Posties won't make the trip down long driveways, writes John Landrigan.
Don the red and grey uniform, shorty shorts optional, saddle up the pushbike and deliver the mail. Sounds like a great job on a sunny day. But there are hills, cars backing out of driveways, near-horizontal rain, dogs, and, now,
parcels to deliver to the door.
From March, New Zealand Post has been trying a new service in which posties, rather than a courier service, deliver small registered items to customers.
The largest package a postie may deliver is a C4-size parcel (325mm x 260mm x 260mm), weighing 1.5kg. Two would fill a cycling postie's pannier. But it's not the plight of the 2500 posties on the country's streets that's worrying Mt Albert resident Biju Joseph. He's concerned about the number of Aucklanders who now miss out on deliveries to their doors.
Even though New Zealand Post advertises a door-to-door service, a registered item for Mr Joseph was not delivered because the postie could not deliver the item safely and securely to his door. Instead he was left a card.
Cards are left in the letterbox because nobody is at home to sign for the item or the postie has no access to the house.
Before March, Mr Joseph would have personally received the documents he was waiting for. Instead, he had to ask his father to drive 10km to pick it up because he was at work when the depot was open.
Matt Riordan, general manager of postal delivery, says staff assessed the address after hearing Mr Joseph's concerns. ''There was a safety and security risk to the postie due to the long driveway and the postie's inability to see if there were any possible hazards such as dogs or vehicles. Postal delivery is a different service. Couriers are able to
access long driveways from the safety of their vehicles.''
Which is exactly Mr Joseph's point.
He says thousands of Aucklanders who live at the end of long driveways, or who have neighbours with dogs, may be unfairly disadvantaged. He wants a courier service to be available to houses red-flagged by posties.
NZ Post has apologised to Mr Joseph for the time it took to investigate, and agrees that part of the card-to-call was difficult to read.
Sending your letter
- by registered post: A5 pre-paid envelope 190mm x 260mm x 6mm, $8.20.
- by courier: A5 Flat Bag 185mm x 280mm, $8.30.
POST FACTS
- The first Post Office opened at Kororareka (now Russell) in the Bay of Islands in 1840
- About 17,000 New Zealanders work for the company as full- or part-time employees, contractors, owner-drivers or franchisees
- NZ Post's website www.nzpost.co.nz receives more than 30,000 visits every business day
- The customer service centre receives more than 3 million calls a year
- The New Zealand Post Group was established as a state-owned enterprise in 1987
- In the year ended 30 June 2008, its operating revenue was $1.290 billion and expenses totalled $1.175 billion. The net profit was $110.2 million
- In the same year NZ Post paid its sole shareholder, the Government, a $23.5 million dividend
- It processes about one billion items of mail each year, which it delivers to 1.9 million homes, businesses and private boxes
- On-time delivery of mail was measured in 2007/08 at 94.7 per cent.The customer service centre receives more than 3 million calls a year
- The New Zealand Post Group was established as a state-owned enterprise in 1987
- In the year ended 30 June 2008, its operating revenue was $1.290 billion and expenses totalled $1.175 billion. The net profit was $110.2 million.
- In the same year NZ Post paid its sole shareholder, the Government, a $23.5 million dividend
- It processes about one billion items of mail each year, which it delivers to 1.9 million homes, businesses and private boxes
- On-time delivery of mail was measured in 2007/08 at 94.7 per cent.
