Watch: Inside the NZ Post centre delivering 15 million parcels before Xmas

Watch full story above

Thousands of drivers, hundreds of processing staff and just one month left to deliver 15 million parcels before Christmas.

It’s certainly set to be a busy few weeks for NZ Post.

Focus went behind the scenes at the Auckland Operations Centre, where most of the parcels distributed across the country pass through.

“Typically this is the very beginning of a busy period,” Chris Wong, general manager of business marketing, told Focus.

“The last couple of years, we found ourselves in Covid-19 related lockdowns and that drove huge demand for parcel volumes so this year we’re in a bit more of a normal operating rhythm but there’s no doubt this is still going to be one of the busiest times of the year for us.

“If you look back before the lockdowns we are still well up on what we were doing back then.”

NZ Post National Sorting Centre processes millions of packages for Black Friday. Photo / Jed Bradley

In order to keep up with the demand, the Operating Centre is being run by around 350 staff over each 24-hour period. That doesn’t include the 150 additional temporary staff members brought on board for the Christmas period.

Meanwhile, hundreds more van drivers have been added to the fleet with about 4000 out on the roads daily.

“The team across the business plan for this over many, many months so across our processing sites, our call centre, there’s more people brought in and we also have more courier drivers on the road,” Wong said.

“The team works really hard to deliver items in time for Christmas.”

When it comes to the cut-off dates for items to be delivered before the 25th, Wong said the best advice is to shop as early as possible.

For sending items, there is a range of cut-off dates stated on the NZ Post website.

The centre is run by more than 350 staff each day. Photo / Jed Bradley

Wong added a reminder for people expecting items, to ensure they edit the delivery instructions to prevent items from being stolen from letterboxes or doorsteps.

“You can give us permission through a feature called Parcel Leave that allows us to leave the item somewhere safe on your property, maybe under a barbecue cover or behind a piece of outdoor furniture.

“We also have the option where you can have your parcel sent to one of over 300 parcel collect locations across the country, so it can be delivered there safely and you can pick it up at your next time that’s convenient.”