International delivery company DPD has suspended its road delivery service from the UK into Europe and the Republic of Ireland.
The company said the new border control procedures needed for parcels going from the UK to the EU following Brexit, including additional customs paperwork, had placed extra pressure on its delivery turnaround and transit times, which lead DPD to pause its operations on Friday 8 January.
The company said they intend to recommence the service on Wednesday 13 January, but would provide a further update on Tuesday 12 January.
“The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement was very welcome, but leaving the single market and customs union still requires significant changes to the way we take your parcels cross-border,” explained DPD.
“It’s been a challenging few days for our international operation, and our teams have been working round the clock to process your data for parcels bound for Europe and the Republic of Ireland.”
The company added that it’s seeing up to 20% of parcels going to the EU having incorrect or incomplete data attached, which will have to be returned to the UK sender so that the required data can be provided.
“Your role in providing accurate and complete information about the goods you are sending to Europe is absolutely crucial to us being able to recommence our European Road Service operation as quickly as possible.
“In future, parcels sent to us with incorrect or incomplete data will mean the automatic return of the parcel to you. We are very keen to avoid this, and ask that you give this matter immediate attention.”
In addition to this, DPD said it has hit delays and congestion at UK ports, as well as more rigid requirements for channel crossings.
“In view of this unprecedented set of circumstances, we believe that it is only right to pause and review our road service into Europe, including the Republic of Ireland.
“We will use this short pause to validate the data we have in our system, reduce the delay and give you the opportunity to give us the correct data we need in order that we can export, from next week, successfully.”
