Almost one million homes to miss Saturday post under Royal Mail trial

[gt94sss2]

Almost 1m households will miss out on second-class post on Saturdays next year as Royal Mail pushes to cut back on weekend deliveries.

The postal operator is planning a trial of reduced service in some areas that will allow second-class letters to be delivered just three times a week between Monday and Friday.

First-class mail will continue to be delivered six days a week, including on Saturdays, for people who need to send an urgent letter or card.

Royal Mail would probably begin its trials in February at 37 of its 1,200 delivery offices across the UK, covering just under 1m addresses. This would be rolled out gradually as part of a phased process.

Exact locations are yet to be determined, but bosses expect to run the trial at roughly three delivery offices in each of its 12 regions nationwide. This would ensure the proposals are tested in a range of urban and rural locations with a variety of letter volumes.

Under the plans, first-class letters would be combined with parcel deliveries in vans, which are now a key area of focus for the company as it looks to capitalise on the growth of online shopping. Rotas would also need to be adjusted so that postal staff deliver second-class mail to each street on alternate days.
......

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Working with our unions, CWU and Unite CMA, we plan to pilot a new delivery model in 37 of our c.1,200 delivery offices in the new year. The first pilot is due to start in February 2025 with a staggered roll out over the following months.

“The pilots are designed to ensure everything runs smoothly and we can deliver a better customer experience if we deploy any Universal Service changes. We will only look to implement our new operating model if Ofcom’s new regulations come into force. Until then, the current regulatory framework remains in place and any proposals are subject to change.”

An Ofcom spokesman said: “We’re speaking to postal users to understand how the universal service could evolve while continuing to meet their needs. We’ll consult publicly on proposals in the new year, and we understand Royal Mail plans to carry out pilots in light of any proposals we make.”

Full article at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... l-weekend/

[ted_e_bear]

They made the slight understandable error that it's not three times per week it's only five mail deliveries per fortnight and that's not confined to just 2nd class it's everything that isn't 1st.

[Londonsburning]

They made the slight understandable error that it's not three times per week it's only five mail deliveries per fortnight and that's not confined to just 2nd class it's everything that isn't 1st.

Brilliant piece of deception for the masses. Kick in the face for the staff

[ANDREW CROCOMBE]

Misread this: 2nd class 3 times Mon-Fri so guessing its mon-weds-fri so how is that 5 times a fortnight ? Apologies for being unable to read between the lines !

[ted_e_bear]

Misread this: 2nd class 3 times Mon-Fri so guessing its mon-weds-fri so how is that 5 times a fortnight ? Apologies for being unable to read between the lines !

It's every other weekday so week one mon-weds-fri but the next weekday after Friday is the following Monday so that gets skipped, week two would be Tues and Thurs which brings you back to the next delivery being Monday with three days worth of mail.

[claretandblue]

It would be Tuesday and Thursday the following week.

[Londonsburning]

Evri et-al are fast catching up with us re job satisfaction/security/wages. RM is a clown show

[SpacePhoenix]

It'll be down to the DOs to extract any of the 2C that won't be delivered. The alternative will be that the 1C gets sent to the DOs as manual, as it won't be worth running the CSS machines with the volume of 1C that there is these days

[Londonsburning]

It'll be down to the DOs to extract any of the 2C that won't be delivered. The alternative will be that the 1C gets sent to the DOs as manual, as it won't be worth running the CSS machines with the volume of 1C that there is these days

[SpacePhoenix]

It'll be down to the DOs to extract any of the 2C that won't be delivered. The alternative will be that the 1C gets sent to the DOs as manual, as it won't be worth running the CSS machines with the volume of 1C that there is these days

You can dream on if you think the MCs will be extracting all the 2C that won't be delivered. Just the 1C alone makes it not viable to run the CSS machines. A few weeks ago some office somewhere run a batch way to early, which resulted in all 2C in the batches getting DTS'd. It showed just how little 1C there is left these days for letters.

[Mr Rush]

It showed just how little 1C there is left these days for letters.

Which is precisely why it is a misrepresentation to say there will still be a letter service on Saturdays.

First-class mail will continue to be delivered six days a week, including on Saturdays, for people who need to send an urgent letter or card.

Having been through the farce of picking First Class out of a rammed frame, come next year there won't be any.

[Barnacle]

If it is the case that the MC releases all the Mail as usual and we have to sift through it and leave it under frames in day order, it will be a shambles by the end of day 2.

[norris9]

You can dream on if you think the MCs will be extracting all the 2C that won't be delivered. Just the 1C alone makes it not viable to run the CSS machines. A few weeks ago some office somewhere run a batch way to early, which resulted in all 2C in the batches getting DTS'd. It showed just how little 1C there is left these days for letters.

So 1st class letters make up a small % of overall letter volume? Does anyone know the %?

If 2nd class makes up 80%+ then essentially it's going to be like having 2 day's mail 5 times a fortnight.

and that's only if you are fully staffed....if you have no day off cover then enjoy the equivalent to 3 day's mail.

[ted_e_bear]

You can dream on if you think the MCs will be extracting all the 2C that won't be delivered. Just the 1C alone makes it not viable to run the CSS machines. A few weeks ago some office somewhere run a batch way to early, which resulted in all 2C in the batches getting DTS'd. It showed just how little 1C there is left these days for letters.

So 1st class letters make up a small % of overall letter volume? Does anyone know the %?

If 2nd class makes up 80%+ then essentially it's going to be like having 2 day's mail 5 times a fortnight.

and that's only if you are fully staffed....if you have no day off cover then enjoy the equivalent to 3 day's mail.

It'll actually be three days mail every Mon and Tues as there'll be Saturdays mail included, Mondays previous full delivery will be the previous week's Thursday and Tuesdays the previous Friday.

[qwerty2]

You can dream on if you think the MCs will be extracting all the 2C that won't be delivered. Just the 1C alone makes it not viable to run the CSS machines. A few weeks ago some office somewhere run a batch way to early, which resulted in all 2C in the batches getting DTS'd. It showed just how little 1C there is left these days for letters.

So 1st class letters make up a small % of overall letter volume? Does anyone know the %?

If 2nd class makes up 80%+ then essentially it's going to be like having 2 day's mail 5 times a fortnight.

and that's only if you are fully staffed....if you have no day off cover then enjoy the equivalent to 3 day's mail.

It'll actually be three days mail every Mon and Tues as there'll be Saturdays mail included, Mondays previous full delivery will be the previous week's Thursday and Tuesdays the previous Friday.