New Zealand Post announced that it will maintain a six-day delivery of mail to most of its customers in rural areas thanks to new business it brought into its rural network.
The continuously falling mail volumes led to changes in New Zealand Post’s Deed of Understanding with the government (its legal framework) made in 2013 that allowed rural deliveries to be reduced from six to five days a week, NZ Post explained, referring to an earlier announcement of mail delivery cuts.
However, Head of Provincial Contract Management for New Zealand Post, Stu Kane, decided “after a close look at services” that “only a small proportion of rural delivery runs will be reduced to five days”.
“Changes to the Deed give us the flexibility to go to five day a week delivery, but by working hard to bring a wider mix of products into the network, including newspapers, we’ve been able to maintain a six-day a week service to the vast majority of rural customers for now. Our goal is to maintain the best possible service that is commercially viable to our rural communities,” Kane explained.
After November, about 6% of customers will move to five-day delivery (Monday – Friday) in some rural areas near Auckland, Wellington, Whanganui, Rotorua, Havelock, Oamaru, Dunedin and Invercargill, NZ Post said. “A flyer will be delivered to affected rural customers before the change takes place.”
“About 10% of customers are already on a five-day a week service, and have been for many years. This means that even after November, more than 80% of rural customers will remain on six-day delivery,” Kane concluded.
New Zealand Post added that it is currently talking to its rural delivery contractors about the changes.
