New Zealand Post says this Christmas has been its busiest ever with 2.4 million parcels being sent across the country last week, an increase of up to 250,000 parcels on the same time last year.
Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
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NZ Post chief operating officer Brendon Main said postal volumes started to increase in August when different parts of the country went into lockdown and it has been busy ever since.
He said Cyber Monday, 29 August, was the busiest individual day so far with 535,000 parcels coming in one day.
Main said the organisation has increased staff and resources to deal with the flurry.
"We're running 24/7 across a number of our main facilities across the country. We've brought in 1000 extra people to help us with the volumes that are there. Additional vans, plane flights, trucks and more facilities were [brought in] up and down the country. So we've brought in as many people as we possibly can to help us get everything where it needs to be in time for Christmas."
A reminder if you want your parcel to arrive in time for Christmas and are sending economy you need to get your package in the post by Thursday 16 December, if you are using a courier you have until Monday 20 December.
Main said New Zealand Post staff would do their best to get everything sent within New Zealand by that date to its destination in time for Christmas, but he advised people to send parcels as early as possible.
He said currently there are delays of up to four days in Hamilton and two days in Auckland with the lockdown periods contributing to the delays.
There are delays of about a day in the rest of the country, he said.
"So you know for the volumes that are coming through, we're trying to catch up on those as quickly as we can and those cut-off times at getting things where they need to be for Christmas itself."
Main said it was an exciting time for his staff.
"This is a chance where we get to play our part in New Zealand in getting Christmas presents under the tree in time for Christmas. Our team are pretty proud of the role that we play getting things delivered for Kiwis over Christmas."