RMCtv : Roll out of dedicated parcel routes

[POSTMAN]

Grant Says

Roll out of dedicated parcel routes

In 2019 we announced plans for our new ‘Super Hubs’, and the dedicated parcel routes that will support them. These state-of-the-art Super Hubs are a major part of our transformation so that we can deliver more larger (format 3 and 4, shoe box size and above) and next day parcels.

This will help us better meet customer demands and grow our parcels business, which will protect jobs for the future.

I was delighted to be at the official launch of the North West Super Hub earlier this month, and yesterday visited the Midlands Super Hub again - which is due to open in 2023 – to see the progress being made there. They are a major investment in our future.

The principal reason for investing in these hubs is so we can compete more effectively with the other major players to deliver more larger and next day parcels efficiently, and at a lower cost than today.

To ensure we get the most out of this investment, our plan has always been that we would deliver more larger format 3 and 4 parcels via dedicated parcel routes from around 350 delivery offices – which will become parcel delivery depots - around the country.

Now that our Super Hubs are going live, we need to deploy the dedicated parcel routes in around 350 delivery offices later this year. The preparatory work on this needs to start happening now, so over the coming weeks, Customer Operations Managers (COMs) will receive information to share with their teams about whether their delivery office has been designated as one of the c.350 parcel delivery depots.

Please look out for more details about what this means for delivery offices in the coming weeks.

To read more about this, click here

[POSTMAN]

From the pdf...

Our discussions with CWU

We have been discussing the roll out of dedicated parcel routes with CWU for more than three
years.

However, the key point that we have not reached agreement on is moving the anticipated 15% of
larger format parcels from surrounding offices to the parcel depots. CWU reconfirmed in the talks
last week that they would not support dedicated parcel routes out of c.350 delivery offices.

Our dispute resolution procedure has now concluded without agreeing a mutual way forward.

We are disappointed that the CWU is not supportive, especially as the plans will help us grow as a
business. They will also alleviate the space constraints we have in many offices, make postmen and
women’s jobs safer and more manageable, and will not result in job losses.

We have invested significant time and money in building state-of-the-art facilities that can help our
business compete and make delivery easier for our people. We cannot delay this any further. As
such, we have informed CWU of our plans to continue with the implementation of dedicated parcel
routes with the depot structure.

What happens next?

In the coming weeks we will be informing all delivery units about their specific plans. We will also be
sending out more information on the revisions required for deployment in the c.350 units.
Nothing will happen immediately other than more detailed planning and preparation. We would
welcome CWU’s involvement as we move forward with the next stage in our reinvention.

[2yearpostie]

So my office is loosing the oversized then (bearing in mind the current LAT office sends all the LAT parcelsback to us everyday as they are unable to cope with them). Guess all the walks in the offices that arent delivering oversized will have to have (another ) revision to account for the lost workload.

[number one]

“Reinvention” how can you invent something that’s already invented?

Sounds like more executive action.

[antthepost]

So does that mean they are re-inventing a second Parcelforce.

[clashcityrocker]

I think the word migration would be better than reinvention.

We are migrating towards being a parcel company that delivers letters.
We are like a herd of stampeding wildebeest. There will be a lot of deaths en route.
Many of us won't see those fresh green pastures.

[General Mannerheim]

We already have dedicated parcel routes in our shithole and they don't work, we can't get staff to do them or stay on them, as like anything else `planned` the routes are too long and has resulted in parcels being brought back. The screws then try and jump on our members by trying to use the `wilful delay` bullshit and have managed to sack a couple of people. We also do Sundays already based on volunteers and agency staff, the agency staff go out with next to nothing and the volunteers have been inside doing such great work as putting the door to dustbins out for delivery and having a wank.
The managers are always trying to get rid of them and moan like f**k about them in our weekly rescource meetings.
But no please roll it out to the rest of the country.

