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From November 24, Black Friday, until Christmas, Swiss parcel centers were anything but contemplative. During this time, Swiss Post employees sorted and delivered almost 22 million parcels to customers. At the same time, the sorting systems processed around 13 million letters, newspapers and advertising mail every day in the run-up to Christmas, the post office writes.
Year after year, the run-up to Christmas is particularly intense for the yellow giant. Nowadays, postal workers process approximately one million packages every day. The parcels ended up under customers’ Christmas trees on time, the post office emphasizes.
Less than 2022
On Monday, December 18, approximately 1.2 million packages had to be delivered. That was the daily record in 2023, because experience shows that on December 31, virtually no packages need to be distributed in one day.
In total, Swiss Post sorted 21.6 million parcels in the sorting centers in the run-up to Christmas, delivered them to all regions of Switzerland and prepared them for delivery abroad. However, that is three percent less than in the same period last year. Inflation is good news – or as the post office puts it: “The weakened mood among consumers means that fewer packages are sent.”
Naturally, the volumes in the run-up to Christmas are still significantly higher than the average daily volumes in the rest of 2023. The volume of letters has also fallen slightly: while last year there were around 14 million letters per day, this year postmen are receiving them every day since Black Friday. About 13 million letters, newspapers and advertising mail were delivered.
The mail was prepared
According to the post office, preparations have been made so that all letters and packages could be processed in the usual quality. In 2023, it opened three new parcel centers and thus secured capacity. With the regional centers in Pratteln BL, Wallisellen ZH and Härkingen SO, the large centers are further relieved and the daily sorting capacity throughout Switzerland is approximately 20 percent higher than last year. Because even though parcels are currently not at a record rate due to the weak economy, the federal parcel deliverer does not expect fewer parcels in the coming years, but rather more parcels.
Further measures would have helped to distribute the work over as many shoulders as possible. During the Christmas period, the postal service hired about 500 additional temporary workers and rented 330 delivery vans. But that’s not all: the conveyor belts in the large parcel centers in Daillens VD, Härkingen SO and Frauenfeld TG ran up to approximately 22 hours a day from Black Friday to Christmas. 6 p.m. is usual.
The ‘2 x Christmas’ campaign
This year also sees the charity campaign “2x Christmas” for people affected by poverty. Since December 24 and until January 11, 2024, the Swiss Red Cross, SRG, Post and Coop have been collecting for people below the poverty line in Switzerland and beyond. During this period, the Post Office will accept free donation parcels containing long-life food, as well as hygiene products and toiletries at any of its branches and agencies. (pt)
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
