Postcomm seeks views on competition over the ‘final mileâ€

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Postcomm seeks views on barriers to competition over the ‘final mile’

http://www.psc.gov.uk/news-and-events/n ... /dsds.html

17 April 2008

Postcomm is seeking views on potential barriers to competition in delivery, the so-called ‘final mile’ in the UK postal sector.

As part of the regulator’s forward work plan it is assessing the potential benefits of delivery competition, particularly in ensuring a healthy universal service and supporting a range of reliable, innovative and efficient postal services, including a universal service reflecting the needs of users, valued by customers, and delivered through a successful Royal Mail and a sustainable competitive market.

While competition through access agreements has developed quickly since Royal Mail negotiated the first such agreement in 2004, competition in delivery has actually declined for the last two years.

Postcomm has already identified a number of possible barriers, and the regulator is seeking views on new and emerging issues affecting the growth of competition in delivery.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/pol ... Letter.pdf

Introduction
1. Postcomm is seeking views on potential barriers to competition in delivery in the UK postal sector, including suggestions of regulatory actions that may be taken to overcome them. As part of Postcomm’s forward work plan it is assessing the potential benefits of delivery competition, particularly in ensuring a healthy universal service and supporting “a range of reliable, innovative and efficient postal services, including a universal service reflecting the needs of users, valued by customers, and delivered through a successful Royal Mail and a sustainable competitive marketâ€

[rhino49]

Quote
"Postcomm has already identified a number of possible barriers, and the regulator is seeking views on new and emerging issues affecting the growth of competition in delivery."

The barrier is no one will do as good a job as we do for less money

You can have it good or have it cheap - you can't have it both because there are not enough idiots left to do it.

[F0zziebear]

You pay for what you get. The only this could happen is if prices ultimately go up. If E2E volume is taken way from RM then unless they cut costs further (possibly from upstream operations and more management) they will have to put prices up to pay for the higher cost per unit.
No competitor can make the figures work at the moment as you need a certain volume of mail for a postie to take on before they break even. THose volumes are too high to obtain without consierable investment. TNT have reached that critical mass, but have not worked out how to make it work, and the only way is by taking considerable risks on quality, which their customers are not prepared to take!

[cj_1985]

id say making firms like TNT, and DHL deliver their items the last mile would force them to up their prices and stop them making a quick buck at our expense...

As i am aware that all these firms do is collect the mail from banks and businesses etc and then drop them into RMG Mail centres where we sort them and then we deliver them...

ultimatly i think that they should sort the mail themself and transport it, and deliver it.. then when they push prices up so they dont lose any money customers will come back to RMG providing more work at better rates allowing us to get paid more.

[cj_1985]

this is the whole thing....

its all just a front... appear to give the market competition and offer different providers and products... but in this case they want to let these tossers come into our country (DHL being german, UPS beng yank, Fed Ex being yank, IIRC TNT is dutch) undercut us... yet use OUR facilities and then have our men and women (myself included) break our backs humping their stolen business the final mile (or 8) that they dont want to do as it would cost them more than they are stealing from us.....

if they offered real competition and an open market then these firms should have to invest billions in mail centres, staff, sorting equitment, dedicated mail branches, and delivery men/vans and that just wouldnt be fair would it.. them having to invest in their own equitment when they can use a loop hole that postcomm left open for them to F*** us with...

i mean we dont get paid if we have to return an item to its sender for the bas*ards, even though we need to collect, re-srt, and re-distribute it

[heapsy]

this is the whole thing....

its all just a front... appear to give the market competition and offer different providers and products... but in this case they want to let these tossers come into our country (DHL being german, UPS beng yank, Fed Ex being yank, IIRC TNT is dutch) undercut us... yet use OUR facilities and then have our men and women (myself included) break our backs humping their stolen business the final mile (or 8) that they dont want to do as it would cost them more than they are stealing from us.....

if they offered real competition and an open market then these firms should have to invest billions in mail centres, staff, sorting equitment, dedicated mail branches, and delivery men/vans and that just wouldnt be fair would it.. them having to invest in their own equitment when they can use a loop hole that postcomm left open for them to F*** us with...

i mean we dont get paid if we have to return an item to its sender for the bas*ards, even though we need to collect, re-srt, and re-distribute it

The whole thing stinks if you ask me. Nothing wrong with a bit of compettition, but RM don't stand a chance and are doomed to fail if you ask me. Really do get the impression that the governement wanted all this so they can finally wash their hands of us and privatise. That way they will be able to bail themselves out of the huge financial pit they've managed to dig, claiming as they do "well we did try to sort the post out". Post comm should be scrapped now and things should be sorted out by ourselves, the way it always has been. The current situation of constant cuts will only mean that we are unable to provide the service the customers want, and that will drive them away.