[Ozzvaldo]

We're an LAT unit that will cover the 3 extremely rural (and thus consuming a very large geographical area) adjacent offices. We have up to double figure whole or part delivery failures every day. Where is the manpower to cover these dedicated parcel routes coming from, because constant delivery failures over the last couple of years certainly hasn't prompted any kind of sustained recruitment drive to create a solution.

[Zicomurphy]

Hot on the heels of the imposed pay increase this seems very much like them taking executive action to bring in the first of the changes they want. Their whole attitude at the moment seems to be that they are prepared to talk with the union but if the union don’t agree with what they want they are just going to do it anyway.

[citypostie]

So if they are going to separate the big parcels and send them to dedicated lat/parcel hubs straight from the super hubs later in the day with dedicated parcel deliveries starting later why change the arrival times for letters etc and make the "letters" side of the business work later?
You get the feeling alot of whats been said by royal mail has been leading up to this announcement, royal mail really want to do this and if they give the cwu a choice of going along with it and shaping how it works or the alternative is everyone has to start later etc. What do the cwu do? If they fight this proposal royal mail will say the cwu are forcing the laters starts on deliveries

[TopperGas]

So if they are going to separate the big parcels and send them to dedicated lat/parcel hubs straight from the super hubs later in the day with dedicated parcel deliveries starting later why change the arrival times for letters etc and make the "letters" side of the business work later?
You get the feeling alot of whats been said by royal mail has been leading up to this announcement, royal mail really want to do this and if they give the cwu a choice of going along with it and shaping how it works or the alternative is everyone has to start later etc. What do the cwu do? If they fight this proposal royal mail will say the cwu are forcing the laters starts on deliveries

It seems that the CWU have already decided to fight the proposals, hence why RM are now going down the EA route?

[clashcityrocker]

It seems that the CWU have already decided to fight the proposals, hence why RM are now going down the EA route?

I am not saying I agree with the proposals but after 3 years of discussions I don't blame them for ploughing on with more detailed planning.

[nickinoneck]

So, our local hub for oversized parcels, 10 miles away, will be covering the same ground as us with the parcels we should be delivering. The LAT products they get for our area at present, approx 10 a day, which they can’t deliver because of no manpower, they send over to us for a postie to deliver on O/T. They will say you have lost the oversized parcels, therefore saving time on scanning them in prepping etc so you have hours in your office to save! On the back of this we rejig things blah blah blah. Meanwhile our dedicated hub hasnt the manpower to do the dedicated parcel route in our area so throws all the packets back to us! This is going to be a major s**t show.

[SpacePhoenix]

So, our local hub for oversized parcels, 10 miles away, will be covering the same ground as us with the parcels we should be delivering. The LAT products they get for our area at present, approx 10 a day, which they can’t deliver because of no manpower, they send over to us for a postie to deliver on O/T. They will say you have lost the oversized parcels, therefore saving time on scanning them in prepping etc so you have hours in your office to save! On the back of this we rejig things blah blah blah. Meanwhile our dedicated hub hasnt the manpower to do the dedicated parcel route in our area so throws all the packets back to us! This is going to be a major s**t show.

I'm guessing that it'll be 1.5-2k of oversize per hub per day, maybe more if the local MC is one of the larger ones

[citypostie]

So if they are going to separate the big parcels and send them to dedicated lat/parcel hubs straight from the super hubs later in the day with dedicated parcel deliveries starting later why change the arrival times for letters etc and make the "letters" side of the business work later?
You get the feeling alot of whats been said by royal mail has been leading up to this announcement, royal mail really want to do this and if they give the cwu a choice of going along with it and shaping how it works or the alternative is everyone has to start later etc. What do the cwu do? If they fight this proposal royal mail will say the cwu are forcing the laters starts on deliveries

It seems that the CWU have already decided to fight the proposals, hence why RM are now going down the EA route?

But if you read the propaganda royal mail have released about the changes they need three was no mention of this , makes you wonder if alot of what was released last week was building upto them saying this and last week's wish list of changes was stuff they be happy to negotiate on/away in order to get this in smoothly? I'm a bit cynical when I think about royal mail