BERLIN, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The delivery of parcels to end customers was expected to increase by 25 million mailings to around 355 million B2C mailings during this year's Christmas season, the German parcel and express logistics association (BIEK) announced on Thursday.
Compared to the 2018 Christmas season, B2C mailings in the courier, express and parcel sector were "again expected to grow significantly" by 7 to 8 percent, according to BIEK.
For example, parcel delivery Hermes Germany alone was expecting more than 85 million mailings during this year's Christmas, an increase of approximately 6 percent compared the previous year, the company announced.
"In view of the continuing growth in parcel volumes combined with the rising demand for staff in an almost empty job market, the Christmas business is a challenge for the entire logistics sector every year," said Marco Schlueter, chief operations officer of Hermes Germany.
In November and December, an average of up to 14 million parcel mailings would be transported daily in Germany, according to BIEK.
In order to handle the high volume of courier, express and parcel mailings, around 25,000 additional delivery staff would be needed during the time before Christmas, the BIEK forecast showed.
According to Hermes Germany, around 3,900 additional vehicles would be on the road throughout Germany during Christmas season. Furthermore, Hermes would increase long-haul and supplier traffic between the logistic centers by around 450 trailer trucks.
The "Christmas parcel boom" in Germany was mainly due to the significant increase in online orders, Hermes stressed.
With regard to the first half of 2019, BIEK announced that despite the economic downturn, the courier, express and parcel sector would continue to grow, but "will also feel the effects of the weakening overall economy".
In the first half of 2019, the number of delivered parcels in Germany increased by 3.8 percent and express and courier deliveries by 3.7 percent, according to BIEK.
The positive development in the German parcel sector despite a weakening economy was an indication that the "high-quality service has become an integral part of our everyday lives, just like electricity and running water", said Marten Bosselmann, chairman of BIEK.
