Czech Post trials extended package delivery hours in Prague

Getting packages at home may become easier. The Czech Post Office has launched a trial operation of 12-hour delivery shifts in Prague. Packages will now arrive as late as 8 pm in the evening, instead of the previous end time of 4 pm. This will be a benefit to people who can’t be home to receive packages during the day.

The Czech Post Office (Česká pošta) said it wants to better serve its clients, improve fleet utilization, increase productivity and the quality of parcel delivery, and reduce operating costs. The post office hopes to double the number of packages successfully delivered.

“By extending the delivery time, we would like to reduce the number of unreached clients and increase productivity from the current 100 parcels per precinct to 200 parcels per precinct,” Martin Kment, director of the Česká pošta’s logistics division, said in a press release.

The pilot program also includes incentive bonuses based on the number of delivered packages to motivate postal workers.

“We believe that we will also be able to reduce the number of vehicles and equipment, and increase the wages of employees who take care of parcel delivery," Kment said.

The pilot program is another step to improve services. “We believe that we can better adapt to [customers’] lifestyle, and the number of packages undelivered to addresses will start to decrease significantly,” Kment said.

The Czech Post Office expects that after the evaluation of the pilot project, the 12-hour shifts will be extended to other Czech regions.

Other efforts to improve service include creating a new sorting center for international packages at Leoš Janáček Airport Ostrava. The largest investment in the modern history of the post office will substantially increase the capacity for handling packages. The time between when a package arrives in Czechia and when it is delivered should be reduced. It should start operation in September.

While the number of letters sent has been dropping, there has been an increase in packages due to the shift to online shopping.

Last year, the Czech Post Office handled a record 56 million parcels, which is 4 million more than in the previous year. In the pre-Christmas peak time, it had up to 750,000 packages in its logistics network on some days, which was 150 percent to 200 percent more than during the rest of the year.

This year, the post office expects to handle 60 million parcels.