Parcel service German-style: eliminating deliverymen
Germany’s postal service is gradually eliminating the deliverymen at its parcels service, announcing Tuesday it would set up 500 new automated locker rooms for do-it-yourself customers.
Declaring a pilot project that began in January 2002 with 90 locker-rooms a success after 55,000 customers used the service, Deutsche Post said it would expand it from the Frankfurt and Dortmund areas to four other main urban areas.
When a parcel has to be picked up, customers receive an SMS text on their mobile phone. They then drive over to the “parcel station”, insert a plastic card in a machine and enter a secret number. A box in the wall opens automatically. The parcel is inside.
Deutsche Post said do-it-yourself pick-ups involve no extra charge and are popular with working people who are away from home in the daytime and cannot visit a post office during normal opening hours.
Parcel services are popular in Germany, where many people shop by mail-order, using catalogues or the Internet. dpa jbp sc
AP-NY-04-08-03 0931EDT
DAviaNewsEdge
Copyright (c) 2003 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
