Aramex (formerly Fastway Couriers) has today released a new brand commercial that illustrates the company’s promise of delivering what matters most.

In these unprecedented times when toilet paper has become a hot commodity, the commercial shows an Aramex courier delivering to an elderly man who can’t wait to get his hands on the rolls.

Aramex New Zealand chief executive Scott Jenyns said the commercial manages to bring some much-needed humour to the COVID-19 situation as we move from Level 4 to Level 3 in restrictions.

“I think we can all relate to the urgent need to get hold of toilet paper after the shortages of the past few weeks,” says Scott.

“Our couriers have been delivering an unprecedented volume of parcels since COVID-19 restrictions began; everything from pet food to wine to yes, even toilet paper.”

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Aramex has seen an uplift in local businesses across New Zealand go online since the beginning of March. With many storefronts shuttered and a significant number of businesses needing to pivot to online sales, courier service has been in high demand.

“Our couriers are making a big difference in the lives of our customers, delivering what matters most to them,” says Scott. “

Whether it’s delivering toilet paper when you’ve been caught short or making sure your pet is well-fed, we’re proud to be the courier of choice.”

Aramex New Zealand is working hard to deliver essential goods across New Zealand.

The NZ Government essential businesses list was extended further this week to include online sale of some goods, which people may need to safely isolate, stay connected to one another, and work or study from home.

Aramex New Zealand is prioritising the delivery of perishable and pharmaceutical goods to those that need them most.

“We have a hard-working team, many of them business owners in their own right, who are ensuring the movement of essential business supplies,” says Scott Jenyns, Aramex New Zealand chief executive.

“I cannot express my gratitude enough for all of the Aramex team members, and other fellow essential services, that are working under these trying conditions to have essential goods and services delivered.”

Scott said since going into lockdown last week, there has been a significant reduction in volumes. This reflects the admirable way the New Zealand business community is cooperating with the Government’s regulations.

“This is encouraging if we are to win the battle against Covid-19,” Jenyns says. “We have had to reduce some services and extend some delivery windows, until further notice, in order to adhere to the social distancing rules within our facilities and ensure those goods deemed essential are successfully delivered.”

Scott said the company has had numerous enquiries from businesses, asking if they can deliver goods on their behalf. Essential Service businesses can sign up via www.aramex.co.nz.

“We are directing them to the Government’s Covid-19 website to check if they are able to trade, and if so, we can certainly assist in the movement of goods throughout NZ and internationally,” he says.

Customers are being encouraged to visit www.aramex.co.nz to review the special FAQ section dedicated to Covid-19. There they’ll find information on hygiene and social distancing procedures that have been put in place to keep Aramex team members and customers safe.

“We have had very strong interest in our contactless MY FASTWAY product,” Scott says. “This is an online, easy-to-use, self-service delivery product where customers can make payment online and print service/address labels from home.”

scott is keen to work with the NZ Government to look at how logistic services can be supported to continue with no gaps in networks across New Zealand.

“Logistic companies are working hard and in very trying times,” he says. “We are expected to move essential goods as timely as possible, but we also have immediate stresses on our businesses.”

“We would welcome a forum with Government officials to discuss our challenges and ensure we can maintain timely supply of goods for New Zealanders,” he says.

New Zealand container storage and service company ContainerCo is sourcing and making shipping containers available in record time for Hawke’s Bay exporters to move goods across the world.

ContainerCo’s Napier depot manager Steven Feyen said since the Covid 19 lockdown, staff across its seven container parks have been working incredibly hard with support from international shipping companies and Ministry of Transport (MoT) to turn around the processing of containers in record time.

Steven said the usual process – receiving, survey, repair, clean and re-release – can take up to 12 days, but the commitment from onsite staff as well as a willingness from shipping companies, and streamlined red tape by MoT, has sped this up significantly. The new record was now just four hours.

At the beginning of the Level 4 Covid 19 lockdown there was reported concern over not enough shipping containers available in New Zealand for exporters due to fewer containers with imported goods arriving into the country.

Steven said ContainerCo undertook a stock take of all its containers as well as putting the call out to shipping companies and providing reports to the MoT.

Since March 26 ContainerCo has processed 44,309 containers of which 26,149 have gone back into circulation and it still has 32,200 dry and refrigerated TEUs (20 foot equivalents) ready to go from its container park facilities.

“We need to ensure products such as milk powder, meat, apples and kiwifruit get to global markets and keep the New Zealand economy moving and our team has certainly stepped up to the mark.

“Our staff, as essential service workers, have really embraced the responsibility of the role and with willingness from the shipping companies and the Ministry of Transport, we have been able to significantly streamline the process of getting containers back into circulation.

“On average 75 percent of containers need some repairing and cleaning, so it’s always a big task at hand,” he said.

ContainerCo has four container facilities in Auckland, two in Tauranga and two in Napier and Christchurch, all handling hundreds of thousands of shipping containers.

“The company is strongly focussed on innovation, such as our IT systems,” said Dr Margaret Harris, ContainerCo’s Manager of Innovation and Strategy.

Dr Harris said the business had already upgraded critical technology prior to the lockdown.

“There was significant focus last year on making sure the right tools were in place, which paid off when this crisis emerged. It was a classic case of ‘prior preparation and planning promoting smooth performance’,” she said.

Margaret believed transitioning other teams to working from home also played a role in the success of making more containers available, as staff could perform critical tasks while still undertaking child-care and remaining safe inside their home bubble.”

“Without a doubt that has allowed our staff to carry on as close to normal as possible,” she said.

One of Hawke’s Bay’s most significant infrastructure projects, the redevelopment of the Hawke’s Bay Airport will get back underway next week with construction starting the following Monday.

Hawke’s Bay Airport CEO Stuart Ainslie is excited at the prospect of works recommencing  after the government decided to move down COVID-19 Alert Level 3.

He says construction recommencement signals many jobs and local businesses will be back in action onsite.

“Getting this project going again is important to the airport but perhaps even more so the region, especially the local construction supply chain. The project is supporting over 200 jobs with 30 individual sub-contractors engaged – nearly all of them are local Hawke’s Bay businesses.”

Mr Ainslie said that although the aviation industry remains largely grounded during Level 3, there are some signs of optimism for Hawke’s Bay with Air New Zealand announcing the recommencement of scheduled flights to the region for those travelling under essential circumstances.

Since the site was temporarily closed on March 23, the project’s design and management teams have continued working remotely to minimise the impact of the national lockdown to the overall program.

A comprehensive COVID-19 management plan has also been developed to set out the procedures that will be implemented to ensure construction can be completed safely in a level 3 environment.

This includes the introduction of contactless systems, updated site plans and measures around site distancing, cleaning requirements and site operations.

The construction management team are currently liaising with the project’s various sub-contractors and suppliers to ensure all parties are appropriately prepared and inducted ahead of the anticipated return to work.

The site reopens on Tuesday April 28 with construction anticipated to be in full swing by the following Monday.

The project is now into its third and final stage and Mr Ainslie suggests some exciting construction milestones are just around the corner.

“There’s going to be a huge amount of structural steel pop up over the next fortnight which will give the community some real perspective of what the final roofline will look like”.

Whilst the time lost to the lockdown period will result in a delay to the project’s final completion, Ainslie remains upbeat that this will be kept to a minimum.

“It’s been frustrating to have to down-tools, but we’ve got a great team and they are a resilient bunch. I’m confident that we’ll see the project completed inside the first couple of months of next year”.