Postal service passes more parcels to posties

 

Australia Post will retrain 2000 motorbike posties to deliver and process parcels to help manage the unprecedented parcel volumes being sent across the country as the business continues to manage significant disruption as Australians adapt to living differently under COVID-19 restrictions.

 

Australia Post said it welcomes the federal government’s announcement to provide temporary changes to delivery standards to continue to service the broader needs of the community as quickly as possible. 

 

The temporary regulatory relief requested by Australia Post and agreed by the Government includes:

 

 

Parcel volumes have almost doubled in the last four weeks, up by 80 per cent compared to last year, as more and more householders shop online as they self-isolate. At the same time, demand for other core products, including letters, have been volatile and many have halved.

 

Adding to Australia Post’s challenges is the impact of significantly reduced air freight availability due to the reductions of passenger planes and the need to prioritise transport of medical supplies.  

 

Although Australia Post has secured more capacity from Qantas, and have welcomed recent announcements from the Federal Government to support more domestic flights, these cannot ensure the speed of deliveries at the same level as prior to the crisis.

 

Australia Post group CEO Christine Holgate said an additional challenge is the majority of the 1.8 million parcels being sent each day are too large to be delivered by a traditional postie as people purchase items to allow them to stay at home.