Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
* I should have said this changes from the 1st Jan 2021
Unless you make some absurd assumptions like using an average packet weight of 5g’s the idea that China pays 1p a packet In Terminal dues is nonsense. They do have a lower TD rate than other developed countries because of legacy classification which positioned them in a special category between developed and developing countries.
This changes from 1 Jan this year when IIRC importing countries can charge up to 70% rising over time to 80% of their domestic tariff for delivering work for any country sending volumes above a threshold per annum that China exceed.
This approach was pushed through by the US as a result of Trump’s pressure. Ironically it means the worlds biggest mail exporter (the USPS) will probably end up paying more for having its work delivered than it gets back from the revised scheme.
As far as the U.K. is concerned while it might slightly levels the field for U.K. merchants the volume of China imports is such that much it can bypass the UPU system and enter the market at domestic rates with big discounts. It also means that it will be more expensive for UK merchants to ship to some of the most important export markets including the US.
It is very much a swings and roundabouts issue for Royal Mail and UK based merchants.
Different methods work better for different geographies and types of door drop item. If you are delivering to a nest of posting boxes in a high rise it is pointless prepping them before leaving the office, if you are delivering to rural with long drives prep at start of week and deliver on warm calls only. if high drop density delivery prep and deliver 1/5th of the walk per day.
Are they new users of D2D or just contract renewals ?
The productivity of the business is heavily dependent on volume. If it becomes evident that their has been a permanent increase in parcel volumes and letter volumes start to recover some of the losses caused by the pandemic the share price should continue its upward path.
Not sure if it is relevant to your package but I believe all Fulfilment by Amazon parcels posted using their “small and light” solution are delivered by Royal Mail because they fall within the large letter specification and no one gets close to matching Royal Mails rates for this work.
Shauny, all of the other carriers have contracts with RM. They get charged at the rates they would get as any other business customer with an equivalent weight, volume and geographic fall to earth profile.
As far as the package you saw is concerned It could however be that another customer was just switching traffic from DPD to Royal Mail and using up DPD Branded packaging.
If you exclude the Channel Islands and Isle of Man I can’t think of any British Trade Union that represents workers in the same industry in other countries. Are there any ? For the purposes of formal cross border solidarity The CWU is affiliated to Communications International.
It is quite open to Royal Mail to apply a geographic profile price approach to its rates for handling the parcel traffic of Amazon or any other bulk customer. That is exactly what they do in respect of items for delivery in the most expensive remote areas.
With the number of people losing jobs and the furlough scheme ending in October it is difficult see RM struggling to recruit Temps for Xmas period. The big issues are likely to be around skilled jobs like HGV drivers who will be in very heavy demand. RM could ease some of the issue by letting customers post parcels for local delivery into local units instead of taking them all to central hubs. Interesting to see if they pursue this opportunity.
Isn’t the issue with winter as far as the virus is of concerned about the change in temperature resulting in more human contact taking place indoors (the common factor between meat and garment factories) and the risk of a second peak occurring at the same time as the seasonal peak In flu. This could be really challenging for the NHS if they coincide and hit before wide spread flu vaccination is completed, or if the flu vaccine is in the less effective category.
It’s DIRFT as in Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal not DRIFT and it is where Royal Mail’s National Distribution Centre is located.
The massive uncertainty in the jobs market is likely to inhibit volunteers for redundancy who would be low cost. It could prove to be an expensive exercise one way or another.
I haven’t been keeping track of USO parcel price changes this year but it isn’t surprising if they changed prices to respond to conditions created by the pandemic as a one off. I’m sure Ofcom will have understood the need for more flexibility in these circumstances.
Online prices have been lower than those available at Post Offices for some time. E.g. In the March 2019 tariff the online price for a 2nd class small parcel was £3 at the Post Office and £2.90 online.
Probably because advertising during periods when you are at capacity isn’t a good use of marketing spend.
Thanks for sharing your opinion Wolvesposty. I’ll leave this discussion here.
Wolvesposty the pandemic will have fundamentally changed the way the business and its employees need to look at their future. It isn’t “caving in” by other side if they have adjusted a previous position in response to such a significant change to the external environment.
Just listened into the first part of the CWU Facebook live session. It sounds like there have been some really sensible discussions and a positive way forward agreed that should be good for the company the employees and the people of the;U.K. At long long last they seem to be talking about meaningful diversification in the services offered with USO capabilities. TFFT.
Mike1974 That probably explains why the MD of Customer Experience left last week without notice.
RMG have parted company with their Managing Director of Customer Experience today.
Apparently he has left the company without notice.