Royal Mail delivers a Royal mess

[Jefferson Starfish]

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2 ... royal-mess" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The opening sentence of Royal Mail Plc's first-quarter financial report earlier today made me wince:

In the first three months of our financial year we have delivered low single-digit revenue growth in line with our strategy.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'd quite like my pension contributions to be invested in companies that have a strategy to deliver high triple-digit revenue growth. Royal Mail's ambitions, though, are much more modest and, as Winston Churchill allegedly said of Clement Attlee, it has much to be modest about.

The company's red delivery vans that speed around London are sun-bleached and tatty, suggesting the fleet has been starved of capital expenditure in recent years; its shops and collection offices are plastered with those "abuse of our staff will not be tolerated" posters that tell you the customer-service experience is likely to raise your blood pressure a notch or three. Revenue grew by just 2 percent.

Royal Mail says its parcel-delivery business is suffering, in part because "changes to Amazon's minimum order level for free delivery and expansion of its own delivery network have reduced addressable market volumes." The combination of Amazon Locker collection centers and Amazon's delivery-by-drone ambitions, not to mention competition from other delivery services, may prove deadly to Royal Mail's package revenue. Keeping Royal Mail's sorting offices open on Sundays and introducing Sunday deliveries is an expensive response, especially when the company's work force is unionized and not exactly reticent about striking over pay and conditions.

In early trading today, the shares dipped to their lowest since the day after government sold the company's shares to the public in October.
Analysts are divided on the company's prospects, with six rating the shares a sell, six calling them a hold, and six more advising investors to buy. In the past three months, though, two analysts have drifted out of the buy camp. It's getting harder to shake the impression that Royal Mail is among the buggy-whip makers of these Internet times.

[Surreypostie]

In my view one of the biggest commercial cock ups has been to move us all over to van based delivery, the costs of running the fleet must be enormous compared to using cycles. I say this as someone who prefers the van and trolley to a cycle. There is a reason why TNT are putting their people out on bikes. It is cheaper. We do not need to be in vans just so we can take larger parcels, parcels which are apparently declining. We waited to get the letter sorting machines until letters were in decline. We needed them years ago. We were told when we get those machines we would do hardly any IPS, We are on it longer than ever. Royal Mail worked perfectly well for 100's of years. When something is as good as that you don't bin the whole system and bring in a new one you just tweak what you have to make efficiencies and savings.

[Jamesethefirst]

In my view one of the biggest commercial cock ups has been to move us all over to van based delivery, the costs of running the fleet must be enormous compared to using cycles. I say this as someone who prefers the van and trolley to a cycle. There is a reason why TNT are putting their people out on bikes. It is cheaper. We do not need to be in vans just so we can take larger parcels, parcels which are apparently declining. We waited to get the letter sorting machines until letters were in decline. We needed them years ago. We were told when we get those machines we would do hardly any IPS, We are on it longer than ever. Royal Mail worked perfectly well for 100's of years. When something is as good as that you don't bin the whole system and bring in a new one you just tweak what you have to make efficiencies and savings.

Sounds about right for this organisation, we truly are lions, led by donkeys. What a shambles. No wonder we are in so much of a mess, as the author states.

[Brain Fury]

In my view one of the biggest commercial cock ups has been to move us all over to van based delivery, the costs of running the fleet must be enormous compared to using cycles. I say this as someone who prefers the van and trolley to a cycle. There is a reason why TNT are putting their people out on bikes. It is cheaper. We do not need to be in vans just so we can take larger parcels, parcels which are apparently declining. We waited to get the letter sorting machines until letters were in decline. We needed them years ago. We were told when we get those machines we would do hardly any IPS, We are on it longer than ever. Royal Mail worked perfectly well for 100's of years. When something is as good as that you don't bin the whole system and bring in a new one you just tweak what you have to make efficiencies and savings.

Except that the Delivery Methods Project has achieved cost reductions. The reason TNT can use bikes is that they don't deliver parcels and they don't have as many letters as we do. Unless you tell me that you can take an entire delivery (parcels and letters) out on a bike then vehicles are going to be involved somewhere in the delivery process.

[DB1100]

In my view one of the biggest commercial cock ups has been to move us all over to van based delivery, the costs of running the fleet must be enormous compared to using cycles. I say this as someone who prefers the van and trolley to a cycle. There is a reason why TNT are putting their people out on bikes. It is cheaper. We do not need to be in vans just so we can take larger parcels, parcels which are apparently declining. We waited to get the letter sorting machines until letters were in decline. We needed them years ago. We were told when we get those machines we would do hardly any IPS, We are on it longer than ever. Royal Mail worked perfectly well for 100's of years. When something is as good as that you don't bin the whole system and bring in a new one you just tweak what you have to make efficiencies and savings.

Except that the Delivery Methods Project has achieved cost reductions. The reason TNT can use bikes is that they don't deliver parcels and they don't have as many letters as we do. Unless you tell me that you can take an entire delivery (parcels and letters) out on a bike then vehicles are going to be involved somewhere in the delivery process.

Park and loop should have proved by now that you cannot deliver parcels and letters together,the whole system of delivering parcels needs to be looked at before we lose even more,it's a complete shambles at the minute.

[Lincox]

Three Wheeler cycle with a small electric motor to aid pedalling, towing a lockable trailer would have done the job at a fraction of the price and a fraction of the ongoing costs. It would have been safer for the cyclist as a three wheeler has far more stability. It would have taken weight off the shoulders and stress off of your legs and back.