[rhino49]

this is the whole thing....

its all just a front... appear to give the market competition and offer different providers and products... but in this case they want to let these tossers come into our country (DHL being german, UPS beng yank, Fed Ex being yank, IIRC TNT is dutch) undercut us... yet use OUR facilities and then have our men and women (myself included) break our backs humping their stolen business the final mile (or 8) that they dont want to do as it would cost them more than they are stealing from us.....

if they offered real competition and an open market then these firms should have to invest billions in mail centres, staff, sorting equitment, dedicated mail branches, and delivery men/vans and that just wouldnt be fair would it.. them having to invest in their own equitment when they can use a loop hole that postcomm left open for them to F*** us with...

i mean we dont get paid if we have to return an item to its sender for the bas*ards, even though we need to collect, re-srt, and re-distribute it

The whole thing stinks if you ask me. Nothing wrong with a bit of compettition, but RM don't stand a chance and are doomed to fail if you ask me. Really do get the impression that the governement wanted all this so they can finally wash their hands of us and privatise. That way they will be able to bail themselves out of the huge financial pit they've managed to dig, claiming as they do "well we did try to sort the post out". Post comm should be scrapped now and things should be sorted out by ourselves, the way it always has been. The current situation of constant cuts will only mean that we are unable to provide the service the customers want, and that will drive them away.

Spot on Heapsy - it isn't competition - it's manipulation.

[greynut]

You pay for what you get. The only this could happen is if prices ultimately go up. If E2E volume is taken way from RM then unless they cut costs further (possibly from upstream operations and more management) they will have to put prices up to pay for the higher cost per unit.
No competitor can make the figures work at the moment as you need a certain volume of mail for a postie to take on before they break even. THose volumes are too high to obtain without consierable investment. TNT have reached that critical mass, but have not worked out how to make it work, and the only way is by taking considerable risks on quality, which their customers are not prepared to take!

The whole thing stinks if you ask me. Nothing wrong with a bit of compettition, but RM don't stand a chance and are doomed to fail if you ask me. Really do get the impression that the governement wanted all this so they can finally wash their hands of us and privatise. That way they will be able to bail themselves out of the huge financial pit they've managed to dig, claiming as they do "well we did try to sort the post out". Post comm should be scrapped now and things should be sorted out by ourselves, the way it always has been. The current situation of constant cuts will only mean that we are unable to provide the service the customers want, and that will drive them away.

Could we find a buyer with the massive pension deficit???

And I think our prices are going up big time in the next couple of months. Doesn t this 18 month block on RM increasing prices end soon?

[andy2007]

You pay for what you get. The only this could happen is if prices ultimately go up. If E2E volume is taken way from RM then unless they cut costs further (possibly from upstream operations and more management) they will have to put prices up to pay for the higher cost per unit.
No competitor can make the figures work at the moment as you need a certain volume of mail for a postie to take on before they break even. THose volumes are too high to obtain without consierable investment. TNT have reached that critical mass, but have not worked out how to make it work, and the only way is by taking considerable risks on quality, which their customers are not prepared to take!

The whole thing stinks if you ask me. Nothing wrong with a bit of compettition, but RM don't stand a chance and are doomed to fail if you ask me. Really do get the impression that the governement wanted all this so they can finally wash their hands of us and privatise. That way they will be able to bail themselves out of the huge financial pit they've managed to dig, claiming as they do "well we did try to sort the post out". Post comm should be scrapped now and things should be sorted out by ourselves, the way it always has been. The current situation of constant cuts will only mean that we are unable to provide the service the customers want, and that will drive them away.

Could we find a buyer with the massive pension deficit???

And I think our prices are going up big time in the next couple of months. Doesn t this 18 month block on RM increasing prices end soon?

That's the point of the changes to the Pension Scheme: Remove the deficit entirely, by reducing the benefits. Once the Pension deficit is gone, we will be an ideal money maker for the City!

It would not surprise me in the least, if we were Privatised in the next 2 years. Possibly even as soon as next year!

