13 October

Adverse weather conditions in the Cook Strait mean that Inter-Island ferries have cancelled sailings over the next 24 hours (swell height is expected to exceed 6 meters).

This will affect road freight moving between Islands, delaying it by at least one day (maybe more, as it could take some time for all backlog to be cleared).

This disruption will also cause issues with the supply of freight containers to the North Island, particularly in Auckland.  Returning trucks from the South Island that bring back considerable quantities of equipment, will be delayed.  This compounds a current strain on equipment caused by record volumes and significant delays in the supply chain for ordered new equipment.

These constraints on equipment availability will cause delays in the movement of freight across all road sectors in the North and South Islands, until the equipment supply issues stabilise.

6 October

There are delays in the network to both North and South island areas.

A crash north of Wellington yesterday evening delayed linehaul out of Wellington which has resulted in freight for Auckland, Whangarei, the Far North, Hamilton, Rotorua & Tauranga being significantly delayed and also freight from Wellington to New Plymouth, Napier, Hastings, Gisborne and Wanganui missing all connections. This freight will move tonight. 

The accident also caused delays for connections to the Air network which has delayed freight into the South Island branches and also affected the timings of flights back into Auckland which has caused delays into Hamilton, Whangarei and the Far North as well Bay of Plenty for freight from the South Island.

There was also a serious accident north of Dunedin yesterday afternoon which delayed vehicles out of Dunedin and Invercargill to Christchurch which in turn has delayed their return, causing delays. 

3 October

Parts of the Waikato join Auckland at Alert Level 3 from 11.59 pm tonight, COVID-19 safety protocols and border controls may mean slight delays.

Important information

• Contactless pick-ups and deliveries are in place New Zealand-wide. Please ensure our couriers can operate on your premises with at least 2m distancing.
• Please do not send items to Auckland / Waikato addresses that are closed. We do not have extensive storage facilities for undeliverable freight. If an accessible/open address is not supplied, we will have to return items to the sender (and charge the sender the return or redirection cost) – this happens to ensure that our network can continue to operate efficiently.
• New Zealand Couriers’ branches in Auckland and Hamilton will not be open to the public until those areas are at Alert Level 2.
• There may be some delays in and out of Auckland / Waikato due to border control measures.

If you are considering sending an item to an Auckland / Waikato business address, please make sure the business is open before despatching the item. 

If your business looks closed but is unlocked and open for deliveries please have a sign clarifying the business is open for deliveries (please make sure anyone you are sending to in Auckland / Waikato also understands this).

Our couriers are wearing masks when out and about.  If a courier is on your premise, please can your people also wear masks if in proximity to them. We need to look after each other!

We continue operating with restrictions in terms of distancing; restricted workforce and other safety protocols, please avoid overloading our help-desk staff with calls etc. Our online tools including track and trace should give you the visibility you need. 

21 September

As Auckland moves to Alert Level 3 at 11.59 pm tonight, we anticipate that, from Wednesday, our Auckland operations will see a major increase in parcel volumes. This in combination with COVID-19 safety protocols and border controls may mean slight delays.

Important information

• Contactless pick-ups and deliveries are in place New Zealand-wide. Please ensure our couriers can operate on your premises with at least 2m distancing.
• Please do not send items to Auckland addresses that are closed. We do not have extensive storage facilities for undeliverable freight. If an accessible/open address is not supplied, we will have to return items to the sender (and charge the sender the return or redirection cost) – this happens to ensure that our network can continue to operate efficiently.
• New Zealand Couriers’ branches in Auckland will not be open to the public until Auckland is at Alert Level 2.
• There may be some delays in and out of Auckland due to border control measures.

If you are considering sending an item to an Auckland business address, please make sure the business is open before despatching the item. 

If your business looks closed but is unlocked and open for deliveries please have a sign clarifying the business is open for deliveries (please make sure anyone you are sending to in Auckland also understands this).

Our couriers are wearing masks when out and about.  If a courier is on your premise, please can your people also wear masks if in proximity to them. We need to look after each other!

We continue operating with restrictions in terms of distancing; restricted workforce and other safety protocols, please avoid overloading our help-desk staff with calls etc. Our online tools including track and trace should give you the visibility you need.

16 September

Between Monday 20th September and Friday 1st October, there will be reduced ferry sailings between the North and South Islands. This means any two-day economy service between islands may extend to a three-day delivery window. We apologise for any inconvenience caused here.

9 September

Potential Rural delivery delays

COVID related online shopping patterns in combination with much of New Zealand moving to Level 2 has created a surge in rural package delivery.

There are some rural locations where New Zealand Couriers utilise the services of Rural Delivery Agents who work on behalf of multiple transport companies.   

Some of these Agents are under pressure – please be aware there may an additional delay with rural delivery.  This is especially relevant if considering sending perishable or time-sensitive items.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we are doing all we can to manage during challenging times, we will do all we can to assist in any way possible.