Photo Reveals How Bad The Backlog Is For Parcel Deliveries In Parts Of Australia

A photo has revealed how massive the parcel backlog is in parts of Australia right now.

If you've been waiting on a delivery for a while then it's likely that that lockdowns in Sydney, Melbourne and the Australian Capital Territory are to blame.

The image circulating social media shows an immense amount of parcels stacked up high at a distribution centre in Victoria's capital.

Australia Post general manager of corporate affairs, Michelle Skehan, explained to radio station 3AW that it's 'not a great situation we've found ourselves in'.

"Even last year when we had workforce restrictions in our facilities...we could send things up to Sydney," she said. "Because we've got Sydney, the ACT and Victoria all in lockdown it's an enormous logistical problem."

There are up to 200 Australia Post staff that are isolating at the moment in Melbourne as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

AusPost said they would have to temporarily suspend collections and business lodgements for eCommerce retailers in Melbourne until tomorrow (Wednesday October 6).

Everything that is sent via Australia Post's Express Post, Startrack Premium, Startrack Courier, Startrack Express and letters services won't be affected by the suspension.

It only applies to standard Parcel Post and eParcel services within the Greater Melbourne area.

Australia Post is hoping this will help clear the 'record volumes' of parcels that are due to be collected.

Ms Skehan told news.com.au: "Our team worked hard across the weekend, with well over a million parcels processed in Victoria on Saturday and Sunday, and around half a million parcels delivered in Melbourne alone from Friday to Sunday.

"We've invested a lot in our capacity over the last year including chartering extra planes, putting more vehicles on the road, and opening new permanent and temporary facilities to manage the volume, and are also hiring 1000 team members in Victoria in the lead up to Christmas."

To make matters even worse, the United States Postal Service has revealed it has also stopped sending or receiving mail from 22 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Great, just great.

The USPS has blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and 'other unrelated service disruptions' for refusing to send or receive our beloved parcels.

The service hasn't revealed how long this will take so you probably should avoid online shopping from American-based retailers for a while until all the problems are sorted out.

Featured Image Credit: 3AW

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie