Service Updates

OMNI Parcel USA - Christmas and Peak Season

08-Dec-2017 02:30 p.m. - Don Zhang

The below message is from First Global Logistics regarding orders for the USA on the OMNI Parcel service.

As we are in the busy season with Christmas right around the corner, for any shipments requiring delivery prior to Christmas, we recommend that First Global receive your parcels by the 08th December, so that you allow enough time especially in the busy season for the parcels to get through the US delivery network.

 

We will do our best to get the orders to your customers on time, but there are no guarantees that they will arrive in time for Christmas if dispatched after this date.

 

Any delayed cargo will be prioritised on subsequent flights, but this can have a flow-on effect with other cargo being delayed as a result.

 

If you have any time-critical or urgent shipments around this time, please contact us ASAP to discuss options.

Friday - Inter Island ferries resume service / North Island expect delays

14-Jul-2017 10:31 a.m. - Minal Gulabdas
Inter Island ferries have begun sailing this morning at 6.00am however there is a huge backlog of vehicles and only those pre-booked will be moved until all freight vehicles are cleared.

Some trucks sitting on wharves in Wellington and Picton over the last few days will move first.  Do still expect some backlogs.

Road closures throughout the North Island overnight have delayed line haul vehicles in to most central and lower North Island destinations which will result in delivery delays to most of these areas.

You can now resume handing over inter-island freight to the drivers.

Thursday - Severe Weather Update

13-Jul-2017 10:58 a.m. - Minal Gulabdas
For up to date information from the couriers you can also visit their updates:


Updates from NZ Couriers

The severe weather continues to impact on our line-haul and delivery network.

  • The Lewis Pass was closed all night. No outbound freight was able to leave Nelson, nor was any inbound freight able to be delivered to branch. Attempts will be made to move freight during the day – however, this is weather dependant.
  • Greymouth and Westport are the same as above.
  • Cromwell / Queenstown outbound freight connected, however the inbound truck is waiting for the Lindis Pass to open.
  • Dunedin / Invercargill - both out bound and inbound freight moved smoothly by linehaul trucks, but there will be delays in van deliveries.
  • Gisborne inbound will be delayed due to the gorge still being closed.
  • The Desert Road and National Park Road were closed, which has meant that the North Island trucks travelling via State Highway One had to divert through the West Coast (New Plymouth). This is causing delays to most North Island centres.
  • There is currently no access to Tekapo, Taihape, Raetihi, Ohakune, Waiouru, Dannevirke - due to weather (+ access to Foxton is delayed due to an accident).
  • No Inter-Island ferries sailed, therefore no 2 day Inter-Island freight moved. We are waiting on an update as to if sailings will resume tomorrow.

Updates from Post Haste/Castle Parcels

The bulk of the issues that we are experiencing today from the overnight service network delays are throughout central New Zealand.

Wellington is currently being buffeted by severe gales rain and sleet which is making road conditions treacherous and if the conditions do not improve then we may be forced to take our delivery fleet off the road. Some day-runs have been suspended and services to Masterton are on hold and may not eventuate today.

Ferries were cancelled from yesterday morning and a potential recommencement of these services is not expected before 6.00am Friday July 14th.

Hawkes Bay region have late trucks arriving due to diversions delaying their inbound arrivals and freight will be delivered once sorting has been completed. Snow and flooding between Waipawa and Waipukurau will also provide challenges to our delivery services throughout the day.

Palmerston North have suspended deliveries in to Dannevirke as the road conditions have prevented access.

The Lewis Pass was closed early last evening meaning Nelson and Blenheim have essentially been cut off, with no freight getting in or out from last night. With no further update as to roads re- opening, this could ultimately ensure there will be little we can do in these areas with potentially no deliveries at all today.

The Lindis Pass remains closed and freight in to Central Otago and Queenstown is still in transit awaiting clearance to continue. As with Nelson and Blenheim there is also a possibility no freight will be delivered into these areas today.

Truck rollover Desert Road Tuesday 11th July

It is our unfortunate responsibility to inform our Auckland customers that one of our truck and trailer linehaul vehicles travelling on the Desert Road during the bad weather on Tuesday night, hit ice when slowing down to negotiate a bridge into a small ravine and rolled over, blocking SH 1. We are pleased to report that the driver was not injured but the vehicle was severely damaged and it took most of Wednesday to recover the truck and the two trailer units. Through the recovery process it was clear that the freight on board the second of the two trailers had also sustained serious damage and what has been recovered at this stage will be taken to Taupo today (Thursday 13th) to assess what is salvageable. We will know further once all the freight has been recovered but that may take several days.

