A Strong Performance

Annual Report
2020 - 2021

FLEX WORK HEROES →→→ In 2020, the year of the coronavirus pandemic, Deutsche Post DHL (DPDHL) faced a unique challenge. In the Christmas period, the volume of parcels in Germany rose again, by significantly more than in normal years. With its personnel services, DEKRA supported DPDHL in getting all the parcels delivered in time for Christmas.

TEMP WORK

DPDHL

FLEX WORK HEROES

Hard as it may be to imagine, DPDHL handled a record volume of over 1.6 billion parcels in Germany in 2020, which equates to a 15.3% increase in volume. The reason for this jump was the pandemic. When the lockdown before Christmas caused retail shops to close, significantly more people bought their Christmas presents online instead. As a result, the volume of parcels rose accordingly. Between the end of November and Christmas alone, on peak days, DPDHL dispatched over 11 million packages – as compared with an average of 5.9 million on normal days. 

Hundreds of additional workers were required in the distribution centers to help manage the increased volume. The DEKRA Temp Work Service Division was entrusted with the majority of this special project for DPDHL. “It was a real challenge to recruit such a large number of workers in such a short time under difficult conditions,” says Suzana Bernhard, Managing Director of DEKRA Arbeit GmbH. Despite this, from November 2, 2020, DEKRA was able to provide around 350 temporary workers for the start of the “Flex Work Heroes” campaign. “Thanks to our tight network of branches all over Germany, we managed to find flexible, mobile workers who were ready to start all over the country – and able to get stuck in.”

DEKRA Ensures Safe Christmas Sales

Overall, DEKRA supported over 30 parcel distribution centers from November 2020 until the middle of January 2021 by providing workers. DEKRA did more than just find all of these workers – it also organized how they would be deployed all over the country. Right at the top of the agenda was safety. DEKRA organized rapid COVID tests and provided transport to the centers. As the workers were deployed for days or weeks, DEKRA also took care of their accommodation on site and supported them with their meals as, of course, restaurants were closed too during the lockdown.

Record Revenue

In 2020, DPDHL’s Group revenue increased by five percent to 66.8 billion euros. Alongside express delivery, the domestic and international parcel business also contributed to the growth. The dynamic increase in the number of parcels being sent shot up once again during the 2020 Christmas period.

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“We remained in close contact with our points of contact at DPDHL throughout the whole time the project was running,” says Suzana Bernhard. They held conference calls almost every day to discuss the current situation. They discussed what needed to be accomplished and the challenges – for example, how many workers were required in each distribution center, and for how long.

By awarding the contract to DEKRA, DPDHL did more than just ensure that all the presents arrived under the Christmas tree. The “Flex Work Heroes” project was also a welcome source of income for people who were working reduced hours or had lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

DPDHL’s conclusion: “The run-up to Christmas 2020 was a real challenge for our parcel network due to the considerable parcel volumes and coronavirus safety measures. DEKRA supported us greatly in recruiting the workers we needed for our parcel centers. With the “Flex Work Heroes” project, together we have broken new ground when it comes to collaboration. The reliability, customer focus, flexibility, and responsiveness to our requirements were remarkable. Thank you very much for your support,” emphasizes Gerhard Stüber, DPDHL General Manager Operations at Post & Paket Deutschland.

Thanks to our tight network of branches all over Germany, we managed to find flexible, mobile workers who were ready to start all over the country – and able to get stuck in.

TIGHT NETWORK

»Thanks to our tight network of branches all over Germany, we managed to find flexible, mobile workers who were ready to start all over the country – and able to get stuck in.«
Suzana Bernhard
[Managing Director, DEKRA Arbeit GmbH]