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Postal customers have to prepare for longer waiting times and higher prices. The DHL Group is currently struggling with major challenges – which will be discussed at the annual general meeting in Bonn today.
Swiss Post is adapting to new times. An example of this might be what happened a month ago in the Düsseldorf state parliament: the postal service dismantled the stamp machine in the foyer of the North Rhine-Westphalia parliament because it was no longer up to date. According to a company spokesman, the devices are being dismantled piece by piece across Germany because there are no longer any spare parts and you can easily create stamps or franking codes online.
After record years due to the boom during the Corona crisis, the logistics giant DHL has to cope with significant declines in sales and profits. The demand for letters has been falling for a long time – but now it appears to be falling even faster. The number of letters transported fell by 5.6 percent to around 12.6 billion in 2023, the postal company DHL announced at the beginning of March when it presented its annual figures in Bonn. The reason for the falling demand is digitalization. Many people use emails or chats for communication and therefore avoid letters.
The number of packages continues to rise
However, demand for packages is increasing. The reason for this is probably that many consumers regularly order from online retailers. The number of parcels transported by DHL in Germany increased last year by 3.8 percent to around 1.7 billion.
The entire industry is currently struggling with major challenges. The competition is also suffering from significantly lower freight rates and slowing global trade. UPS announced it would cut 12,000 jobs following declines in sales and profits. Kuehne + Nagel also wants to cut jobs. FedEx had slashed its 2023 outlook and announced falling sales.
The post office should now receive support from politicians. When transporting letters, she currently has to adhere to rules that date back to the 1990s. For example, around 80 percent of the letters posted must arrive at their destination the next working day. As part of an amendment to the law, these requirements should be adapted to changing needs and the time pressure for the post office should be reduced. This would allow the Bonn-based group to reduce its costs.
Letters are slowing down
Customers have to be prepared for the fact that in future 95 percent of letters will only reach the recipient three working days later. However, the new running time requirements will only apply once the Federal Network Agency gives the green light. She is likely to agree to the postage procedure, which is carried out every three years – and that takes effect in January 2025.
From this point onwards, the post office will most likely be able to charge higher postage. So it becomes more expensive to send a letter that then takes longer. If it is important to you that a letter arrives as quickly as possible, you can post a so-called priority letter with an appropriate surcharge.
No more night flights
The new plans are already having an impact at the post office: a month ago the company stopped its domestic night flights – after more than 62 years. The Swiss Post does not do this for a better climate balance and to reduce costs. According to the company, CO2 emissions per letter are reduced by over 80 percent over land.
The so-called branch network requirement is also being put to the test in the new amendment to the law. According to the currently valid postal law, there must be at least 12,000 branches nationwide. These are usually kiosks or supermarkets that also have a post office counter. This number is exceeded at almost 13,000. However, there are also distance requirements: in communities with at least 2,000 residents, there must be at least one branch, and in communities with more than 4,000 residents, the distance to the branch in contiguous residential areas must not be more than two kilometers.
Federal Network Agency: Too few branches
Deutsche Post continues to have problems complying with these requirements. At the end of February, according to the Federal Network Agency, the post office was not present in 125 such mandatory locations, even though it actually should be. A Post spokesman pointed out that 99 percent of the mandatory locations were covered; Setting up post offices is particularly challenging in rural areas with little retail infrastructure. If the last store in a village closes, the post office no longer has a local branch partner, said the spokesman.
In order to be present, the post office is planning to set up additional post stations, i.e. machines where you can buy stamps, post letters and drop off or pick up parcels.
In the Düsseldorf state parliament, where the stamp machine was recently dismantled, people have now helped themselves. Shortly before the machine was phased out, Parliament had its own stamps produced – with an outdoor photo as the motif. According to a state parliament spokesman, 1,500 stamps had already been sold within six weeks. You can now buy the 85 cent stamps in the cafeteria.