The 7 day service thread plus Royal Mail survey

[postslippete]

3. Does this mean that letters are no longer important to Royal Mail?
We love letters and believe there is an important role for them as part of the UK’s social fabric. But have to acknowledge that letter volumes are down more than 60% since their peak in 2004/5. So, it’s time to start defining what a sustainable USO is for the future.

If letter volumes are down more than 60% since their peak in 2004, why are we not able to deliver it??

We know the answer to that one as there are fewer full time posties, bigger duties and daily lapsing compared to 2004/5. Royal Mail headed into the black with a £220 million annual profit in 2004. https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2 ... vice.money. This this year it was £395-400 million in 2021 https://www.sharecast.com/news/news-and ... 15143.html

So I suppose the answer to defining what a sustainable USO is depends on how profitable Royal Mail are. If the letters business is as unprofitable as they say it is then do they wish to axe the letters service completely and all the revenue that goes with it? Do they wish to abolish the 1st class service?

Or do the company simply want to have their cake and eat it by receiving all the revenue for the letters service but not employ the necessary manpower on a daily basis to deliver it thus saving on costs??


My guess is exactly this and considering the profits they are making - they really should be penalised big time

[SpacePhoenix]

If the letters business is as unprofitable as they say it is then do they wish to axe the letters service completely and all the revenue that goes with it? Do they wish to abolish the 1st class service?

I can't see RM ever being allowed to axe letters completely, not while there's no other company who could take up delivering letters

[norris9]

Man, can we, for the love of god.... have the opportunity to have more flexible working! I want to do a 3 or 4 day week. Walking 10+ miles a day 5 days a week is a killer. It's ridiculous.

[POSTMAN]

Deployment Manager

Since Christmas last year, we have been delivering Test Kits on a Sunday. This was expanded in March to include High Volume T24 parcels and this will be the first peak period were we will be delivering parcels 7-days a week.

In order to maintain flow through the network, all HV T24 collected on Saturday will be due delivery on Sunday. From 4th December RDCs will process all T24 collected on Saturday night and dispatch them to plants in Gold-Spotted yorks ready for Sunday delivery. From the 5th of December, this may mean you will see customers that you wouldn't normally see for processing in plants and for delivery on Sunday. All items in Gold-Spotted yorks should be processed and delivered.

While these items should be delivered, if you notice any customers that you don't normally see on a Sunday, please flag these on this group for consideration. Briefs will be out this week which focus on this.

[Kenfandango]

Having done my first Sunday, a few observations:

Not just me, but all of us brought back at least 25% of the work. One girl brought back 63/96 packets. All 739s.

People don't want parcels on a Sunday. They moan about you being there, or they weren't expecting it this early. A few had texts from Royal Mail telling them it would be delivered Monday.

More traffic, more footfall. Though it's just packets, it can and will take a lot longer than the RO+N thinks it will. Also the PDA will take you to the wrong place, or will have the right number but wrong street name (I was sent to 153 XxxxxxxX close. It only has 16 houses on it. I was meant to be on the street behind)

Nobody knows what they're doing. Especially managers. The instructions were "get as much out of the depot as possible"

[ArtG]

Having done my first Sunday, a few observations:

Not just me, but all of us brought back at least 25% of the work. One girl brought back 63/96 packets. All 739s.

People don't want parcels on a Sunday. They moan about you being there, or they weren't expecting it this early. A few had texts from Royal Mail telling them it would be delivered Monday.

More traffic, more footfall. Though it's just packets, it can and will take a lot longer than the RO+N thinks it will. Also the PDA will take you to the wrong place, or will have the right number but wrong street name (I was sent to 153 XxxxxxxX close. It only has 16 houses on it. I was meant to be on the street behind)

Nobody knows what they're doing. Especially managers. The instructions were "get as much out of the depot as possible"

I like doing Sundays, especially this time of year. Dropping off packets from a van (that you pick yourself) rather than trudging through the elements is a nice change of pace. Not had a customer complain about it yet, most are pleasantly surprised.

Bit surprised you 739 the fails. We’re told not to do this but instead leave a yellow “will attempt delivery next working day” and no endorsement of the package.

With RON sending you to the wrong place, was it a new build by any chance? RON goes by postcode if it doesn’t recognise the street name (it displays a ‘!’ next to CV the scanned address) and can take you to the wrong spot. In our office we sort new builds into a separate duty done by someone who has familiarised himself with the ground and doesn’t rely on RON, not even to construct a route. The other packets are roughly sorted into areas to avoid posties zig-zagging across town.

Maybe your final para explains the difference in our experience as in our office Sundays are staffed and organised by OPGs only, never a manager in sight.

[Norfolk 'N' Chance]

Bit surprised you 739 the fails. We’re told not to do this but instead leave a yellow “will attempt delivery next working day” and no endorsement of the package.

[/quote]

Complete opposite at my DO. Told specifically by DOM not to use the yellow cards but red 739 cards. Anyone out can come and collect it!

On a different note, I had expected parcel volume to be up this week with Black Friday etc, but its significantly down on last weeks volumes so far.... strange?

[POSTMAN]

Quick Reminder for Sunday Deliveries !!!

For Sunday Deliveries, if an item is unable to be delivered, a yellow P6737 (not a red P739) must be put through the addressee’s door informing them a re-delivery will be attempted.

Once the item has been returned to the parent office, re-delivery will automatically take place upon arrival.
In this instance, the regular P739 must not be used as they will give the customer the wrong information.

Both cards can be obtained through your usual channels.

gone out on a sunday.png

[NWpostie]

It will come because our competitors are already doing it, if we don't follow trends the company and our jobs will suffer.

It's illegal to make you work 7 days a week continuous anyway without a rest day, what's likely to happen as already done in other 7 day week companies is to have a specific rota covering weekends Sat-Sun or Friday-Monday part time/full time alternating Mon-fri/Friday-Monday rotation.

This may suit those with families doing school runs or those that prefer to have the week off and work just weekends, it suits different people, it's an opportunity not an adversity.

A job is better than no job.

[SpacePhoenix]

It will come because our competitors are already doing it, if we don't follow trends the company and our jobs will suffer.

It's illegal to make you work 7 days a week continuous anyway without a rest day, what's likely to happen as already done in other 7 day week companies is to have a specific rota covering weekends Sat-Sun or Friday-Monday part time/full time alternating Mon-fri/Friday-Monday rotation.

This may suit those with families doing school runs or those that prefer to have the week off and work just weekends, it suits different people, it's an opportunity not an adversity.

A job is better than no job.

My gut feeling is that everyone will do 4 day weeks with the overlapping day being whatever day is the busiest for an office