why is canada post so slow

Why Canada Post May Delay Your Delivery

Since its founding more than a century ago, Canada Post has experienced a slew of obstacles that have shaken its operations and forced a change of course.

The motivation for the transformation sprang from a desire to grow toward financial independence and stability.

While any postal service’s goal is to provide timely delivery to its clients, this article explains why Canada Post isn’t doing so.

Let’s Dive in

Several key factors contribute to Canada Post service delays, including non-compliance with mailing standards and postal laws, expenditures and financial obligations, different mail types, labor grievances, and late delivery, among others.

While some issues stem from the customer, others result from systemic turmoil. A breakdown of these seemingly complex issues will help you understand why you’re not receiving your parcel in time.

1. Customers Failing to Comply with Mailing Requirements

Because only around 33% of Canadians get their items delivered to their doorstep, Canada Post services over 16 million addresses, or over 5 million residences. The others get their packages delivered to their neighborhood, apartment, or rural mailboxes.

Customers send anything from live animals to medication in a variety of containers. Furthermore, Canada Post imposes restrictions on what may be sent, such as dangerous items.

Handling this amount of packages takes time, and clients who do not satisfy the standards may experience delivery delays or even mail loss. Meeting basic sending requirements will reduce the possibility of delays.

  • Confirm that the products being shipped are allowed and may be sent under Canadian law. Items that are prohibited from being delivered won’t be sent.
  • Select the right service and delivery methods, such as Priority Mail or ordinary Parcel.
  • Before sending, accurately determine the weight and volume of mail and goods.
  • Label accurately and ensure that the needed information is clear and understandable. Include informative labels like “fragile,” “perishable,” or “live animals inside” as well.
  • You should use packing tape and other suitable materials to attach labels and packaging so that packages remain closed.
  • Pack mail in the appropriate box, tubing, or another packing to avoid damage or loss.
  • Packages with leaks or unpleasant smells will not be shipped.
  • As required by Canada Post, any mail shipped outside of Canada must include a “Customs Declaration” form.
  • To easily monitor mail and quickly locate delayed or missing packing, use the online tracking tool offered by canadapost.ca.

2. High Expenditure

Compared to similar enterprises in the private sector, Canada Post’s labor expenses are around 41 percent more than.

Over the next five years, just about 15,000 employees might retire, significantly increasing the corporation’s pension expenditures. According to the company, Canada Post faces a $6.5 billion retirement benefits deficit.

Canada Post is obligated to deliver mail and packages and provide services to all addresses in the nation, regardless of the cost.

The demand for delivery services is increasing, but consumers are decreasingly utilizing the company’s services due to the decline in paper bills, emails, and other paperless technological transactions.

As a result of rising postal processing and delivery costs, labor strikes and related costs, pension obligations, and a shift in the proportion of mail to parcels, postal employees’ hours have been reduced, labor layoffs have occurred, and postal services have been reduced and changed, resulting in delays in delivery of mail.

3. Changes in the Type of Packages

With the rise of online shopping and commerce, the need for delivery services such as UPS and FedEx has increased.

Postal traffic is expected to fall by more than 25% over the next decade, but package volume is expected to rise.

Canada Post is constantly adapting to the changing nature of mail delivery from letters to packages. To handle and distribute the various parcels, additional facilities and equipment are needed. Employee training and policy revisions are also necessary.

It is disruptive to mail processing and costly to implement these kinds of large modifications. As a result, various adjustments must be made to make up for the decline in doorstep deliveries in preference of less popular options such as community mailbox facilities.

4. Worker Grievances

The postal service has been disrupted several times throughout the years due to strikes and lockouts.

Some of the most recent issues include the 2018 strike, in which Canadian Post employees coordinated rotating strikes around the country, mostly in the processing facilities. This had an impact on Christmas delivery as well as online sales.

According to the Postal Service, mail had been piling up for more than a month, which was being held in 600 trailers at distribution locations. From 2019 to the present, discussions concerning postal employees’ contracts and working hours are ongoing.

Additional Causes

Other factors contributing to the delays include:

  • Time-sensitive shipments are being given precedence, and others are being handled daily.
  • Packages from Asia are less prioritized since these countries do not pay shipping expenses as stipulated in international postal treaties.
  • Depending on the conditions, Customs may detain certain items.
  • Some sites are difficult to reach due to physical geography or distance.
  • The number of deliveries and Canada Post’s delivery capabilities is out of sync.
  • Customer service agents provide erroneous information to consumers, causing mail and package processing to be delayed.
  • Customers often complain about delivery efforts, claiming that not enough effort was made to deliver items, which includes knocking on the door and waiting for the recipient to collect the goods.

In Summary

Late deliveries done by the Canada Post system may be traced to various factors. A simple solution is for consumers to follow postal rules and guidelines while sending mail.

However, certain difficulties that cause delays can’t be rectified quickly enough, labor cost, labor strikes, pension liabilities, reductions in labor hours, worker retrenchment, policy amendment, and Postal service modifications.

Decisions that would alleviate some of these concerns result in delivery delays, while some of these issues can’t be foreseen or prevented like natural catastrophes.

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