Autumn is here!
…and with it a fresh new look for our newsletter.
Help make your isolation a box of fluffies
Our guide to practical and pampering pandemic prep
Have you had a bit of a stuffy nose lately? Runny noses, scratchy coughs and fuzzy heads do seem to be making a comeback.
Whatever the cause of your discomfort, stocking up on some useful supplies will bring relief from symptoms and help you feel prepared.
Here is our top list of ‘good to haves’ for your care kit.
Relief from symptoms:
- Throat lozenges and sprays to soothe throat pain
- Nasal rinses or sprays for nose blockages
- Panadol and / or ibuprofen for pain and fever
- Chest vapour rubs and / or Olbas oil to ease breathing
- Cough syrup
- Hot water bottles for the chills
- Boxes of soft tissues for each person
- Rubber gloves for cleaning or handling tissues
- Sanitiser and wipes
- Thermometer
- Electrolytes for rehydration (available in sachets for adding to water)
- Easy eats, gentle on the throat – Instant soup, eggs, bananas, yoghurts, tinned beans / spaghetti
- Soothing drinks – Honey, lemon, sugarfree cordials, kawakawa tea
- Saltwater gargling – ½ teaspoon of salt in a small cup of water (for pain & prevention)
- Ice blocks – for fevers and sore throats
Some light relief from isolation
If you need to isolate you may just feel like a few of these welcome distractions.
Here are our faves:
- Live cameras around the world: Travel to landmark destinations, get up close to wild animals, watch soothing scenes of sea-life or riotous human action right now, almost anywhere in the world or in outer space! Here’s a huge selection.
- Card game: We love Dobble – be warned, it can get feverish!
- Crafty DIY: There is always room in your life for, a rock pet. Use anything to hand – a stone and some old nail polish or house paint. From an easy care rock cactus to cute kawaii face pebbles, create it in no time and enjoy it forever.
- Online daily challenge: Addicted to Wordle yet? Now go globetrotting and try guessing the country in Worldle!
- Exercises to do sitting down: Remember heel raises and stretching on airplanes? This next level move promises to burn bellyfat, from your armchair (see below). Just search for “exercise sitting down” online – good luck if you try the jumping jacks!
- Crunchies:
- Move to edge of chair with feet on ground
- Lean back on backrest
- Lift straightened legs above the ground and raise your back off backrest (bend your knees a bit if too tricky)
- Hold for a few seconds, feel the burn
- Do 8 reps of 10 seconds regularly – hard core!
- Crunchies:
Keep informed in unpredictable times
Our Network Status Dashboard is one way we’re trying to help keep you informed, even when things seem uncertain.
We do need to take this opportunity to apologise for delays and failures with our deliveries over the last ten days. We take massive pride in our usual service levels – but this time Omicron has caught us out badly. Our people who have been able to work have been amazing – but the gaps caused by Omicron have simply been too big. We are sorry.
Seems like we’ve been talking about ‘unexpected events’ for a while. Right now it’s people shortages due to Omicron. But next, it could be another variant, or a major weather event, or… who knows!
Unpredictability puts the courier industry under pressure
Right across the country, right across the industry, large events (like pandemics; earthquakes; floods, etc) can put networks under stress.
COVID is the current culprit
Have you been hit by some of these knock-on effects of COVID?
- Continuously changing buying habits
- Delays in the bulk transport industry
- COVID protocols
- Inbound shipping delays putting strain on our supply chains
- Severe labour shortages
Changes like this can happen at any time.
What are we doing about it?
We have learnt from the pressures on the courier industry that affected everyone and we’ve been doing everything we can to be ready.
Our facilities
- Increased the size of our processing facilities at key bottlenecks by 35%
- Added extra buildings to allow more social distancing
- New equipment arrived in January to increase processing efficiency
People
- Increased staffing, and where possible bring on temporary staff to fill gaps
- Separation of teams into bubbles, staff that are able, work from home
- Implemented processes from wearing of PPE to Rapid Antigen Testing
Introducing our Network Status Framework and Dashboard
We definitely have not got things perfect, but we are also trying to give you back some predictability in unpredictable times.
We’ve created our own Network Status Framework to advise you ahead of exactly what is happening in our network. So you can plan rather than react.
A dynamic view of our network
Updated every working day, by 12:30pm, the online dashboard shows the status for each of our branches across the country. Now we’re all on the same page.
Now you can make plans
Our Network Status Framework gives you a way to take some control back in times when it’s tough to be certain of anything.
Our commitment doesn’t change
One thing you can still count on is our commitment to do our very best to deliver – but if things go wrong, we will do our best to make sure you know what is happening, nationwide.
Top tips for sending during Covid:
 | Accurate addressing of labels | Where possible ensure electronically printed addresses are validated (talk to our team for more info). |
| Packaging | Have items appropriately packaged for courier movement? Items packaged for palettes may need better protection for couriering. |
| Is a signature required? | If an item can be delivered to a safe location, non-signature delivery has a better chance of first-time delivery. |
| Pick-up earlier in the day | The earlier in the day items are picked up by our couriers the more time we have to process and position them for a swift delivery. |
| Setting expectations with your customer | During high volume periods, it makes sense to let customers know delivery times may be delayed. |
Host a barbecue to support Kiwi kids with cancer
The Child Cancer Foundation is an amazing organisation that New Zealand Couriers has been supporting for over 20 years.
The Great Kiwi BBQ is back! With their biggest annual event, the March Street Appeal cancelled, this is a great opportunity to support the Child Cancer Foundation.
Taking part is fun and easy. Simply invite your pals to share some kai and ask for a donation to your fundraiser – that’s it!
Whether you host a backyard barbie, a beachside picnic or a sausage sizzle at work, the funds and awareness you raise will make a massive difference for Kiwi families going through the toughest time in their lives. Don’t let isolation stop you from joining in – get together online for a virtual barbie with friends and whanau.
Competition
Win 1 of 2 $200 Restaurant Association gift cards!
Kiwi businesses are doing it tough, not least our hospitality industry.
During lockdown we all missed the treat of visiting our favourite local spots. This month we have two $200 Restaurant Assocation gift cards – something you and your lucky dining destination can look forward to enjoying!
Answer our simple question to be in the draw.
