Leading parcel company DPD is deploying 200 extra staff and opening an additional London depot to minimise disruption to its collection and delivery services resulting from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
On peak days, over 800,000 spectators, athletes, officials and media representatives are expected to travel to the 24 Olympic venues across the capital. The extra volume of traffic coupled with travel, stopping and parking restrictions, are expected to cause severe congestion in and around London over the summer.
As part of its contingency plans to maintain its service throughout the period of the Games, DPD will:
open an additional facility near its London Bridge depot. Opening in June it will cover the WC and W1 postcodes. These are currently covered by the Kings Cross depot which will be impacted when the Olympic Route Network is in place;
increase the number of routes operating from all its London depots;
extend its early delivery times between 05:00 and 07:00 and also offer to deliver from 18:00 to 21:00 in the evening.
Collection hours will also be extended and there will be an increase in the number of depot and customer service staff;
offer the option to switch parcel traffic from affected depots to alternative depots;
provide support for drivers on routes with restrictions on stopping and parking. Drivers will be provided with assistants who will make the final delivery on foot (this will not apply to 'lockdown' venues);
appoint designated Olympics Specialists at each impacted depot to manage and resolve disruptions to routes and provide daily updates.
Dwain McDonald, DPD's CEO commented, "Last year, we established a dedicated Olympics Project Team to ensure that we are ready to respond to the challenges created by this summer's Olympics. From our close liaison with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Transport for London it is clear that there will be severe congestion in a number of areas in and around London, particularly from mid July to mid September.
"Logistics and efficient parcel distribution are an integral part of many businesses and we are working hard to ensure that over the period of the Games we can continue to maintain the high service levels our customers expect from us.
Dwain McDonald continued, "We have appointed designated Olympics Specialists at each of the impacted depots who will collect real-time information on routes and make any adjustments accordingly. This will enable us to respond to disruptions in a quick and efficient manner and alert customers if an issue does arise.
"In response to restrictions on stopping and parking in areas on the Olympic Route Network, we will be double-manning certain delivery routes, so assistants can complete deliveries on foot. We will also be increasing the number of depot and customer service staff to enable customers to collect their parcels and introducing early morning and late afternoon deliveries."
To help customers plan ahead for the expected disruption, DPD has also produced a detailed matrix illustrating the specific postcodes and key dates that will be impacted by the Games.
Dwain McDonald explained, "Using a simple traffic light system, the matrix allows customers to see at a glance when and where the Olympic distribution disruption hot-spots are and what the service impact will be. To avoid the hot-spots - we recommend companies review their shipping history to the affected locations and compare it against the matrix to see if they can make alternative arrangements such as changing delivery dates or addresses, or asking the receiver to collect from the local DPD depot. DPD account managers are also on hand to assist customers with any Olympic contingency planning queries."
For a copy of DPD's Olympic Matrix or the company's Olympic Bulletin visit www.dpd.co.uk