Parcel volumes are continuing to surge in both Belgium and Canada with the national postal operators in the two countries currently coping with record end-of-year volumes.
In Belgium, bpost has been sorting up to 480,000 packages a day since Black Friday, which is an increase of more than 20% compared to last year.
“We are already recording a significant increase in the number of packages since December 2, taking into account, among other things, the promotional days of Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, but also of Saint-Nicolas,” the company said today.
With the Christmas weekend in sight, bpost expects volumes to reach record levels this week. On the days before Christmas, bpost expects to process an average of 440,000 packages per day. This represents an increase of more than 60% compared to an ordinary working day and 20% compared to the same period last year.
The company has hired 1,900 temporary employees for the end of the year to work throughout its operations, including sorting, transportation and delivery.
Moreover, bpost has updated its app to allow all customers to track their packages, including those delivered by other companies, within one app. It is also testing a new MyMail feature, informing customers every morning which letters are scheduled to arrive in their letterbox that day.
Meanwhile, Canada Post is delivering record volumes of parcels at present as more Canadians go online for Christmas shopping. The postal operator delivered 960,000 parcels over the weekend of December 7/8, followed by 2.2 million parcels on Monday December 9, which were both new highs. It expects to deliver an average of 1.7 million parcels a day up to Christmas.
To support this impressive delivery effort, Canada Post’s plants have been running at capacity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to process heavy volumes of holiday parcels, packets and mail. Nearly 3,800 seasonal employees have been taken on to help in processing and delivering this holiday season, supporting more than 50,000 employees in delivery, processing and retail operations.
