MRM.COM : Coronavirus : The impact on postal services : We need to look at costs now

[ted_e_bear]

Crazy. For years we've been told how we "lose money on every letter we deliver" and parcels are where the profit is.

Now they've completely changed that narrative and decided actually letters are these wonderful generators of profit whilst parcels are the devil's spawn.

Just what I was thinking, plus what happened to that guff about we're subsidising the loss we make on letters by delivering parcels at the same time, once up the garden path they called it if I remember rightly, the whole thing stinks of bs to me.

[GRS]

The appalling but expected news on the economy this morning is going to now be a major factor in RM being able to push through whatever they want. Everything will be done under the guise of a recession or depression and who’s going to argue. Employers will hold the upper hand for the next couple of years and employees will have to toe the line. If you lose your job or leave because you’ve had enough the chances of getting another will be extremely slim and it will be equally s**t.

[panzer4]

So right mate RM have everything they need to push through changes at an accelerated rate and because of the state of the economy,massive unemployment and cost cutting the union will be powerless to stop it ,forget the strike ballot its dead and buried

[postslippete]

Letters are down because....drum roll....many businesses are shut during this pandemic. We usually lapse in the summer to account for the traditionally lower mail volumes. This summer it just hasn't been possible because of the restrictions of doing deliveries without a van pairing.

Royal Mail are painting a very black picture. Look at it this way instead - Royal Mail had a massive cash surplus before this pandemic hit, they kept in business when many others have been forced to close, they have been delivering an excess amount of parcels, they managed to save staff costs for not delivering mail on Saturdays, they have been allowed to hold parcels in mail and delivery offices and not pay overtime and this bonus, which is better in our pockets than the executives, is really quite paltry when compared to bonuses offered by shops who worked during the period.

Reasons to be optimistic - shared van working will probably be back when airplanes are flying passengers. Mail volumes will increase when all businesses are back up and running. Businesses like Matalan,sports direct etc and don't forget that if and when people are allowed to go on holiday we may see a surge in travel/hotel related bumpf. I make these observations based on the rationale of the British public. Thousands of them going to the beach and mile long queues at DIY stores.

[wacko74]

Letters are down because....drum roll....many businesses are shut during this pandemic.

I wouldn't even say letters/flats are still down, probably more or less back up to 'normal' summer volumes, certainly far more than the initial 2-3 weeks of lockdown.

All the usual suspects... Cotton Traders, Easylife, Sky, Damart etc certainly seem to be back up to speed with their junk mail (sorry, 'marketing material')

[yubin282]

Letters are down because....drum roll....many businesses are shut during this pandemic.

I wouldn't even say letters/flats are still down, probably more or less back up to 'normal' summer volumes, certainly far more than the initial 2-3 weeks of lockdown.

All the usual suspects... Cotton Traders, Easylife, Sky, Damart etc certainly seem to be back up to speed with their junk mail (sorry, 'marketing material')

My office failed mail 3 out of 6 days this week and that's with somebody on every IPS frame

[SpacePhoenix]

Letters are down because....drum roll....many businesses are shut during this pandemic.

I wouldn't even say letters/flats are still down, probably more or less back up to 'normal' summer volumes, certainly far more than the initial 2-3 weeks of lockdown.

All the usual suspects... Cotton Traders, Easylife, Sky, Damart etc certainly seem to be back up to speed with their junk mail (sorry, 'marketing material')

Now that most business will be opening, I'm expecting flats, letters and D2D to increase beyond normal summer volumes

[postslippete]

Letters are down because....drum roll....many businesses are shut during this pandemic.

I wouldn't even say letters/flats are still down, probably more or less back up to 'normal' summer volumes, certainly far more than the initial 2-3 weeks of lockdown.

All the usual suspects... Cotton Traders, Easylife, Sky, Damart etc certainly seem to be back up to speed with their junk mail (sorry, 'marketing material')

Now that most business will be opening, I'm expecting flats, letters and D2D to increase beyond normal summer volumes

Yes, I think it will. Royal Mail traditionally get Autumn pressure and most businesses will need to hit the ground running once they are allowed to re-open. Royal Mail revealing their figures purely from April is as selective as these government's briefing slides on the coronavirus epidemic. Lies, damned lies and statistics indeed.

[SpacePhoenix]

Clothing retailers I reckon will do way more sales on-line than in their physical shops with fitting rooms closed and social distancing, what advantage is there for someone shopping for clothes in a physical store than on-line?

[centenaryman]

Back at the start of all of this they had a video done....manager was watching when we all got back 1 day.....

said they fully expected mail to stop for a while.....Yes it die off for a couple of weeks but lately it back big time.

they said they expected an increase in packets......LOL boy was that an understatement

100`s of parcels each,,,each day costing £3.70 to post...noooooo way are they not raking it in.
union rep told us hes seen the messages of the company in financial trouble...BUT said last xmas figures were mysteriously missing from any calculation.

in my humble opinion this makes 2 xmas`s for them in 6 months and we know they live of the xmas money each year.

in this pandemic theres been a few business`s that have profited 1 of them is gunna be royal mail
Yes we have large amount of sick leave but the walk stays in so no increase in wages...
even now if you have your day of...you come in the day after to 2 days mail

like the government each day at 5pm somebody upstairs is massaging figures to suit them

[cpsteve]

Its no wonder the profits are hit the amount of sickness is crazy, then the extra cost of ppe, letters have been down big time this Saturday it took me just over one hour extra to do the letters.

[centenaryman]

Its no wonder the profits are hit the amount of sickness is crazy, then the extra cost of ppe, letters have been down big time this Saturday it took me just over one hour extra to do the letters.

this has been said in our gaff.......ye they pay sick pay out,,,,,,but arnt covering the sick with spares...because there are none
so the walks stay in....soooo to me there isnt that much extra cost
overtime is only paid to the people who go over

[wacko74]

Back at the start of all of this they had a video done....manager was watching when we all got back 1 day.....

said they fully expected mail to stop for a while.....Yes it die off for a couple of weeks but lately it back big time.

they said they expected an increase in packets......LOL boy was that an understatement

100`s of parcels each,,,each day costing £3.70 to post...noooooo way are they not raking it in.
union rep told us hes seen the messages of the company in financial trouble...BUT said last xmas figures were mysteriously missing from any calculation.

in my humble opinion this makes 2 xmas`s for them in 6 months and we know they live of the xmas money each year.

in this pandemic theres been a few business`s that have profited 1 of them is gunna be royal mail
Yes we have large amount of sick leave but the walk stays in so no increase in wages...
even now if you have your day of...you come in the day after to 2 days mail

like the government each day at 5pm somebody upstairs is massaging figures to suit them

Agree with all of that.

RM has a long history of cooking the books as far as profits are concerned, but not in the usual sense... RM have always attempted to downplay the profits and put a negative spin on the future prospects of the business in order to use this as a stick to beat the workforce with.

[onejontwo]

How come that six months ago we were told that we were struggling because we didn't have a big enough share of the parcel market (where the profit is) and that there was no money in letters, whereas now we have a 50% share of the parcel market but we are struggling because the letters are down. Then how is it that parcel companies like Yodel, Hermes TNT etc are making and have been making plenty of profit WITHOUT delivering letters? It would seem that we are being fed lies just to keep us on our toes

[wallan]

You did not mention Parcel Force , are they not making plenty of Profit , Royal Mail will not be able to take on the companies you mentioned until they get the two new Distribution Hubs / LAT Delivery Offices up & running
If you want to see a Distribution Hub , have a look at the one DPD have opened in Hinckley in the last couple of years