

With courier companies expecting another surge in demand owing to Mother's Day, one worker who says she faces daily abuse is asking the public for understanding.

Stores were forced to close as the country attempted to curb the spread of the coronavirus with a five-week lockdown period. Only items deemed essential were allowed to be shipped at Covid-19 alert level 4.

As the country moved to alert level 3 last week, and the focus for businesses moved from essential economic activity to what was safe, courier companies experienced a sharp increase in demand.

'There are just too many parcels to be delivered with the current workforce,' said the courier worker, who asked to remain anonymous. While she usually worked in customer services, she'd recently been helping out with deliveries.

**READ MORE:

* Benefit numbers exceed GFC - and worse to come

* Delivery services are expecting another surge in demand at level 3

* New Zealand Post takes on extra staff for parcel surge

**

'It's like Christmas on steroids. Parcel volumes must be close to double what they are at Christmas. It's the most parcels I've seen in the depot day after day.'

Other than calling on a couple of relief drivers, it was difficult to increase the number of staff because it took time and money to train them, she said. Given the uncertainty around how long the country would be at each alert level, the company could end up investing in new staff, vans and scanners, only to not need them a week later.

'Ninety-nine per cent of the time we can cope with our workload. But at this point, we're really, really slammed. We're literally working as hard as we can. We've never seen it this bad.'

She feels anxious when her phone rings, knowing it's likely someone calling to berate her for delays.

'A lot of people don't understand how the [courier] system works. They think it's like Harry Potter's owl delivery. But it's more like a nervous system for the whole country, all interconnected, with things having to happen at the right time.'

Staff were now treating all items as urgent, she said. 'Unless your item is perishable, we don't know what it is.'

All were working overtime and some were delivering up to 400 parcels per day, she said.

'I'm not asking for people to stop shopping, we need them to keep shopping, but I'd love if they could show a bit of patience and understanding.'

Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen said overall, spending on clothing and footwear was still 'very low' — around 6 per cent of 2019 levels (not including exclusively online retailers).

However, there had been a rebound in hospitality spending, which was up to about 40 per cent of its normal levels.

NZ Post said its Courier Post service was seeing volumes similar to those in the lead up to Christmas — its busiest time of the year. 

'A key different is that at Christmas, we have months to prepare, with level 3, we had just days,' said NZ Post chief marketing officer Bryan Dobson. 'We are also limited somewhat by physical distancing through the network and contactless delivery.'

Eleven sites across the country were processing parcels 24/7, Dobson said. 'We've also brought on 200 extra vehicles to deliver parcels and we've bought on extra people — including 100 of our head office staff who've been lending a hand delivering items. Our posties are delivering parcels and we're even using our mail sorting sites to sort parcels.'

From the first day of level 3 they were inundated with parcels purchased online during level 4 but not able to be shipped, he said.

'We're asking the public to please be patient, we will deliver your item, it might just be a little bit delayed.

'The earlier Kiwis sent their Mother's Day presents, the better, but some items may not arrive by Sunday.'

They were prioritising food, medicine and medical supplies, he said. 

Courier company Aramex on its website asked people to allow for an additional four-to-five-day delay on parcel pick-up and delivery services.

The Government would announce on May 11 the country's plan for moving to alert level 2.