Bpost prepared for Christmas delivery rush

With Christmas around the corner, Belgium’s postal service Bpost has announced that it has made the necessary measures that will allow it to deliver up to 800,000 parcels a day. The normal average is 500,000.

Traditionally, the end-of-year peak starts on Black Friday (29 November), but volumes are increasing every year and starting earlier and earlier.

“This means that we are already in end-of-year mode,” Bpost said. To cope with the peak, the firm is recruiting temporary workers, while 400 head office employees will help to sort or distribute parcels for at least a week.

For incoming parcels, Bpost has made sure that there is sufficient space to receive the lorries and sort the parcels. It has also coordinated with online retailers to find out the expected quantities and make the necessary arrangements. Reinforcements are also planned for parcel deliveries.

In terms of sorting, capacity is also bigger, with Bpost staff working longer shifts – the whole day if necessary to ensure everything is ready. In addition, Bpost will make a greater number of trips and use more vehicles.

Bpost is further aiming for a more efficient distribution service, delivering the parcels directly to every house first time around. To help this goal, the company has made it possible for customers to change the day or address for post already in transit.

“The quality of home parcel delivery remains one of Bpost’s great strengths," said chief executive Chris Peeters. "At the same time, we are aware that not everyone has the opportunity to organise their lives around home delivery. That’s why we continue to develop numerous solutions.

"Thanks to the My Bpost application, anyone can now change the delivery day or address, even when the delivery is already under way.”

Market research carried out in March 2024 showed that 92% of My Bpost app users wanted to choose the day of delivery themselves. In addition, 80% of customers said they would like to provide a new delivery address when the parcel is already on its way.

The Netherlands’ postal company PostNL is also using extra lorries and staff in Belgium. PostNL is employing 150 additional sorting and preparation workers, and office staff will once again be helping out.