COVID-19 curse crushes courier companies as they struggle to adapt

Though several businesses that shut down in March owing to the COVID19 lockdown have resumed over the past few days traditional courier service providers are struggling to keep their business going People have now turned to newage appbased providers who they say are reliable and efficientTraditional couriers like Vichare Express amp Logistics Pvt Ltd The Professional Couriers Shree Maruti Courier Service Pvt Ltd are plagued by shortage of staff as most of their employees returned to their hometown due to the COVID19 lockdownmidday repeatedly called every available number of these providers and sent emails over the past week with little to no responsePhone rings foreverThe biggest challenge for customers who place bookings over the phone is getting in touch with the courier companies The number of The Professional Couriers Navi Mumbai branch was repeatedly engaged and the mobile number listed for their western region was not answered No one answered either on their central region landline numbers or extension numbers Calls on DTDC Indias Lokhandwala branch didnt go through in fact the calls to the number has been barred although the Internet showed the office as openPeople are now relying more on digital providers like FedEx WeFast etc representation picistockVichare too was out of reach Both its customer care numbers was consistently busy There was no response at the companys Adarsh Nagar New Link Road branch as well later midday learnt that it has been temporarily closed No one responded to the emails either However when midday called Vichares Oshiwara branch on Friday the person on the other side said We are shut for the entire month of June All branches and even the head office is shutNo delivery or pick upMaruti Couriers Jogeshwari branch on Thursday told midday that they resumed our services just this Monday The employee said the courier was being transported via road only You will have to personally drop off the package at our office We do not have any men to pick up or drop off packages since most of them went back homeBlue Dart Express is however providing pick up and drop off services and sending packages via air and road both A customer care executive said services were operational since beginning of June but when midday called the numbers all of last week there was no responseNewage couriers reliableWhile these courier service providers are struggling newage digital providers are busy catering to their customersKarishma AggarwalKarishma Aggarwal 26 who recently launched The Cheer Chatter that retails stationery has been using WeFast Xpressbees and Delhivery since June 10 for work While most orders have been shelved because of the virus the prepaid ones had to go out Ive been sending out parcels through ShipRocket which is mainly a logistics company for ecommerce brands They have tied up with 15 companies including FedEx Delhivery Xpressbee etc Once you fill in the data your delivery dates and prices are shown she addedShe delivers within the city and to Lucknow and Chennai as well Nobody is allowed to enter the premise so all the deliveries need to be picked up and dropped with the guards The price varies from R65 to R200 depending on the urgency weight of the package and the destination Most of them reached before the scheduled date expect the Lucknow parcel There has been a long lag for that oneQuick and safeVersovabased filmmaker Amitesh Mukherjee 29 used WeFast on May 10 They were quite fast with the pickup and the delivery I left the courier at the gate and the executive picked it up from there and it was delivered to Bandra West with a couple of hours He added For intracity I prefer providers like WeFast They have apps and are instantly traceable For intercity it makes more sense to avail DTDC services Theyre far more trustworthySaurav Agarwal Goregaon residentSaurav Agarwal 26 who works with a Goregaonbased East Coast Hospitality that helps hotels and restaurants with all kinds of crockery cutlery glassware and kitchenware has been using an appbased provider called Lalamove The app lets you deliver goods from point A to point B on a scooter Another app is Porter which is basically like an Ola or Uber that has only tempos meant for transferring goods He added I have been using digital courier services for the past two years The best part is I can track it on my phone Ive sent materials worth lakhs to Pune Also the pricing is comparatively cheaper than of traditional couriers A Lalamove spokesperson told midday that for intrastate deliveries the customer will have to get a police pass online so that the authorities dont stop ushellipYou can track itNidhi Kabra 30 an Andheri resident who works in a financial consulting space used WeFast to courier three laptops to South Mumbai last Thursday My package was delivered the same day within a few hours I could also track the delivery persons movement till my item was delivered I had looked at Blue Dart and DTDC and even ShipRocket which has a tieup with firms like Blue Dart Vichare DHL etc but none of them had the sameday delivery option Wefast was the only provider with the option she saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news