Come December, Nelson’s Aaron Rodrigues is certainly getting his steps in.
A courier driver for NZ Post, Aaron delivers about 80 parcels – as well as some letters – on his Motueka run during the quieter months.
In December, that number more than doubles, with the parcel numbers sometimes topping 200 for his route of approximately 400 houses.
“We might have a day a week when it does a lull, and then it bounces back to the big numbers,” he explains.
The crazy season kicks off after late November’s Black Friday sales, the informal pre-Christmas rush that signals the start of relentless demand until summer ebbs.
Aaron, who lives in Nelson, says he relishes the challenge – partly because it puts the rest of the year in perspective.
His working day starts at 5.45am, when he arrives at the Nelson depot to load up his electric van. He then heads to Motueka’s College St depot, unpacking the van and repacking it with the items for his specific run.
At 8.30am he is on the road again, zipping purposefully around Motueka’s coastal streets.
In the lead-up to Christmas, his van is “packed absolutely to the roof”. Just like planning his route, there’s a “proper” way to stack the vehicle. Aaron arranges parcels like a game of Tetris, taking note of perishables and fragile items.
“That keeps the integrity of the parcel intact, so getting to the house, the parcel looks the same as when it left the business.”
Even outside peak season, Aaron hustles.
“I want my customers to always be happy and see me at the same time every day,” he explains.
“The best part, I believe, is when you come to the door to a person who has been anticipating a parcel, and you hand it to them, and they just light up.” As a customer himself, he knows the joy of having a treasure arrive at his door. “I feel how they feel.”
Interactions with the customer are a highlight, and no matter how busy he is, he’ll aways stop and have a quick chat “when they decide that they want to have a bit of a yarn”.
It’s always a disappointment when the customer is not home and he has to leave a card for them to collect their parcel, because it feels like a job not quite done.
Asked how people can make his job easier, Aaron has an instant response.
“That’s an easy one,” he says with a smile. “It’s called ATL - authorisation to leave.”
