Service restrictions continue in Japan with recovery underway

Postal delays are continuing in Japan in the wake of last week’s massive earthquake and tsunami, with service suspensions remaining in place in northern areas of the country. Japan Post has said all inbound and outbound mail flows have been affected in the area including the cities of Sapporo and Sendai, following the events of March 11.

Deliveries are not taking place in areas including Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima and Ibaraki.

In other parts of the country service delays may occur because of diverted flights and domestic traffic situations.

Away from the main disaster zone, transport and communication networks are progressively recovering, although there have been some power and public transportation disruptions in Tokyo. Both Narita and Haneda airports are now operational, along with Kansai International Airport in Osaka.

TNT said today that activities at its depots and TNT Express Japan head office all resumed operations over the weekend at limited capacity.

The company confirmed that all its employees in Japan were accounted for, none had been injured. Staff are now working to clear the backlog of imports in Tokyo and Osaka.

TNT said it was expecting to resume full exports to Japan through TNT Express from today, and also expects to be able to operate most pick-up and delivery services in Tokyo and Osaka. Operations in northern Japan would continue wherever possible, it said.

In a statement, TNT said its thoughts go out to its Japanese employees, their relatives and friends during these very difficult times.

DHL has said its buildings in Tokyo and the east coast have been damaged by the earthquake, and its operations have been affected across the north-east of Japan. The company is investigating the full impact of the disaster on its network.

FedEx said that its FedEx Express unit was still not accepting shipments for Narita Airport today because of the instability of critical infrastructure in the area, including power and fuel disruptions as well as disruptions to pick-up and delivery services.

The company said its priority was with the health and well-being of its employees, and that its thoughts were with them in this difficult time. FedEx is working with its disaster relief partners, including the American Red Cross, Heart to Heart International, Water Missions and Direct Relief International to bring critical supplies to the affect region while recovery efforts are underway.

UPS said this afternoon that it has resumed operations in Japan, but with limited service in some areas. The company has temporarily suspended operations in northern, eastern and parts of central Japan.

Through its UPS Foundation, UPS has pledged $1m in relief for the earthquake victims in the region. The pledge will support transportation for emergency supplies and humanitarian logistics teams. UPS said it was working with its existing relief agency partners including the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to determine their needs.