In the bag: Aussies beat the Christmas post rush

Australians have been beating the Christmas postage onslaught as the nation's posties gear up for the silly season rush. More than seven million parcels were processed over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales period last month alone, when Christmas shoppers started spending earlier than usual. "We do believe that people have sort of gone early at the sales to try and lock in a bargain or to get ahead of the Christmas rush," Australia Post chief executive Paul Graham said on Wednesday. The Australia Post team was well prepared to tackle the peak-shopping season surges and deliver everyone's packages on time, he said. "We always add about three to four thousand people for our Christmas peak, we make sure we've got plenty of equipment and plenty of spare trucks," he told AAP. "It's something that we're pretty good at and regardless of what volume we get thrown, I think we're in good shape to make sure we deliver for our customers." High volumes of fashion products and electronics have already been making their way through distribution centres. Western Sydney-Nepean postie Shannon Wade said the number of parcels he was delivering had doubled. "From this time last year, we would have only been doing 60 to 70 parcels, but now, this year, at this time, we'd be doing 130 to 140 parcels," he said. Posties are delivering packages in a variety of ways, riding bicycles, motorbikes and the newer three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles. The electric vehicles have more space for parcels, some shelter from the elements and are also safer on the roads due to their increased visibility. However, they can be awkward to manoeuvre and unstable due to their single front wheel. Dogs are also presenting a perennial problem for many posties. There have been more than 50 dog-related incidents for postal workers each week, with posties in Queensland and NSW mostly likely to be attacked. "I don't know what it is, whether it's the noise of the bike or the colour of the uniform we wear," Mr Wade said.