• 13,000 delivery drivers making pickups and deliveries every day

• Deadline for sending parcels for delivery within Germany is 21 December

• Gifts can be tracked in real time in myDPD or the DPD App

Aschaffenburg, 22nd of November, 2022: For the parcel sector the most important time of the year is rapidly approaching – and DPD is well prepared for it. To ensure that presents reach their loved ones on time for Christmas Eve, customers should be aware of a few deadlines when they send off their parcels.

Preparations for the run-up to Christmas have been in full swing at DPD for months now. This year the parcel service provider expects up to two million parcels a day in the weeks before Christmas Eve. In order to be able to offer customers its usual high quality of service during the peak season, in the coming weeks around 13,000 delivery drivers will be on the road in Germany on behalf of DPD. Sufficiently large reserve capacity will also enable the parcel service provider to respond to individual customer requirements at short notice.

Important shipping dates and a variety of redirection options

DPD standard parcels are sure to arrive in time for Christmas if they are handed in at one of the company's 7,500 Pickup parcelshops by 21 December. The deadline for Priority and Express parcels is 23 December. DPD customers planning to ship to other EU countries should get their Christmas parcels on their way by 17 December. The rule of thumb for all delivery options is that parcels should be handed in for shipping at a Pickup parcelshop by 12 noon on the relevant day.

In the hectic Christmas season DPD is offering a range of digitalised services to provide maximum information flows and flexibility - and to ensure a relaxed Advent season free from stress. For example, on the myDPD digital service platform and in the DPD App the company provides a one-hour delivery prediction for every parcel. In DPD's map-based Live-Tracking feature, during the last hour before delivery this time window even narrows down to 30 minutes. Only recently the test team of the "Stiftung Warentest" consumer magazine (test 11/2022) praised the functional performance of DPD's Live-Tracking service as well as the company's 100 per cent fulfilment of its delivery time forecasts. The result: DPD took top position in terms of consignee focus and was the only company among Germany's parcel services to receive the rating "good" for its delivery performance.

In addition, the delivery of Christmas parcels can be managed quickly and easily with the help of a wide range of redirection options. As well as postponing the delivery day, it is also possible to redirect the parcel, for example to a nearby Pickup parcelshop.

"The upcoming peak season poses a special organisational challenge this year, as the basis for our planning keeps changing rapidly. However, combined with immediate access to a range of resources within the company, our fast reaction times and agile process management are guarantees of success in such a volatile market environment. That's why we will be deploying an additional 1,000 seasonal personnel during the busiest time of the year. They will support the 12,000 delivery drivers at DPD's 79 depots and together ensure that the gifts of our customers arrive under the Christmas tree on time."

Eric Malitzke, CEO of DPD Germany

At the same time as coping with the high number of parcels, health protection enjoys the highest priority. For this purpose DPD has established comprehensive hygiene rules at all its locations, and has trained staff which constantly monitor adherence to them. It goes without saying that these rules are strictly observed even with the significantly increased parcel volumes in the run-up to Christmas. For example, in order to prevent the spread of Covid DPD has introduced a completely contact-free delivery system for parcels handed over at the front door and at its Pickup parcelshops.