Omniva reroutes parcels to distant towns amid high delivery volumes

Estonian postal and logistics company Omniva has confirmed that it sometimes redirects parcels ordered from foreign online stores to lockers in different towns, occasionally dozens of kilometers away from the originally chosen location.

Although a €3 customs duty introduced in July on goods from China and other third countries has reduced the overall flow of parcels into Estonia, Omniva says it is still struggling to deliver every shipment to its intended destination.

When a parcel locker is full, delivery companies typically send the shipment to the nearest available locker instead. This summer, however, Omniva has in some cases sent parcels much further — for instance, a parcel addressed to Tapa was delivered to Rakvere, 35 kilometers away, while one meant for the village of Treimani ended up in Häädemeeste, 20 kilometers away.

Lylian Peek, head of Omniva Estonia's distribution and postal network, said the redirections stem from high parcel volumes combined with pressure to deliver quickly. According to her, the company's sorting line processes around 200,000 parcels a day, of which 0.8 percent are redirected elsewhere — meaning roughly 1,600 Omniva customers a day do not receive their parcel at the location they originally chose.

Other delivery firms also redirect shipments on occasion, but DPD Estonia's commercial director, Janek Kivimurd, said this happens rarely at his company and only to the nearest locker, within about one and a half kilometers, never to a completely different part of a city.

Omniva customer Tarieli Lipartia, from North Tallinn, said he once had to collect a parcel from the Tallinn Kaubamaja shopping center even though several closer Omniva locations were available. He added that the company was unable to explain why his parcel had been sent so far away.