[raikky]

I think the most important thing is price. it comes before anything else. that's how amazon and most ppl see it. yet royal mail just keeps upping the price.

[Brain Fury]

Three Wheeler cycle with a small electric motor to aid pedalling, towing a lockable trailer would have done the job at a fraction of the price and a fraction of the ongoing costs. It would have been safer for the cyclist as a three wheeler has far more stability. It would have taken weight off the shoulders and stress off of your legs and back.

Electric bikes, trikes etc were looked at and trialled and were rejected for various reasons

[Lincox]

And the various reasons? And where were they trialled?

[Brain Fury]

And the various reasons? And where were they trialled?

Can't remember where they were trialled - it was about 6 or 7 years ago but a number of offices across the country. The reasons included legal (e.g were the vehicles liable to road tax?), reliability, robustness (e.g would they stand up to the battering that equipment gets in RM), was the capacity big enough.

[Lincox]

And the various reasons? And where were they trialled?

Can't remember where they were trialled - it was about 6 or 7 years ago but a number of offices across the country. The reasons included legal (e.g were the vehicles liable to road tax?), reliability, robustness (e.g would they stand up to the battering that equipment gets in RM), was the capacity big enough.

Legal/ Road Tax Liability. I doubt it, there are many electrically powered cycles on the road that are not liable, whereas all Royal Mail Vans are.
Reliability, robustness. How long will LWT last with the abuse they get loading and unloading. The Prams have already had huge problems with reliability.
Capacity.The small Fiats struggle for capacity now. What is it going to be like heading towards Christmas. It will be several trips back to the DO to keep reloading.

Cost which you have not mentioned. Do I need to say anymore.

[Brain Fury]

And the various reasons? And where were they trialled?

Can't remember where they were trialled - it was about 6 or 7 years ago but a number of offices across the country. The reasons included legal (e.g were the vehicles liable to road tax?), reliability, robustness (e.g would they stand up to the battering that equipment gets in RM), was the capacity big enough.

Legal/ Road Tax Liability. I doubt it, there are many electrically powered cycles on the road that are not liable, whereas all Royal Mail Vans are.
Reliability, robustness. How long will LWT last with the abuse they get loading and unloading. The Prams have already had huge problems with reliability.
Capacity.The small Fiats struggle for capacity now. What is it going to be like heading towards Christmas. It will be several trips back to the DO to keep reloading.

Cost which you have not mentioned. Do I need to say anymore.

Nobody knows (or at least knew) whether an electric trike would attract road tax as there had been no test case in law. LWTs cost less and and as you say suffer abuse like everything else a postman uses. The HCTs had a design flaw which has been corrected. If the Fiats are struggling then a bike and trailer etc would be useless.

And yes cost - why not?

[Cut Off King]

Park & Loops vans WON'T disapear quickly......not unless RM upper management admit that they got it wrong ! ( and they ain't gonna do that, are they? )

No, they will continue to blame D.O.'s managers & OPG's for not working hard enough.

[Lincox]

And the various reasons? And where were they trialled?

Can't remember where they were trialled - it was about 6 or 7 years ago but a number of offices across the country. The reasons included legal (e.g were the vehicles liable to road tax?), reliability, robustness (e.g would they stand up to the battering that equipment gets in RM), was the capacity big enough.

Legal/ Road Tax Liability. I doubt it, there are many electrically powered cycles on the road that are not liable, whereas all Royal Mail Vans are.
Reliability, robustness. How long will LWT last with the abuse they get loading and unloading. The Prams have already had huge problems with reliability.
Capacity.The small Fiats struggle for capacity now. What is it going to be like heading towards Christmas. It will be several trips back to the DO to keep reloading.

Cost which you have not mentioned. Do I need to say anymore.

Nobody knows (or at least knew) whether an electric trike would attract road tax as there had been no test case in law. LWTs cost less and and as you say suffer abuse like everything else a postman uses. The HCTs had a design flaw which has been corrected. If the Fiats are struggling then a bike and trailer etc would be useless.

And yes cost - why not?

A bike and trailer can be replenished on route as previous, at a fraction of the cost of running multi vehicles.

[Brain Fury]

And the various reasons? And where were they trialled?

Can't remember where they were trialled - it was about 6 or 7 years ago but a number of offices across the country. The reasons included legal (e.g were the vehicles liable to road tax?), reliability, robustness (e.g would they stand up to the battering that equipment gets in RM), was the capacity big enough.

Legal/ Road Tax Liability. I doubt it, there are many electrically powered cycles on the road that are not liable, whereas all Royal Mail Vans are.
Reliability, robustness. How long will LWT last with the abuse they get loading and unloading. The Prams have already had huge problems with reliability.
Capacity.The small Fiats struggle for capacity now. What is it going to be like heading towards Christmas. It will be several trips back to the DO to keep reloading.

Cost which you have not mentioned. Do I need to say anymore.

Nobody knows (or at least knew) whether an electric trike would attract road tax as there had been no test case in law. LWTs cost less and and as you say suffer abuse like everything else a postman uses. The HCTs had a design flaw which has been corrected. If the Fiats are struggling then a bike and trailer etc would be useless.

And yes cost - why not?

A bike and trailer can be replenished on route as previous, at a fraction of the cost of running multi vehicles.

Pointless arguing about a decision that was made 6 years ago. Whether you agree or not electric bikes, trikes and trailers etc were tried, didn't work and an alternative solution was chosen