more than 10,000 packages distributed every day during the holiday period

A week to the day before Christmas Eve, there's a rush at the Post Office. The distribution peak could reach 14,000 packages distributed per day. The parcel preparation and distribution platform in Saint-Étienne and its valleys is in the middle of the Christmas rush. Every year, this is the time when agents have the most work. Parcels arrive by the thousands, they must then be sorted, classified by delivery sector and delivered to their destination. All this, before December 24.

“Last year, in December, we distributed 210,000. There, we are safer on days of 10 or 11,000. Whereas on average, we deliver 6,000 packages per day. We have 191 000 potential customers”, explains Thierry Discord, director of the establishment. A whole dynamic is being put in place behind the scenes.

“In the main hall there are almost a hundred people processing packages every day. The work begins on the docks, where containers arrive and unload the goods. They are then sent back to other platforms. Then, the packages are sent to the preparation sites, to pass into the sorting zone. The agents have a daily briefing where they receive their instructions. They then load their vehicle according to their delivery zone.

A delivery person can have up to 200 packages per day. This represents a working time in the field of 6 to 8 hours. “We start our shift at 6 a.m. or 5:30 a.m. during the holiday season. Even if it requires more work, we all play the game. Once we've finished our tour, we'll leave, call the people we didn't see or who weren't there, so that all are delivered on time.” Rémi is a deliveryman in the Étrat sector in Saint-Étienne. In one day, he has 80 crossing points.

“We know that a delivered package is a gift under the tree, so we don’t count our hours,” he explains with a smile.

In total, 90 vehicles are used for deliveries, 12 more than outside the end-of-year holidays. Added to this are 5 or 6 cargo bikes. And to ensure the Christmas rush, around a hundred seasonal workers are employed to come and lend a hand to the agents already present. This period of tension extends from November 29, the date of Black Friday, to December 21/22, 2024. “It’s a real hive.”