Parcel numbers - March, 2024

We have just finished March 2024, and wow, it was a crazy one. Between being short-staffed, breaking records for parcel numbers, and dealing with large volumes of late express parcels, just getting through the month has been an outstanding achievement.

Maroochydore Numbers

In 2023, we worked 23 days in March and delivered 25,057 parcels. This was, on average, 1089 parcels a day. In 2024, because the weekends and Easter fell in the month, we only worked 20 days and delivered 24,520 parcels. This was 1226 parcels a day. So, we delivered fewer parcels for the month, but there was an average daily increase of 12.6% compared to last year.

Where this becomes a little bit crazy is the numbers we delivered in the lead-up to Easter. In those four days, we delivered 5473 parcels, or an average of 1368 parcels daily. Compared to last year, in the four days leading up to Easter in April, we delivered 4594 parcels, or 1148 parcels daily. This is an increase of 19.16% on the numbers from last year.

We budgeted for a 5% increase yearly, so these numbers above show how busier we are than even I expected. Hopefully, we are now staffing up to the right level to better deal with last year's significant increase in parcel numbers and cover the late parcel increase and staff shortages.

Here is an update on the yearly totals for 2024. Last year, until the end of March, we delivered 63 days and 70,569 parcels. In 2024, we worked only 62 days and delivered 80,334 parcels. So, in 2023, we delivered 1120 parcels a day; in 2024, we are delivering 1296 parcels a day. We are covering an increase of 15.1% more parcels a day compared to the first quarter of last year.

Be proud of these numbers; they are spectacular. Thank you so much for all your efforts.

Gympie Numbers

In 2023, the team delivered 19,091 parcels in March. This year, the team was able to deliver more parcels than last year, even with 3 fewer days worked. We delivered 19,215 out of Gympie, which was 961 parcels daily compared to 830 parcels daily last year. So, in March, we saw a 15.7% increase in daily parcel numbers compared to last year.

Once again, the numbers get ridiculous in the week leading up to Easter. In 2023, the team delivered 3207 parcels, but this year, you were able to deliver 4308 parcels in this week. This was an increase of 34% from last year.

For Gympie, I budget for a 1% increase yearly, so we did not prepare for double-digit increases. Thank you for all your hard work this month.

As for the year so far, March does seem to be on par with what we have been seeing in Maroochydore and Gympie, which is a good sign that maybe this is now predictable. In 2023, Gympie delivered 54,522 parcels in 63 days, 865 parcels daily. For this same period in 2024, the team has delivered 61,904 parcels so far; in the 62 days, that is 998 parcels daily. This is an increase of 15.4% from last year.

Well done team; once again, be so proud of these numbers.