Courier fleets have ramped up driver recruitment and expanded vehicle numbers to meet peak seasonal demand this winter, which has increased by as much as 132% since the summer.
A spokesperson for Yodel told it has recorded this large an increase in deliveries due to a strong rise in the number of people selling items online, with more people making use of marketplaces like Vinted and eBay.
The ongoing shift of consumers towards online shopping has seen business to consumer (B2C) parcel volumes continuing to grow. Volumes for recipe boxes that spiked 173% during the pandemic have continued to rise since (73%), while volumes in fashion parcels have increased by 63% in 2022 year-to-date.
UPS said demand is higher than pre-pandemic levels.
CitySprint launched a recruitment campaign to boost drivers by 600 and Yodel is recruiting 4,000 drivers and facilities staff. Roles at Yodel include employed and self-employed couriers, day and night parcel sorters, and team managers.
Employees who begin working with Yodel during the peak period can be on either temporary or permanent contracts, depending on the roles they choose.
Yodel has also increased its trailer fleet by 22% from 1,140 to 1,390, with 250 new trailers. It is also trialling solar panelled double decker trailers to increase capacity and reduce mileage across its network.
“While supply of rental vehicles is a challenge at the moment with the well documented shortages all over the UK, Yodel has some great suppliers on board who understand the needs of the business and supports us accordingly.”
While UPS wasn’t able to specifically share details on fleet growth size for the UK, it did say it has recruited 1,400 more seasonal workers across its sorting hubs and 327 drivers across Europe to assist with peak.
Another big challenge is responding with speed to fluctuating demand and this requires new team members at Yodel to be onboarded quickly.
