Hello, darlings!
Well, chestnuts are roasting on an open fire, and so forth, and suddenly I am reminded of that quote from that show, 'Game of Thrones'...how does it go? (Goes to check.) Oh yes – 'Brace yourselves, winter is coming!' Of course, they're referring to something within the universe of the show, but the actual phrase is not too far off something a courier driver might say around this time of year!
Indeed, as any self-respecting courier will tell you, if there's anything resembling a 'peak season' for courier work, it is certainly the lead-up to Christmas. While I've seen articles claim some people start their Christmas shopping as early as September (they're the smart ones, I say!) it's hard to deny that most of us won't be thinking about it until late October at the earliest!
That's the reason why, every year without fail, so much courier work pops up around this time; more and more, people are tending to avoid the jam-packed large commercial centres and getting their gifts online, either from a large site like Amazon or from smaller, local shops. Those shops in particular then tend to contract local couriers to ensure the orders made on their website reach the customers – which is how many of my customers end up getting so much courier work towards the end of the year!
In fact, more often than not, jobs tend to begin piling up for drivers, creating the need for them to plan ahead, organise and schedule so they don't get swamped. So this is where the theme of this week's reader interaction comes in. (Yes, we were having a reader interaction all along! Aren't I crafty, disguising it as a normal post?!)
Anyway, on to the point: basically, I want to know how you (my dear readers) prepare for the rush of courier work you get around the Christmas peak period. Do you just tackle it as if it were any other time of year? Or do you have any special preparations or tactics you use to deal with the work?
Answers to the usual address, and I shall publish them next week, as ever!
Ta-ra!
Gertie
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