Russian Post has managed to reduce its average delivery times for inbound mail shipments fromabroad by nearly one week during the last two years, according to the latest quarterly study by the
Universal Postal Union (UPU).While international mail to Russia reached the recipients in 23.6 days during the most “difficult periods” in 2010, the delivery time was reduced to 18 days in 2011. Overall, the deliverytimes have been reduced to an average of 16 days during the last year.
The UPU research was carried out as part of its continuous monitoring of delivery times among 18countries that are leaders in terms of mail volume exchange with Russia. For each of thesecountries, 150 inbound and outbound mail shipments on average are tracked on a quarterly basis.
This positive result has been achieved despite a significant increase in mail volumes. In 2011,for example, small parcels experienced a dramatic volume increase of 92% compared to 2010. It hasbeen achieved thanks to the measures Russian Post implemented during the last two years includingnew international post offices and expanding the space of the existing ones as well as considerableinvestment in their technical equipment. This has made it possible for Russian Post to master theNew Year’s holiday period and peak volumes without major failures and complications at the stage ofinitial handling and sorting of incoming international shipments. Thereby, the annual increase inincoming small parcels needs to be considered with volumes nearly doubling in 2011 compared to 2010and nearly tripling compared to 2009 (from 2.9 million to 8.4 million parcels).
Russian Post explained that the particularities of the Russian transport system and the policyof the carriers negatively impact the delivery times of mail shipments in Russia as airlines andrailroad workers often refuse to ship mail. As a result, the share of rail transport used for mailshipments decreased during the last two years from 49% to 36% as mail volumes have considerablyincreased, while air transport makes up only 7% of all mail shipments across Russia. At the sametime, road transportation increased from 46% to 57% as the number of routes increased from 95 to230. Delivery planes especially leased by Russian Post recorded a volume increase of 43%. Thisdelivery solution lead to some increase in delivery times since it also takes time to get the planefull as it is extremely unprofitable to send it half-empty.
Transport problems affect, to a major extent, domestic shipments within Russia due to the muchlarger volumes that are considerably rising year by year than it is the case with internationalshipments.
The gradual implementation of Russian Post’s modernisation programme for its postalinfrastructure is expected to further accelerate the delivery times of mail shipments. It includesthe automation of production processes and deployment of new logistics schemes and new services tomake work more efficient. To implement the measures, considerable investment and systematicgovernment support are needed.
This year, Russian Post plans to invest independently in upgrading and developing its owntransport fleet by purchasing additional trains and new vehicles and in automated sorting centresas well as in increasing service quality at post offices. It also plans to improve the deliveryquality, for example through the “last-mile” delivery from the post office to the recipient.
In cooperation with UPU, Russian Post also plan to buy and to implement the necessary equipmentthis year to take part in the global monitoring system for tracking shipped mail with RFID tags toidentify the main problems during shipping.
Russian Post’s express subsidiary EMS Russian Post recorded an increase in shipping volumes ofmore than 25% and 78% during the last two years. This year, EMS Russian Post plans to implement acomplex investment programme and work on improving its service levels.
