Royal Mail and DHL impacted by coronavirus gridlock

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.drapersonline.com/news/roya ... s-gridlock

A statement on Royal Mail's website states it has temporarily suspended all mail services to Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland.

It says that items already in its system will still be processed and made ready for dispatch, but will be held securely until Royal Mail can get them to their destinations.

It advises the public not to send international post or packages. A statement from Royal Mail also added: "This is a fast-moving situation and we are monitoring things on an hourly basis. We are working to keep as many international mail services running as possible given the current restrictions around air, road, ferry and train movements from the UK."

DHL will not be able to deliver some parcels sent to the UK from Europe as its road deliveries are impacted by the gridlock at the Port of Dover.

It said air freight is unaffected, and parcels within the UK will still be delivered. Due to it not having storage capacity, packages will be returned to senders.

At least 42 countries have banned travel from the UK due to the new strain of the coronavirus. France put a ban on freight and passengers from the UK for 48 hours from Sunday. New measures agreed by French president Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Boris Johnson are said to be announced later today.

A spokesperson for DHL said: "Due to the reported mutation of the coronavirus, various governments have restricted travel and connections with the United Kingdom. Currently for instance, the Eurotunnel is closed to passenger and freight traffic for at least 48 hours. The same applies to the ferry ports. Transport routes to Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are also affected by this interruption of transport connections. Air freight to and from Great Britain is currently not affected. However, we are closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the respective authorities.

"For our Post and Parcel unit, we are unfortunately forced to impose a complete delivery stop for business and private customer parcels as well as goods-bearing letters to Great Britain and Ireland with immediate effect until further notice. Unfortunately, due to a lack of storage capacity, we have to return consignments with goods content and bulky goods to the senders.

"Letters and postcards to the UK and Ireland are not affected by this measure for the time being. The same applies to DHL Express’ Air Express product, Time Definite International (TDI), which remains available as currently despite the limitations placed on passenger aircraft, there are no impacts on cargo flights. Only DHL Express’ road express traffic to the UK and vice versa has been temporarily suspended."