DORAL, Fla. – Christmas is next week, which means gifts need to be in the mail if they’re meant to arrive by the big day.
Shipping companies like DHL usually start preparing for this time of year around Black Friday, but due to COVID-19, companies are saying they have seen a 50% increase of people ordering online, making the jobs of employees here at DHL Express in Doral much more challenging.
DHL CEO Mike Parra told Local 10 they began planning for the season back in June by staffing more employees and even adding robotics to sort packages
“We have added greater than 20% new jobs in this facility,” said Parra. “Also, we have added additional flights coming in from Europe and from Asia direct to Miami in an effort to support the growth that we have been seeing.”
As a result of people being quarantined due to the coronavirus pandemic, DHL has seen a 50% increase of online purchases compared to last year in the U.S. and across the world. But rest assured, they are working tirelessly to get those packages delivered.
“We added additional routes on the weekend,” said Parra. “We are doing deliveries on Saturday and Sunday.”
But Parra said the people sending those packages need to do their past as well and make sure those gifts are ordered or shipped out by the end of the week, at the latest.
“If you want to make sure your shipments are delivered before the 24th of December, your last shipping date would be Friday December 18th,” he said.