Mail Volumes and Start Times

Chewster · Post by **Chewster** » 12 May 2018, 02:08

We keep being told that "the mail is dropping". I've been a postie 3 years and in that relatively short time I have definitely seen it increase. More advertisements, more leaflets, more catalogues etc etc, but yet they just keep telling you that there's less mail whenever you bring it up, or "it's just a freak day." Seeing an awful lot of so called "freak" days, seems to be at least 5 a week!

In addition to that, I've seen our start times pushed ever so slightly later and indoor work increasing. When I started we were getting out around 8/8.30, now we're lucky if we're out before 9.30, yet still expected to finish at the same time and get to special deliveries (which are also increasing) on time?

Managers also don't seem to understand that a day with less mail doesn't necessarily mean it'll be quicker - if I'm going to a house with 1 letter as opposed to 5 letters, I'm still going to that house

It's all very well for our union to be buttering us up with pay deals and what have you but how about actually trying to make the job a bit more balanced and fair??

Robertdeniro · Post by **Robertdeniro** » 12 May 2018, 05:01

When they quote figures, the royal mail say 'letter volumes are down' ie envelopes conveniently forgetting leaflets flyers magazines etc..

danterossetti · Post by **danterossetti** » 12 May 2018, 07:59

What matters is your workload mix not just the letters. You're expected to fulfil your contract. Cut the rest off.

yubin282 · Post by **yubin282** » 12 May 2018, 13:58

there so little indoor work at my office that we have 5 guys everyday coming at 4AM to cover the IPS on overtime

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 12 May 2018, 14:16

As somebody doing collections I've noticed a drop in the mail that we collect to be honest, boxes when I started that you needed a sack to collect 'coz there was that much in there now have a handful of letters. Some I collect haven't got letters in at all. They're not making this stuff up; letters are declining. There's people of this forum who run the sorting machines will testify to that.

From my point of view, it's the parcels that have increased. Oversized particularly. It's not just volumes either; virtually everything now needs scanning. There's loads more tracked, virtually everything has a 2d barcode.

Mail might be declining, but packet volumes are increasing and they take so much more time than post

number one · Post by **number one** » 12 May 2018, 14:16

The union haven’t “buttered” you up. I guess you’ll be handing you back pay and pay rise back then?

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 12 May 2018, 14:28

number one wrote:The union haven’t “buttered” you up. I guess you’ll be handing you back pay and pay rise back then?

So you want to get rid of collective agreements then.

number one · Post by **number one** » 12 May 2018, 16:25

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:
number one wrote:The union haven’t “buttered” you up. I guess you’ll be handing you back pay and pay rise back then?
So you want to get rid of collective agreements then.

If people aren’t happy with something and keep going on about it then they should make a stand and not accept it.

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 12 May 2018, 16:47

postietom wrote:As somebody doing collections I've noticed a drop in the mail that we collect to be honest, boxes when I started that you needed a sack to collect 'coz there was that much in there now have a handful of letters. Some I collect haven't got letters in at all. They're not making this stuff up; letters are declining. There's people of this forum who run the sorting machines will testify to that.

DSA

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 13 May 2018, 02:12

Postie45 wrote:
postietom wrote:As somebody doing collections I've noticed a drop in the mail that we collect to be honest, boxes when I started that you needed a sack to collect 'coz there was that much in there now have a handful of letters. Some I collect haven't got letters in at all. They're not making this stuff up; letters are declining. There's people of this forum who run the sorting machines will testify to that.
DSA

Dsa?

crimson king · Post by **crimson king** » 13 May 2018, 07:29

postietom wrote:
Postie45 wrote:
postietom wrote:As somebody doing collections I've noticed a drop in the mail that we collect to be honest, boxes when I started that you needed a sack to collect 'coz there was that much in there now have a handful of letters. Some I collect haven't got letters in at all. They're not making this stuff up; letters are declining. There's people of this forum who run the sorting machines will testify to that.
DSA
Dsa?

DOM's Secret Abnormality?

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 13 May 2018, 09:33

number one wrote:
TrueBlueTerrier wrote:
number one wrote:The union haven’t “buttered” you up. I guess you’ll be handing you back pay and pay rise back then?
So you want to get rid of collective agreements then.

If people aren’t happy with something and keep going on about it then they should make a stand and not accept it.

So the answer is - Yes.

However what mechanism would allow people to do as you suggest.

cpsteve · Post by **cpsteve** » 13 May 2018, 12:33

Business mail has dropped a massive amount stamped letters have also gone down but our walks have got bigger and packets have gone through the roof so we are working harder. The reduction to a 38 hour week was a great deal if we all start on time and take our PAID breaks our walks should be at or very close to their max now.

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 13 May 2018, 21:07

postietom wrote:
Postie45 wrote:
postietom wrote:As somebody doing collections I've noticed a drop in the mail that we collect to be honest, boxes when I started that you needed a sack to collect 'coz there was that much in there now have a handful of letters. Some I collect haven't got letters in at all. They're not making this stuff up; letters are declining. There's people of this forum who run the sorting machines will testify to that.
DSA
Dsa? :hmmmm

i mean downstream access, the mail that other companies like TNT, UKMail etc collect from businesses then dump at our doorstep and we have to deliver it (the most unprofitable part of the job). Seems like half our mail is this nowadays, and its mail that wouldnt be seen on collections.

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 13 May 2018, 22:53

cpsteve wrote:Business mail has dropped a massive amount stamped letters have also gone down but our walks have got bigger and packets have gone through the roof so we are working harder. The reduction to a 38 hour week was a great deal if we all start on time and take our PAID breaks our walks should be at or very close to their max now.

eBilling and electronic invoicing will have made a big dent in what we process. Just think a few years ago how your utility bills, statements, etc would have been sent to you in the post. That's traffic that will very likely never come back. We (MCs) can tell that walks are getting bigger over time when sequencing batches have to be split when they hit the maximum number of delivery points per batch.