Time to say goodbye to posties?

[donnashuggy]

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/entering-the-postaustralia-post-era-20140114-30t12.html

[donnashuggy]

Delivery twice a week is more than adequate for most parcels. If someone wants one sooner, they can try a competitor to Australia Post or pay a premium.

is completely stupid - ask anyone that sells online - what about express and same day?

[cherry*135]

In the financial years 2010-12, it estimates that it will make a loss of $1.06 per inbound international airmail packet "on a volume of approximately 39.7 million articles".

This equates to a loss of over $42 million over both years.

compared to:

$218.4 million loss (and growing) p.a. on home delivery of letters.

[cherry*135]

Time to say good day to posties.. posties that deliver letters and small parcels (under 500gms) to households.

Don't want to discuss the $218.4 million loss that costs Aust Post then?  OK.

[cherples]

I saw an auspost presentation in which it was made clear that parcels have increased profits more than enough to offset the loss on letters. I'm using mobile so can't provide links right now.

[donnashuggy]

Yes, my account manager told me the same thing, there were reports before Christmas that they were considering increasing postage stamps to 70cents which I think is ok too. It's the parcels that have become so expensive.

[cherry*135]

Why offset the cost of letters though? Reduce/cut out the letter deliveries and the parcel profit is $128.4 million up. Resulting in less often increases in parcel rates, and/or lower increase in parcel rates.

Do other businesses keep arms of their business that loose that much money every year?

[donnashuggy]

My postie delivers both (parcels and letters) - surely that is cost cutting in itself? 🙂

[cherry*135]

Oct 2013

Australia Post says the number of letters delivered dropped by 263 million to 4.5 billion in the past year.

An Australia Post spokeswoman said it costs more than 60 cents to deliver a letter, which contributed to the price hike.

"The current price of 60 cents to send a letter anywhere in Australia is not an accurate reflection of the true cost for it to be delivered, nor in keeping with inflation," the spokeswoman said

Australia Post will consult with the government before increase to the basic postage rate and will complete a price notification process with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Price of a stamp goes up 10c, 263 million less letters being posted p.a., increase in stamp price isn't going to make any difference.

[cherry*135]

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@donnashuggy wrote:

My postie delivers both (parcels and letters) - surely that is cost cutting in itself? 🙂

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How does that compare with all other areas, Australia wide?

[cherry*135]

Might have to add time to say goodbye to Aust post parcel delivery persons as well in the near future.

Oct 2013

The drones are coming... and they’re carrying textbooks.

Zookal has today announced a partnership with Flirtey that will see the textbook rental startup company employing drones to deliver parcels in Australia starting this March. It will be the first use of fully automated commercial drones in the world, the companies said.

Flirtey itself is a joint venture between Zookal and software company Vimbra. The company’s co-founders are Zookal CEO Ahmed Haider and Vimbra CEO Matthew Sweeny.

Delivery by drone will be free and will send parcels directly to an outdoor location of the user’s choice, with the drone’s GPS coordinates provided to the user through a smartphone app.

Zookal will start with six drones operating in a 3km area of the Sydney CBD, she said. A test flight is planned for November at the University of Sydney. Zookal said delivery will take as little as two to three minutes from the time the package is sent.

http://www.techworld.com.au/article/528994/drones_deliver_parcels_australia_starting_march/