What we do know is that the vehicle had left Auckland and was carrying approximately 25 cubic metres of freight for the Kapiti Coast and the rest was two day South Island road freight.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused but as yet we are still totally unable to confirm who, of our customers freight, has been impacted. To add to this we have several vehicles sitting on the wharf in Wellington also carrying South Island freight and these vehicles will not be moving until ferry sailings commence on Friday morning at the earliest. In this regard we will be unable to confirm who has been affected by this incident until the bulk of the South Island freight has been cleared after the weekend. Please bear this in mind when contacting us as we may have very little information to impart but will make every effort to contact you individually when we have more detail.

Again please accept our apologies as this is a very rare occurrence within our network and business as a whole.  

Updates from TIL Freight

An update to current weather conditions impacting freight services in New Zealand.

  • The weather has eased slightly and roads have re-opened in the South of Christchurch corridor and units have travelled.
  • North of Christchurch corridor to Upper South Island regions roads are closed.  This includes
  • SH1 North – East Coast – Closed - Areas affected: Kaikoura, Blenheim.
  • SH70 – Peketa to Waiau – Closed - Areas affected: Kaikoura.
  • SH73 - Springfield to Arthurs Pass (Porters Pass) – Closed  - Areas affected: Greymouth, Hokitika.
  • SH7 – Hanmer Springs – Springs Junction (Lewis Pass) – Closed - Areas affected: Nelson, Blenheim, Greymouth, Hokitika.
  • Please expect substantial delays to all deliveries in these areas.
  • All Cook Strait ferry sailings are cancelled.  Please expect substantial delays to all Inter Island freight services.
  • There are numerous TIL Freight units in transit, currently unable to travel (awaiting re-opening of highways)
  • At present, freight is not moving ex Auckland into the South Island.  Our team are managing all Auckland pickup services in a limited capacity to ensure our warehouse levels don’t reach unmanageable levels.
  • The Lower and Central North Island are currently experiencing the impact of the current weather situation restricting normal freight services.
  • Our Wellington Depot will also be closed today (13.07.2017) due to weather conditions with no freight in or out.
Thank you for your patience as we work through the delays and issues caused due to weather.  Please be aware that delays should be expected over the coming days.  Our team are working to manage these delays whilst keeping the safety of both our team and your freight foremost.


Ferry cancellations - Please hold back inter-island freight

12-Jul-2017 12:51 p.m. - Minal Gulabdas

You will by now be aware of the issues we have been confronted with over ferry cancellations across Cook Strait which will have a major impact on the movement of our two day freight between islands in both directions.


At this stage ferry sailings may well not resume until Friday provided the weather settles down and the sea swells reduce to an acceptable height.


With this in mind we would like to highlight that any two day inter island freight will not be moving over the next couple of days and if you could potentially withhold sending this freight in to us we would be very appreciative. We will have greatly reduced capacity to handle the volume as we have trucks and TCP containers sitting on wharves in Wellington and Picton or stuck in each island and we would rather it sat with you than in our depots going nowhere. We will have a serious shortage of TCP’s over this time and freeing up what we have to move within island freight will be a huge help and aid our branches TCP usage over this time.


This is a short term measure but any help you can provide will have a positive flow on effect within the business, until things return to normal.


Thanks for your help it is greatly received and appreciated. 

Severe Weather Update

11-Jul-2017 03:45 p.m. - Minal Gulabdas
Batten down the hatches because severe weather conditions are expected for the rest of the week. Swells may reach between five and seven metres. Icy conditions and snow is also expected in the South-Island, while Otago highways and some addresses will not be serviced until the ice melts.

Heavy rain, gales, snow & fog, are expected to hit the lower half of North-Island. These will adversely affect all Inter-Island freight movements.  Delays are expected on all nationwide freight in general.

The Inter-Islander anticipates that sailings may be cancelled from Wednesday evening to Friday morning.  This will add delays to all inter-island freight.  The gale winds and snowy conditions could affect air freight as well.

We will update you if there are any further changes to the situation.