Czech Post: Expect long delays when sending or receiving packages from the US

Restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic are loosening as cases decline and recoveries rise — however, daily life will remain complicated by the pandemic for some time to come.

One area that has been impacted by travel restrictions is the mail. Czech Post regularly publishes an online list of countries to which shipments have been suspended or are experiencing increased transport time due to insufficient transport capacity. The US is currently among them.

Czech Post announced in a press statement yesterday that due to insufficient air connections between countries throughout the world, caused by the spread of coronavirus, the transport of packages over the Atlantic has become more complicated than usual.

With regards to the US, the press release said that, “Current transport capacities are lower than the volumes of received consignments. There may be cases where shipments remain in Prague for several weeks.”

The post says that at the moment total transport time can exceed one month.

Last week alone, the Czech Post sent six tons of shipments to the US and about four tons to the United Kingdom, but it says capacity is still insufficient.

Delays should also be expected in the opposite direction, with the delivery of shipments from the US to the Czech Republic. The USPS sends part of its volume of shipments to Europe by ship and then by truck.

“Czech Post delivers to its customers in the Czech Republic consignments that it receives from abroad for transport for which it is responsible,” the post office said in the statement.

In addition, “If foreign transport companies or e-shops are not able to transport a consignment after proper ordering by their customer to a transport that would be affected due to current limits in international transport, Czech Post cannot guarantee its delivery to the addressee in the Czech Republic.”

As of May 4, 2020 most post offices throughout the Czech Republic returned to the original opening hours, including Saturday operation.