Carriers Defaulting to Authority to Leave | Alternative Express & Signature Delivery Options (Updated 23/03/20)

Monday 23rd March 2020:

TNT will not be defaulting to Authority to Leave. 

• TNT has advised they will not be defaulting their deliveries to ATL, they will however, be practising delivery safety measures. This means a physical signature will no longer be required and the driver will instead note the receivers name on the PDA themselves as proof of delivery.
• If the customer is not home, goods will be returned to a local exchange for collection or held at the depot for redelivery (redelivery costs will apply).

Alternative options to Authority To Leave. 

• We urge customers who require signature deliveries or are sending high-value goods, to ship using a signature service like TNT or TNT overnight for express deliveries.
• We can also suggest using a Sameday carrier such as Bonds and Allied Sameday where the customer can choose a timeslot they'll be home to accept the delivery.

Thursday 19th March 2020:

The safety of our partners, retailers and customers is our priority. As the cases of COVID-19 increase, to limit contact when delivering orders, all carriers are now defaulting deliveries to authority to leave (ATL) where possible and will not be requesting a physical signature from the customer/receiver.

 How will delivery work?

• The driver will knock or ring the bell, place the goods on the ground and step away.
• If your customer is at the delivery address, the driver will only note the full name of the customer instead of obtaining a physical signature.
• If the delivery address is unattended and the driver considers there to be a safe area to leave the goods, ATL will be followed and no name obtained.
• Once the goods are left in a safe area, delivery drivers will do their best to make a note of the location or take a picture as proof of delivery.
• If the delivery address is unattended and the driver considers it not safe to leave goods unattended, they should return back to the depot where redelivery can be booked on a day the customer is home. The customer can choose to have it dropped to a collection point and collect it themselves or, the driver may also do this by default if one is nearby.

Which carriers are affected?

 The majority of our domestic carriers have decided to move forward with this plan which includes to date: Bonds, Allied Express, CouriersPlease, Fastway, Australia Post, StarTrack.

What if the goods are of high value or ATL is not an option?

• We suggest liaising with your customer to agree on a day they will be home to receive the package so it's not left outside and use a carrier that can facilitate this (i.e a sameday carrier if available).
• Discuss alternative delivery options with your customer and choose a carrier who can deliver to this type of location (i.e Fastway Parcel Connect  or CouriersPlease POPShop).

 Please note this is a decision made and enforced directly from the carrier/s, not Shippit itself as the aggregator. Each carriers standard terms of carriage will still apply to these deliveries, for more information you can refer to this link.