- Reduced mail delivery on fall Tuesdays
Itella Posti will launch a product-specific delivery experiment lasting from September 1 to November 30 in Korso (Vantaa), Kivenlahti (Espoo), Porvoo, Riihimäki, Varkaus and Leppävirta. During the experiment, products referred to in the Postal Act as universal service products, as well as newspapers and parcels, will be delivered five days a week, as is the current practice, whereas letters, advertisements and magazines sent by companies will not be delivered in the experiment areas on Tuesdays.
The experiment adheres to the Postal Act and Itella Posti's license to provide postal services. The experiment is based on the increase in digital communications and the steep decline in the volume of mail, as well as on our customers' new needs. The change is very small for mail recipients, as the majority of delivery service will remain unchanged. The changes apply solely to the areas covered by the experiment and will have no effect on Itella Posti's other services.
Postal deliveries during the experiment:
Unchanged: Products referred to in the Postal Act as universal service products will be delivered five days a week from Monday to Friday, as is the current practice. These products consist mainly of letters sent by small- and medium-sized companies and consumers, with the postage paid for by stamps.
Unchanged: Parcels and newspapers will be delivered five to seven days a week, as is the current practice. Newspapers will be delivered either in early-morning delivery or, in some areas, in day mail.
Changed: Letters, advertisements and magazines sent by companies will be delivered four days a week, i.e. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. During the experiment, these items will not be delivered on Tuesdays.
A survey aimed at gathering feedback from mail recipients and companies that send mail will also be conducted during the experiment. In the near future, mail recipients in the areas covered by the experiment will receive a notification on the experiment in the mail, as well as an invitation to the information events held in the localities, where the issue will be examined in closer detail and the development of postal services will be discussed.
The localities of the delivery experiment have been selected to represent the whole of Finland as well as possible when it comes to geography, conditions and delivery routes.
"The experiment set to take place in the fall is important, because the current delivery service of Posti is maintained by the proceeds obtained from mail sent by companies. The share of consumers in all sent mail is less than 5%. Even though the amounts of sent mail keep falling, the delivery costs must remain steady. This is why we wish to cooperate with our customers to find a solution for securing good mail delivery. The product-specific delivery days to be tested in the experiment could represent a means to this end," says Itella Posti's senior vice president Jukka Rosenberg.
Itella's delivery obligations and competitive situation
The development of mail volumes in January-June 2014 in comparison to the corresponding period in the previous year:
