by Walther Ploos van Amstel
In 2025, Dutch PostNL continued its strategic transformation from a traditional postal and parcel operator into a digitally driven, data-powered logistics platform. Innovation focused on modernising the digital ecosystem, embedding AI into daily operations, strengthening cybersecurity, and improving customer experience across the entire delivery journey. At the customer interface, the PostNL app became the central …
The last mile is undergoing a rapid technological shift. Logistics companies are electrifying their fleets and deploying new digital systems for routing, tracking, and delivery management. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly built into these systems, promising lower emissions, shorter distances, reduced fuel use, and lower operating costs. But Hanbit Chang’s dissertation, Rerouting the Last-Mile: Contested …
Cities are increasingly adopting zero-emission zones (ZEZs) as a core strategy to reduce local air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and road transport noise. While much of the policy and research attention has focused on passenger cars and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), there is growing interest in the role of light electric freight vehicles (LEFVs), including …
The postal market in the Netherlands is under serious pressure. Declining mail volumes, rising costs, labor shortages, and digitization are making it increasingly challenging to fulfill the universal service obligation (USO)—the statutory requirement to deliver mail nationwide—reliably and affordably. PostNL, which is responsible for this task, has for some time failed to meet the 95% next-day delivery …
Dutch PostNL is opening up its 1,000 parcel lockers machines to other carriers. GLS Netherlands is the first competitor to utilize this network for parcel deliveries. PostNL aims to connect more carriers to the network in the future. This is good news; the future of home delivery is in joint delivery with shared fleets. However, …
Dutch PostNL will open its parcel locker network to other carriers in 2023. This means that from then on, consumers will be able to pick up and send parcels from different carriers at a PostNL parcel locker. This is an exciting development in the parcel market to give consumers more (sustainable) delivery options. Automatic parcel …
Since the publication of PostNL’s Q2 2022 results in August 2022, the global macroeconomic environment has further deteriorated, impacting many industries. Inflation has increased, with The Netherlands reaching a record-high level of almost 15% in September, while consumer confidence has dropped to an all-time low. This is negatively impacting consumer spending and is expected to …
PostNL opened a downtown hub in The Hague for sustainable and neighborhood-friendly delivery of parcels in The Hague’s Inner City. PostNL will now deliver parcels in the inner city of The Hague using small, emission-free LEVVs (light electric vehicles). This will benefit the liveability of the inner city: the vehicles are quiet, clean, narrow, maneuverable, …
Investors in the parcel delivery business are cautious. Royal Mail lost 15 percent of its value in one month, Belgian Bpost lost 18 percent. UPS and FedEx losing 7 to 9 percent. With a 5 percent drop in the AEX last week, is Dutch PostNL the next loser? Dutch PostNL sent 11 percent more parcels …
On 18 September, Green Postal Day, 15 international postal companies reflected on the progress achieved by the postal sector in reducing CO2 emissions. Since 2008 the participating postal companies have collectively brought down their CO2 emissions by 31%. Dutch PostNL wants to deliver all parcels and letters in the Benelux region emission free in the last …