I think SpacePhonix has got this right. I was thinking the same.SpacePhoenix wrote: ↑09 Jan 2022, 12:33It's down to the way the Bank Holidays fell combined with the weekends.
Week Beginning 20th Dec you had 4 days with people sending mail and mail being delivered with nothing being sent or delivered on the Saturday.
Week Beginning 27th Dec you had 3 days with people sending mail and mail being delivered with nothing being delivered on the Saturday
Week Beginning 3rd Jan you had 4 days with people sending mail and mail being delivered.
Over a total of what would normally be 18 days when people send mail and mail gets delivered you lost 5 days.
After Xmas eve for companies that send out lots of stuff and up to and including the 29th Dec, depending on if they worked Xmas day and Boxing day you had between 3 and 5 days during which they were processing orders. All that mail will have entered RM's system on the 29th.
After New Years eve up to and including the 4th of Jan you had 3 days during which they were processing orders. All that mail will have entered RM's system on the 4th.
That's a lot of mail compacted into a short amount of time. The amount of foreign mail has shot up over the last week, presumably as customs clear whatever backlog they had. You've also got New Years sales mixed in which also cause a surge in mail. I can't see it calming down until late January/early February
A few years ago Christmas pressure only really lasted 3 or 4 weeks. The time after once you cleared any held up mailsort was much easier. This year it seems like the pressure has been going on for 8-9 weeks and its not showing any sign of stopping. We are rolling more work than is going out the door.
