Trading update

[stevejm]

I think the biggest issue RM are going to face is that there’s no way to solve the issues that are arising. The nature of the job is that walks naturally reach a maximum point, where either the dead-walking between houses means they can’t be profitable, or the accumulated fatigue and subsequent high turnover of staff leads to ridiculous levels of inefficiency.

Basically, the more letter volumes drop, the less profitable they become because each letter on average takes more man hours to deliver. This is true when your call-rate remains the same (fewer letters per house equals less money per delivery point), or if you increase the size of the walks (more miles will cause the first set of problems I outlined).

The solutions to the current business model are few in number, and desperate in nature. And they all represent a very bleak outcome if you’re on delivery (your poor knees are going to have to do many more miles to satisfy the great machine). I guess that RM considered all this when working towards a lower pay-rate for new entrants, and an owner-driver model going forward.

Where that leaves us, I don’t know. Even the modest pay rise we may eventually get doesn’t really change the reality that, over the last decade, the job on delivery has been getting harder and harder. The number of long-term joint issues among posties is growing, and none of us are getting any younger. It’s less and less a job for the long-term, if you want to be painless in your dotage.

You make great points but it is wasted on this forum - either posters are too young or too blinkered to think long term about future health issues. This fits right in with short termism that is rife in the management of this company and also in local and national politics. Basically, the level of suffering is not enough to grab the attention - and by the time people do pay attention, it is too late as in frog being slowly boiled alive.

[Barnacle]

If you don’t see that mail and parcel volumes have dropped considerably I don’t believe you work for RM. It is the quietest January I’ve known in 20 years of being with the company. Worrying is right.

Not sure what planet you live on but my rural duty is not completed most days of the week, Monday and Tuesday i can sometimes complete but every other day is a failure. There's lapsing every day as well and they are about to implement the revisions, i also only work to time so things aint going to get better.

Planet earth. If you don’t see the decline in mail you are blind.

So with the decline in mail "apparently" you think what should happen? Are you suggesting there's not enough work and we are all about to lose our jobs or are you trying to justify the company's position. I am interested in your opinion as you seem to have your finger on the pulse of RM.

All of the language around letters is negative because they want rid of the USO obligation. There are still 8 billion letters to be delivered every year. That’s a vast number of letters in anyone’s language.

not really - by my maths its about 320 letters per postie per day if there are 100,000 posties {if not, adjust slightly up or down]

There are about 90,000 posties. If you don’t think 8 billion is a lot, then the fewer than 2 billion parcels we deliver annually can’t be worth getting up for.

[sweepster70]

I think the biggest issue RM are going to face is that there’s no way to solve the issues that are arising. The nature of the job is that walks naturally reach a maximum point, where either the dead-walking between houses means they can’t be profitable, or the accumulated fatigue and subsequent high turnover of staff leads to ridiculous levels of inefficiency.

Basically, the more letter volumes drop, the less profitable they become because each letter on average takes more man hours to deliver. This is true when your call-rate remains the same (fewer letters per house equals less money per delivery point), or if you increase the size of the walks (more miles will cause the first set of problems I outlined).

The solutions to the current business model are few in number, and desperate in nature. And they all represent a very bleak outcome if you’re on delivery (your poor knees are going to have to do many more miles to satisfy the great machine). I guess that RM considered all this when working towards a lower pay-rate for new entrants, and an owner-driver model going forward.

Where that leaves us, I don’t know. Even the modest pay rise we may eventually get doesn’t really change the reality that, over the last decade, the job on delivery has been getting harder and harder. The number of long-term joint issues among posties is growing, and none of us are getting any younger. It’s less and less a job for the long-term, if you want to be painless in your dotage.

There is no long term anymore. The average person changes their job every 4-5 years. This is why the country is in s**t. Why should they join a Union when they change jobs so often. They accept anything that is thrown at them and then they move on.

[2chorizon]

Mail and Parcel volumes certainly have dropped off a cliff, much more that would be expected in a normal january, it is payday weekend for the public so we will see if volumes pick up again next week.
Personally i think people just do not have any disposable income to keep blowing on mail order tatt and that this will be the new normal going forward.