Couple of questions for posties...

[MGB]

This one's been bugging me for years... What does the DIB from DIB 05/07/12 AB mean, where 05/07/12 is the date of a failed packet delivery and AB are the posties initials?
Also, a letter (stamped ) for me was posted in the wrong house (they wrote a note on the back) and they put it back it a post box, but I was surcharged, and the guy in the callers said it should have been 'authorised'. What does that mean?

[not me]

This one's been bugging me for years... What does the DIB from DIB 05/07/12 AB mean, where 05/07/12 is the date of a failed packet delivery and AB are the posties initials?
Also, a letter (stamped ) for me was posted in the wrong house (they wrote a note on the back) and they put it back it a post box, but I was surcharged, and the guy in the callers said it should have been 'authorised'. What does that mean?

DIB? never heard of it
usually SNL for us(Shut notice left)
The surcharge doesnt make sense. sounds like it was confused for a business redirection. was it a bank letter or the like?

[MGB]

This one's been bugging me for years... What does the DIB from DIB 05/07/12 AB mean, where 05/07/12 is the date of a failed packet delivery and AB are the posties initials?
Also, a letter (stamped ) for me was posted in the wrong house (they wrote a note on the back) and they put it back it a post box, but I was surcharged, and the guy in the callers said it should have been 'authorised'. What does that mean?

DIB? never heard of it
usually SNL for us(Shut notice left)
The surcharge doesnt make sense. sounds like it was confused for a business redirection. was it a bank letter or the like?

No, just a bog standard 2nd class letter in a DL envelope, addressed by hand.

[Izzy]

Had the envelope been opened and sealed? By either the sender (maybe realising after sealing the envelope that they'd forgotten to include everything) or by the person to whom it was mistakenly delivered?

Resealed envelopes with scrawls on the front are hard to distinguish from reused envelopes without new postage. I always surcharge the latter.

[PhilthyPhil]

This one's been bugging me for years... What does the DIB from DIB 05/07/12 AB mean, where 05/07/12 is the date of a failed packet delivery and AB are the posties initials?
Also, a letter (stamped ) for me was posted in the wrong house (they wrote a note on the back) and they put it back it a post box, but I was surcharged, and the guy in the callers said it should have been 'authorised'. What does that mean?

DIB=docket in box i think, a docket being the P739 "something for you" card. In my office we use D/L=docket left, some offices use N/L=notice left, some write P739 left and some even do it properly and use the stickers.

Maybe he means authorised by a manager to cancel the surcharge if it shouldn't have been surcharged?

[MGB]

Thanks for those answers, now another question - I'm not really sure why I'm bothered, but this kind of thing just bugs me, I came on here to ask a question about sending stuff, and now I'm reading all the discussions in 'post speak'.

As I understand it:
DO - Delivery Office, can serve some SPDOs, and is served by a MC. Does deliveries for it's postcode area. Does it also do collections, or is that MC drivers? Do they do any sorting in here or does it all go to the MC?
MC - Mail Centre, does all the sorting of post collected from the area it serves, and sends on to either the appropriate. DO or MC for delivery. Does the MC run any vehicles? Vans, 7.5 ton trucks, artics? Do they do collections/deliveries for their area, ie if you are across the road from one, does the MC or a DO do your delivery?
RDC - No idea, what is one?
Lorries - are the 7.5 ton ones and the artics used for different purposes?

That's it for now, but I'll probably come back and ask some more daft questions.

[adb2aber]

This should be reasonably accurate:

As I understand it:
DO - Delivery Office, can serve some SPDOs, and is served by a MC. Does deliveries for it's postcode area. Does it also do collections, or is that MC drivers?

That depends on a number of factors - DOs do collections but so do MCs. DOs collect form post boxes, post offices and most customer collections in their area unless it is deemed viable for someone else to handle particular work. MCs try to collect from the bulk posters and drive it directly back to the MC to get it in system and processed faster. MCs also often do collections to the immediate area round them, particularly those MCs wih a DO in-house. Just to make it more confusing, there is such a thing as a collection hub - a group of DOs send all their collections to one DO who then dispatch it to the MC in bulk.

Do they do any sorting in here or does it all go to the MC?

Stream splitting is done at a DO - ensuring that packets don't go in with flats and that Meters, PPI and Collections mails are kept separate within each stream. Normally no outward (nationwide postal) sorting is done at a DO although come Christmas some DOs do inward (i.e. the local postcode - SN for us) sorting to help out the MC.

MC - Mail Centre, does all the sorting of post collected from the area it serves, and sends on to either the appropriate. DO or MC for delivery. Does the MC run any vehicles? Vans, 7.5 ton trucks, artics?

MCs generally run vehicles - next time you see a RM Artic on the roads take a look at the small yellow writing on the cab, this generally identifies which location the vehicle runs from, i.e. HWDC35 runs from HWDC. Artics are used for runs to/from the distribution hubs (PRDC/SWDC/NDC/ELDC/HWDC) and to take mail to larger DOs. 7½ tonners generally do runs to DOs but can do airport runs and local MC runs too - on a Monday SN runs a 7½ to GL, BS etc

Do they do collections/deliveries for their area, ie if you are across the road from one, does the MC or a DO do your delivery?

As above it may well do the collection. If there is an on-site DO then deliveries will be run out of the DO which is a separate unit to the MC - at SN we have Dorcan DO on site who deliver to the local area. There are of course some exceptions - we have an SN25 and an OX29 customer who recieve mail in sufficient bulk that it is dispatched direct from the MC.

RDC - No idea, what is one?

Regional Distribution Centre - not 100% sure but I think these handle bulk mail coming into the system so large volume Mailsort etc

Lorries - are the 7.5 ton ones and the artics used for different purposes?

As above, 7½ for smaller runs, artics for larger volume runs

That's it for now, but I'll probably come back and ask some more daft questions.

[/quote]

[MGB]

Thanks, one more question, what's a distribution hub?

Artics are used for runs to/from the distribution hubs (PRDC/SWDC/NDC/ELDC/HWDC) and to take mail to larger DOs.

[adb2aber]

Thanks, one more question, what's a distribution hub?

Artics are used for runs to/from the distribution hubs (PRDC/SWDC/NDC/ELDC/HWDC) and to take mail to larger DOs.

Mail from each MC to a subset of the country is sent to each hub on a couple of artics at each dispatch where it meets all the other mail sent there and the artics return with all the mail for their origin MC that has been sent to the hub.

For example: Swindon (SN/OX/RG) sends mail to SWDC for postcodes BA/BS/TA/GL/TR/PL/EX/TQ/BH/DT/CF/SA/NP/SO/SP/WR/HR/B for instance, all the mail is unloaded at SWDC and all the mail to SN/OX/RG from those other MCs is loaded onto the artics for the return leg.

[MGB]

And more questions, what's a OPG or PHG?

[chunk]

Ordinary postal grade ,
Postal higher grade,


normally the postman in charge of the parcel office will be a postal higher grade.

[POSTMAN]

Matt,see here...
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=12657" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MGB]

Matt,see here...
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=12657" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Only one of them is there, and the one that is made no sense

[arnold cheshire]

Ordinary postal grade ,
Postal higher grade,


normally the postman in charge of the parcel office will be a postal higher grade.

i always thought opg was official postal grade phg was scrapped 11 years ago

[not me]

PHG is a term still used(usually those dealing with Special deliveries etc within the office)
Carries no extra pay though(used to)