Time to say goodbye to posties?

[donnashuggy]

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

[donnashuggy]

If there are only a small amount of letters being posted why would a Postal Service continue to offer a full postal delivery service and employ the same number of posties???.

Because of online shoppers forever on the increase. PO Boxes are not practical for everyone.

[donnashuggy]

You shouldn't believe everything you read, broaden your horizons, this is a real  problem:

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3732399.htm

[cherry*135]

---

@donnashuggy wrote:

If there are only a small amount of letters being posted why would a Postal Service continue to offer a full postal delivery service and employ the same number of posties???.

Because of online shoppers forever on the increase. PO Boxes are not practical for everyone.

---

Your topic is posties that deliver letters to houses (recently they have been given the task of delivering very small parcels that will fit in a mailbox, also.)

 Posties are NOT - parcel delivery people driving vans (on contract). 

Online shoppers are on the increase.. most of their goods are parcels delivered by the contract parcel delivery van.. not a postie.

PO Box - I mentioned my PO Box only in the context of me needing to go into the PO to collect parcels, and at the same time being able to notice that they aren't as busy as they used to be. Any inference that PO Boxes should be used by others wass not made by me.

[cherry*135]

The cost of parcels with keep going up if Aust Post has to subsidise its loss making home letter delivery service.

OP.. do you use online purchasing of postage for parcels or do you buy postage for parcels at your PO and support your local PO?

[donnashuggy]

I am on a contract (Australia Post collect from me twice daily) and have two parcel deliveries to my home per day, one eParcel, one by the postie who happens to be a friend who is inundated daily with parcel deliveries, I also collect from my PO Box daily.

[*crikey*mate*]

anything that can fit within the large letter specifications can currently be posted as a large letter. This includes items up to 20mm thick.

A lot of items purchased on line are sent as letters/ large letters. (fro example, underwear, jewellery, stationery, t-shirts, scarves, craft items, CDs etc)

The postie delivering parcels up to 500g is a step backwards though.

Here, he doesn't bother, he just leaves a card.

The parcel guy does come and he delivered larger parcels, but I have to go to the post office now to collect small parcels up to 500g (yes, I know that is my very own first world problem).

[donnashuggy]

Posties are NOT - parcel delivery people driving vans (on contract). 

They all wheel trollies around my suburb - loaded. Particularly books from the UK I am told (which we subsidise)

[cherry*135]

---

@donnashuggy wrote:

You shouldn't believe everything you read, broaden your horizons, this is a real  problem:

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3732399.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

an international treaty means that Australia Post actually makes a loss on parcels sent here from overseas.

How much is that loss p.a.? That article doesn't say. How does it compare with this? -  Regulated mail  business losses widen to $218.4 million on the back of another decline of 263 million mail articles (5.4 per cent) on last year ( Aust. Post Annual Report, Oct 2013)

[cherry*135]

---

@crikey*mate wrote:

anything that can fit within the large letter specifications can currently be posted as a large letter. This includes items up to 20mm thick.

A lot of items purchased on line are sent as letters/ large letters. (fro example, underwear, jewellery, stationery, t-shirts, scarves, craft items, CDs etc)

The postie delivering parcels up to 500g is a step backwards though.

Here, he doesn't bother, he just leaves a card.

The parcel guy does come and he delivered larger parcels, but I have to go to the post office now to collect small parcels up to 500g (yes, I know that is my very own first world problem).

---

A lot of items purchased online are sent as parcels bigger than 500gms as well... clothes (even a fairly light top or underwear arrives as a parcel, major online retailers don't post clothes in paper envelopes), shoes, books. small appliances etc.

Not all online retailers use Aust Post to deliver their parcels either.

[cherry*135]

Mail volumes continued their steep declines in 2012/13 falling by 5.4 per cent. Australia Post now delivers one billion fewer letters per year than we did in 2008 due to the shift by both businesses and consumers to digital means of communication.