Every year, the same thing happens in the run-up to Christmas: courier networks come under more pressure than at any other point in the year, and businesses tied to a single carrier find out the hard way what happens when that carrier can't keep up.
What actually happens to courier networks in November and December
Parcel volumes across the UK rise sharply in the run-up to Christmas — for most networks, it's the highest-volume period of the entire year. Collection windows tighten, depots run closer to capacity, and in some years carriers introduce temporary restrictions on specific services during the busiest weeks. None of this is unusual — it happens every year — but it catches out businesses who haven't planned around it.
Single-carrier risk
- No fallback if your one carrier hits capacity
- Orders sit and wait — customers chase you, not the courier
- A local service disruption affects every single order
- You find out there's a problem when it's already too late
Multi-carrier despatch
- Every order can move via whichever carrier is performing best that day
- One network's delay doesn't stop your despatch
- Capacity is spread across DHL, DPD and Royal Mail rather than one provider
- Selection happens automatically, order by order
How multi-carrier despatch protects you
Reilly's despatches every order same-day via DHL, DPD or Royal Mail, with DespatchLab automatically selecting the best carrier for each individual order rather than locking every parcel to one network. If one carrier is running slower on a given day or route, orders simply route through whichever is performing best — without you having to notice, let alone manage it manually.
What this looks like in practice
During a normal week, this might mean nothing changes at all — one carrier handles the bulk of orders because it's consistently the best option. During a peak-season disruption, it means the difference between despatch continuing as normal and orders being held for days waiting on a single network to catch up.
Getting ready before peak hits — not during it
The businesses that come through peak season smoothly are the ones who ask the right questions in September and October, not December. Confirm your despatch cut-off dates now, make sure your platform integration is live and tested, and ask your fulfilment partner directly how many carrier options they actually have — not just which one they mention first.