A Royal Mail postal worker once gave a behind-the-scenes look at life in the postal service as they lifted the lid on the simple reason letters are sometimes folded before they're put in letterboxes
The Royal Mail is one of the biggest brands in the UK. The organisation delivers a staggering 6.5 to 6.6 billion letters a year, which is still way down on 20 billion that were sent annually two decades ago.
However, it is rare that the British public are given a peek behinds the scenes of the huge institution to find out why Royal Mail postmen and postwomen carry out their tasks in the manner which they do.
For example, some employees choose to fold the letters before they post them through your letterbox. According to one worker, who wished to remain anonymous, there is a very simple reason for this - your letterbox.
The anonymous postie, who appeared on Joe Marler's Things People Do podcast, said that it was simply because it was easier for some letterboxes, reports the Mirror.
However, they explaiend they only did it for some letters, but not others, if it was, say, a birthday card. They told the former rugby player: "I favour the old fold before I post because I find it easier to get through a letterbox.
"So, when you're doing that you can normally feel what's in there...I try to get that all in one go. It's easier to get through the letterbox....I don't fold people's cards, birthday cards I don't do that."
Their comments about the Royal Mail, made in 2023, were made years before the service reached a major milestone when it came to improving it's green credentials as the service as it had announced it was introducing it's 9,000th electric vehicle onto its fleet.
Like other services, the Royal Mail is trying to help make the UK greener and reduce it's emissions. Announcing the move, the Royal Mail's head of fleet transformation Stuart Murphy, said: “Reaching 9,000 electric vehicles is a major milestone as we work to transform our fleet.
“This shift is helping us cut emissions while delivering a better service for our customers, with quieter, cleaner deliveries in communities across the UK.”
This means they'll be able to drive around areas such as Glasgow's own Low Emission Zone (LEZ) without putting any extra greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Glasgow's LEZ was introduced in 2018 before being expanded a few years later with the goal of reducing pollutants in the atmosphere in the area. However, the scheme recently attracted criticism when it was reported that, despite £500,000 being paid in fines, that the scheme's operating costs were still higher.
A recent council report on the matter stated: "Revenue has fallen in line with the reduction in PCNs [fines] issued as the scheme has matured.
"This reduction was expected and can be attributed to higher levels of compliance with the emission standards in the general fleet and higher levels of awareness of the LEZ among drivers of non-compliant vehicles.”