Hermes Germany and Swiss Post have both reported strong parcel volumes for the 2014 peak seasonand are expecting high levels of returns.
Hermes said last week that according to initial estimates it had transported “significantly”more parcels in December than the previous year, with high growth rates in the regions of Cologne,Frankfurt and Stuttgart. In 2013, Hermes handled more than 30 million parcels in Germany andAustria, and a rise of more than 10% was expected for 2014.
“Christmas business has gone very positively so far, and we’re very pleased with the risingvolumes,” said Dirk Rahn, the company’s operations director. “There were hardly any major delays,partly because the mild weather played into our hands.”
The company also said it expected to handle more than half a million returns before and afterNew Year.
Meanwhile, Swiss Post delivered some 18 million parcels between December 1 and Christmas Day,beating last year’s total of 17 million items and thus recording its third record year in a row. Tomeet this demand, Swiss Post sorted parcels on additional days in December and postal carriersworked overtime on two Saturdays before Christmas in order to deliver parcels.
In the week leading up to Christmas, over a million parcels passed through the systems at thethree sorting centres in Daillens (Vaud), Frauenfeld (Thurgau) and Härkingen (Solothurn) almostevery day. This is around double the volume compared to a normal working day.
At the Härkingen parcel centre, a new sorting machine made it possible to increase the sortingcapacity by 25%. The Frauenfeld and Daillens parcel centres will also be equipped with additionalsystems by the end of 2016. This will ensure that even with increasing numbers of parcels, allChristmas consignments will still be delivered punctually, Swiss Post said.
