LETTERS POSTED at the weekend will take up to half a week to reach their destination following An Post’s decision to end all weekend collection of mail. The decision taken quietly earlier this month means that a letter posted on Friday evening will not arrive before Tuesday morning at the earliest.
The company said weekend collection of mail was not feasible or warranted any more as a result of a steep decline in mail volumes. The number of letters and parcels posted fell more than 10 per cent in the first quarter of the year.
A spokesman said weekend collection had been operated in the larger towns and cities and was intended to tackle mail posted after the Friday cut-off. “In times of rapidly growing mail volumes, it made sense to ‘clear the system’ in advance of regular posting on the following Monday.”
However, with mail volumes falling because of the economic downturn, it was decided to terminate weekend collections “for operational reasons”.
“Drivers, managers and processing staff were all rostered to cover weekend collections. As mail volumes declined the value of weekend collection decreased.”
The change will affect ordinary users of the postal system most, because the majority of business mail, which accounts for 85 per cent of post, is sent during the week. Until recently, for example, the boxes in Dublin’s GPO were collected three times on Sundays.
The spokesman denied any attempt to hide the change, saying it had been well flagged in post offices and on post-boxes, and business customers had been informed. No press release had been issued at the time of the change, he acknowledged.
He also maintained the change would have no impact on the quality of service , but agreed that letters posted at the weekend would not now arrive before Tuesday morning.
“An Post’s focus is firmly fixed on the liberalisation of the market in 2011 and on our ongoing pursuit of quality of service. We have to be prepared and be as competitive as possible and the decision to cease weekend collections was taken in this context.”
Last May, An Post reported profits of more than €31 million in 2008.