[greynut]

You pay for what you get. The only this could happen is if prices ultimately go up. If E2E volume is taken way from RM then unless they cut costs further (possibly from upstream operations and more management) they will have to put prices up to pay for the higher cost per unit.
No competitor can make the figures work at the moment as you need a certain volume of mail for a postie to take on before they break even. THose volumes are too high to obtain without consierable investment. TNT have reached that critical mass, but have not worked out how to make it work, and the only way is by taking considerable risks on quality, which their customers are not prepared to take!

The whole thing stinks if you ask me. Nothing wrong with a bit of compettition, but RM don't stand a chance and are doomed to fail if you ask me. Really do get the impression that the governement wanted all this so they can finally wash their hands of us and privatise. That way they will be able to bail themselves out of the huge financial pit they've managed to dig, claiming as they do "well we did try to sort the post out". Post comm should be scrapped now and things should be sorted out by ourselves, the way it always has been. The current situation of constant cuts will only mean that we are unable to provide the service the customers want, and that will drive them away.

Could we find a buyer with the massive pension deficit???

And I think our prices are going up big time in the next couple of months. Doesn t this 18 month block on RM increasing prices end soon?

That's the point of the changes to the Pension Scheme: Remove the deficit entirely, by reducing the benefits. Once the Pension deficit is gone, we will be an ideal money maker for the City!

It would not surprise me in the least, if we were Privatised in the next 2 years. Possibly even as soon as next year!

Will the changes in the pension sort it out in 2 years????? Its 7 billion in deficit isn t it? That will take years and years to pay off.

[andy2007]

You pay for what you get. The only this could happen is if prices ultimately go up. If E2E volume is taken way from RM then unless they cut costs further (possibly from upstream operations and more management) they will have to put prices up to pay for the higher cost per unit.
No competitor can make the figures work at the moment as you need a certain volume of mail for a postie to take on before they break even. THose volumes are too high to obtain without consierable investment. TNT have reached that critical mass, but have not worked out how to make it work, and the only way is by taking considerable risks on quality, which their customers are not prepared to take!

The whole thing stinks if you ask me. Nothing wrong with a bit of compettition, but RM don't stand a chance and are doomed to fail if you ask me. Really do get the impression that the governement wanted all this so they can finally wash their hands of us and privatise. That way they will be able to bail themselves out of the huge financial pit they've managed to dig, claiming as they do "well we did try to sort the post out". Post comm should be scrapped now and things should be sorted out by ourselves, the way it always has been. The current situation of constant cuts will only mean that we are unable to provide the service the customers want, and that will drive them away.

Could we find a buyer with the massive pension deficit???

And I think our prices are going up big time in the next couple of months. Doesn t this 18 month block on RM increasing prices end soon?

That's the point of the changes to the Pension Scheme: Remove the deficit entirely, by reducing the benefits. Once the Pension deficit is gone, we will be an ideal money maker for the City!

It would not surprise me in the least, if we were Privatised in the next 2 years. Possibly even as soon as next year!

Will the changes in the pension sort it out in 2 years????? Its 7 billion in deficit isn t it? That will take years and years to pay off.

Don't forget, that not only will you get less income from your Pension, but you will have to work for an extra 5 years, in order to get the full amount. That will decimate the deficit from the start. Then they will get an extra 5 years of interest, before they start paying out. More people will suffer health problems from working the extra 5 years, and therefore risk not living as long as a result.

Even if the deficit isn't gone when we are Privatised. A shrewed investor will realise that the Pensions deficit will go in the near future. Or am I being overly pessimistic?

[Night Tonic]

It won't be privatised but it WILL be broken up. Oh and paying off the deficit will take 17+ years even with the changes.

[axeman]

It didn't take 17 yrs to bail out northern rock .....and do you honestly think they will let royal fail go under after all who is the major shareholder yes us the electorate.
Again all media type hype that royal fail wants us to belive so we don't cause them dissruption during al & ads quest for bigger earnings (for themselves) before they get found out for the shysters that they are.

[andy2007]

It won't be privatised but it WILL be broken up. Oh and paying off the deficit will take 17+ years even with the changes.

Thank goodness for that. At least the 17+ years to get rid of the deficit will buy us some extra time before we get sold off! Although, the trouble is, that the figures still show that the deficit will go, with the changes.

I just hope that you are wrong about RM being broken up, as that will make our situation far worse than it already is!