Canada Post Strike - Impact Just as Projected

A Sun News story today confirmed the projections made in this blog over the past two weeks about the impact of the Canada Post strike.   The strike has shifted volume from Canada Post to competitors and has negatively affected the Canadian economy.  

Now here are the relevant quotes from the Sun News article:

Losses of Mail Volume

To Purolator:
Purolator even had several battle plans in place to handle the surge in customers that comes with a work stoppage.

"We considered an alternative in case orders increased even by 20%," said Roch. "The challenge for our logistics team is to make the process flexible enough to accommodate new customers without affecting the quality of our current service. So far it's working."

To Expedibus:
Expedibus uses passenger buses to deliver mail between terminals at low cost. It usually books up to 50,000 packages a month in different cities, but volume has doubled recently.

To United Parcel Service:
UPS has warned customers against flooding its network with mail.

"Since we cannot absorb all of (Canada Post's) intra-Canada volume, we will be limiting existing customers to a 10% increase in their normal daily volume," UPS said on its Canadian website.

To Electronic Delivery:
Irwin Kramer, president of the e-commerce firm iCongo, says the company's now using online solutions for its payable and receivable accounts.

"We no longer receive cheques from our customers and cannot pay our suppliers," he said. "Canada Post is not reliable."

Impact on the Canadian Economy and e-commerce
Sun news further reports Amazon and Chapters switch carriers resulting in delays in shipping.  This also more than likely increased shipping costs and either higher prices to cover more expensive
shipping or lower profits.

CNW reports that the Union Gospel Mission faces concerns about loss of contributions as 87% of contributions are made by mail

The Toronto Star reports that Beekeepers face challenges ensuring a strong honey harvest as well as pollination of fruits and vegetables if the strike continues as there are few alternatives for shipping live bees.

MSNBC is reporting that PinkCherry Adult Toys, an adult novelty firm is absorbing $1,000 a day in increased shipping costs so that it can maintain its free shipping policy due to the need to switch delivery carriers from Canada Post. 

These are just a small example of the economic impact of the strike and represent only those examples reported in on-line news services.   Clearly calls to other e-tailers, charities, and businesses would identify other instances of  increased shipping charges reducing profits of Canadian e-tailers and raising costs of Canadian consumers; slower contribution receipt to charities results in reductions in services provided by these organizations; and  slower delivery of bills and payments creating cash flow problems for Canadian businesses and households.    These impacts illustrate that while it is easy to say that Canada Post is obsolete, all it takes is a shutdown for a few days show how essential it still is.

Previous Posts:

Impact of the CPC Strike on the Canadian Economy

Canada Post Strike a Lose-Lose Proposition for CUPW