- Deutsche Post Board Member Gerdes: “We are fully convinced of the value of Postbus and will expand the network in the coming year”
- Positive results after one year and ten million kilometers: Postbus successfully established as quality leader in long-distance bus market
- ADAC withdraws from joint long-distance bus project
Postbus is soon to be exclusively operated by Deutsche Post. Following an extensive realignment of its business, ADAC has decided to withdraw from the shared operating company of ADAC Postbus, and the partner companies are now terminating their cooperation in the joint venture Deutsche Post Mobility GmbH as of November 2014. Deutsche Post will acquire ADAC’s stake and continue the Postbus business alone. For customers, nothing will change. All routes will continue to be run as scheduled with the quality of service customers have come to expect.
“Our Postbus has established itself as a comfortable, safe and cost-effective alternative to cars, planes and trains,” said Jürgen Gerdes, Board Member for Post – eCommerce – Parcel at Deutsche Post DHL. “It is performing as planned in a growing market and our passengers are completely satisfied. As are we – which is why we intend to expand the network even further next year.”
After one year of ADAC Postbus and more than ten million kilometers on the clock, Deutsche Post takes a positive view of the venture thus far: “The bus for Germany” has successfully established itself as a quality service provider within the market. Around 90% of customers are very satisfied or satisfied with ADAC Postbus and intend to travel with the service in the future. The quality of service has also been confirmed by a number of independent test reports. The Deutsche Institut für Service-Qualität (DISQ), a private German market research institute dedicated to improving service in Germany, rated ADAC Postbus as the only “very good” long-distance bus service provider among the eight tested, in other words, the best long-distance bus on the market.
The Cologne-based analyst firm ServiceValue also gave ADAC Postbus very high marks, especially in the categories of service quality, punctuality and staff friendliness. The consumer organization Stiftung Warentest also ranked “the Bus for Germany” among the top long-distance bus service providers on the market.
What’s more, ADAC Postbus scored points for punctuality and safety. Over 90% of the buses reached their destinations on time (with a tolerance of 15 minutes). Numerous vehicle spot-checks – during which competitor buses were also halted – revealed not a single violation of prescribed driving times and rest periods for ADAC Postbus drivers. Joachim Wessels, Managing Director of Deutsche Post Mobility GmbH, commented: “The Postbus has kept an important value promise – not of being the cheapest long-distance bus service on the market, but the best. We’ve also discovered that the police and customs have come up with a motto about Postbus – ‘PB is fine’. That’s something we can be really proud of.”
The Postbus range of services continues to expand. Just recently passengers have also been given the option of going online to get real-time updates on departure times and possible delays at www.adac-postbus.de/Fahrplanauskunft-live. In the rare event that departure is delayed for more than an hour, passengers are now also notified by text message or e-mail. Postbus plans for the coming year include a significant expansion of routes, route frequencies and of the bus fleet itself. Details of such developments and the information on future brand presence will be announced by the company at a later date.
