Who believes mail volumes are falling?

[JEDI STARFIGHTER]

we have been told today that our office mail volumes are up 7% we have been telling them for the the last 12 months but they still want more hours out of the office

[BELIAL]

So if you can cut walks when traffic is "falling" ,how many duties are being added to your DO now that its up 7%?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Was having a chat with my rep about this and he has 20 years experience. Apparetly the gap between perceived and recorded volumes can be artibuted to one thing.

Apparently DOs used to log and count all their mail and occasionally there would be a dispute with the MC. To resolve the dispute the DOs figures were always taken. Now DOs are no longer required to count the mail and therefore there are no longer any discrepancies.

My Rep also represents MC members and he says, and I believe him, that the only mail that is counted accurately is that which goes through the machines (called meched) which is approximately 60-70% at my DO at the moment. What is not counted accurately is the manual mail. He said that was only weighed and a guess at how much mail was contained in the Yorky was recorded, this means that if you have a thin bulk mailing the count will be grossly under and if you have a thick one it will be grossly over. This is where the count is wrong and this is what RM are using to say that volumes are failing.

Oh he told me as well that packets have been rising an average of 15% year on year. Not sure where he gets his figures from but it sounds more accurate to me than RMs figures.

[Tman]

My Rep also represents MC members and he says, and I believe him, that the only mail that is counted accurately is that which goes through the machines (called meched) which is approximately 60-70% at my DO at the moment.
Hallelujah.....now we're actually getting somewhere (although you sure your rep hasn't got a "hidden agenda for F***ks sake"?)
Think you'll find every DO has a higher mech percentage that 60-70% too. There isn't much mail that isn't machine-processed at some point in it's journey.



What is not counted accurately is the manual mail. He said that was only weighed and a guess at how much mail was contained in the Yorky was recorded, this means that if you have a thin bulk mailing the count will be grossly under and if you have a thick one it will be grossly over. This is where the count is wrong and this is what RM are using to say that volumes are failing.
That's an incorrect assumption; AI is used to gauge and assess and measure national mail volumes NOT Yorks full of mail sent out to the boondocks.
Also, bulk postings are usually "thick mail" so that would indicate RMs figures (IF they were to be based on this) would still be grossly over, therefore the actual mail volume would be even lower!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Bulk mailing are usually thick -

not here just last week had a littlewoods and a bingo bulk mailing to majority of addresses and both were just an A5 size card - so weight was down but call rate (and that's the thing that should count on deliveries) was in the high 90s percentile. The boss still said volume was down that day.

National volumes, boon docks

- what about local bulk postings such as we have in my area that come from and are delivered within the area. But my post was to highlight that the DO has to rely on figures coming from the MC and as he represents a DO and an MC and has to talk to management on a weekly basis about manpower levels, and volume of traffic he certainly has more input and knowledge than me as a Postman.

Also as he represent a DO and an MC he would need the figures for both to be as accurate as possible, as when he is drawing up agreements there is no point on basing it on incorrect or inaccurate information.

[Tman]

Also as he represent a DO and an MC he would need the figures for both to be as accurate as possible, as when he is drawing up agreements there is no point on basing it on incorrect or inaccurate information

You'd hope so, but his figures seem out from the start.
Equally, he may be as ignorant of the system as our MC posties rep. It's no wonder RM manage to pull the wool over some of these rep's eyes.....

[Tman]

Ahh, so that's behind the constant denial of falling traffic?
It's all part of a Big Conspiracy Theory.
I understand now.