Left: Dwain McDonald, CEO for DPD
Parcel delivery provider DPD has revealed its plans for handling an anticipated record number of parcels in the UK between Black Friday and the January sales.
Preparations for peak 2015 began in January in partnership with DPD’s business customers and major retail clients and as a result, the company is planning for a 30% increase in parcel volumes compared with last year. While DPD has recruited over 1,000 seasonal staff to help with peak volumes, the main focus will be on five long-term key strategic developments.
These key developments include its newly opened sorting hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire, which increased the company’s overall UK parcel capacity by 65%; hiring more than 950 new, permanent DPD drivers; building four new, 60,000ft² super depots in Cardiff, Dagenham, Exeter and Stoke; expanding DPD’s network of parcel shops to more than 2,500 outlets, including new contracts with Halfords, Doddle and the Rowlands and Numark chemist chains; and providing Sunday deliveries, which played a major part in handling peak volumes over the 2014 holiday period.
Dwain McDonald, CEO for DPD, said, “We’ve been talking in detail with our customers, who include many of the biggest retailers in the country, and it is clear that from Black Friday, right through to the January sales, this year is going to break all records for online shopping. For us, that means millions of parcels that have to be delivered right first time.
“As a result, we’ve invested more than ever this year to provide the best service for our business and retail customers. Our approach is about investing in permanent, full-time, trained drivers, using the best technology available to get the job done.
“For me the key to handling volume is about being more efficient. The latest fully automated hubs and depots help us manage higher volumes in the network, while being a seven-day a week operation means we are constantly moving everything through the system avoiding build-ups over the weekend. Out on the road, we’ll send over 50 million advanced notifications during the peak, and the real-time responses our drivers receive from recipients mean that before they attempt a delivery, they already know who’s in or out and what they want us to do with their parcel, which saves a huge amount of time.”
November 12, 2015