Retailers face parcel delivery hell

Retailers making contingency plans for possible Royal Mail industrial action in December will be turned away by most rival operators, the UK’s second largest parcel carrier has warned, because of existing commitments.
The Communication Workers Union is expected to announce the result of its strike ballot today, with its 115,000 Royal Mail members likely to vote for strike action over privatisation and job security fears.
But with walk-outs expected to start within weeks, Leeds-based Hermes said the action will be timed for the “worst time of the year” for the delivery industry.
The company, which handles around 187 million parcels a year, said it will be able to take on extra deliveries in October and November, but by December there would be “nothing we could do” beyond existing commitments to retail customers.
Hermes chief executive Carole Woodhead said: “We all know given the scale of Royal Mail that there isn’t the equivalent capacity for the whole of their parcel and letters volume to go through the rest of the parcel and letters carriers put together. You cannot just close Royal Mail for a day in full and expect the rest just to pick up the balance. That won’t happen.”
“There are things that we can do if it lands through October or November,” she said. “If it hits two weeks in December, then there would be nothing we could do, because we will be at maximum capacity with the plans that we have for a normal peak. And I would say that all other carriers would be in the same situation.”

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