Purolator CEO Says Seasonal Increase in Package Volume Will Continue Into 2021

Purolator CEO Says Seasonal Increase in Package Volume Will Continue Into 2021
The main Purolator sort plant in Calgary, Alta., on May 9, 2020. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
12/7/2020
Updated:
12/7/2020

TORONTO—Purolator expects to deliver 46 million packages through its peak season this year, which runs through most of November and part of December, CEO John Ferguson said.

Purolator’s package volume is 10 percent higher than the courier anticipated, even with an optimistic forecast, Ferguson said.

Total deliveries are up 50 percent this year compared with last year, while e-commerce deliveries are up between 80 and 100 percent, he said.

Ferguson said he expects package volume will remain high into the new year, unlike in every other year, when volume declined substantially after the busy holiday season.

He attributed the elevated volume to the second wave of COVID-19, which has prompted new lockdown restrictions in major Canadian cities.

The courier has added more than 3,000 new employees since the start of the pandemic, in an effort to manage a substantial increase in parcel shipping volume.