What is it with Post on Tuesdays

[milly143]

I have noticed that every Tuesday our office post does not arrive until late afternoon, sometimes not at all when every other day it's normall here before I arrive.

Why would it be any different on a Tuesday?

[Bobbisox]

did you get a letter some time ago saying they had to change working practices? we did, maybe that's got something to do with it, they may do something different on Tuesday like have meetings?
just a thought

[factor-fiction]

I don't know about business post but 30 years ago my post was almost always delivered at home before I set off for work before 8 oclock.
Now it's unusual for it to arive before 1 o'clock and we recently received an email from the Royal Mail saying that because of falling mail volumes, increased costs etc we will no longer get the same postman each day and deliveries could well be later. Since then I see postmen looking lost and post is often delivered to the wrong houses/streets - but at least I'm getting to meet my neighbours a bit more as we go out in the evening to excahnge letters

[Bobbisox]

that's the one we got factor, only we got it by mail!

[milly143]

Nope. Not received anything about that. It's highly irritating as some of our customers insist on payments by cheque and often send them out on Mondays. I don't like to hang around when it comes to paying cheques into our account.

[factor-fiction]

Sorry bobbisox- I don't remmeber typing the word email but I must have done. I meant a letter/leaflet.
The letter was two pages long but told us very little- just talked about falling volumes, pressure on costs, need to modernise (!) and then said we may not get the same postman each day and delivery times might change- they could be earlier or later (which I assume will mean mainly later), and thanked us for our cooperation.

[Bobbisox]

yes, factor I think everyone must have received that, not sure about the business side of things though

[milly143]

Maybe that's it then. There are only a few small businesses on the yard and the rest is all housing. They don't seperate the deliveries for the houses and the units so maybe that's the explanation and we just haven't heard about it.

[argorstran]

Milly it's due to a new pattern of flexible working to respond to the fact that mondays and tuesdays are much lighter delivery days . Because of this a certain percentage of deliveries are left "unstaffed" on mondays and tuesdays and the delivery is covered by several other postmen in addition to their own delivery .
At the office where I work the unstaffed delivery is divided into 8 , with 8 of us taking 1/8 of it each . We normally deliver this1/8 after we have finished our own deliveries - hence why you get it so late . In the summer months this practice is extended to wednesdays and every third thursday as well . Since it was introduced 2 years ago this practice has not been popular with either postmen , managers or customers . Many postmen finish late and the potential savings of the scheme has been reduced by the overtime which has to be paid out . (the saving having been made by reducing the full time delivery to being only staffed part-time wed. to sat.)

[milly143]

Argor, thanks for that answer. Seems to explain my problem precisely. I can understand why it would be unpopular with the staff as well as customers. Lose lose all round it seems.