An update from University Postal Services
Monday, 23 November 2009
help us save money by posting wisely
'By posting the vast majority of our items by 2nd class post, the University will save nearly £25,000.'
Keep it light, keep it small and thin and post it early.
By posting the majority of our items by 2nd class post, the University will save nearly £25,000.
The University's Senior Management Board has agreed that all University mail to UK destinations should be sent by 2nd class post unless it is genuinely urgent.
Independently conducted surveys show that approximately 93% of 1st class mail is delivered the next working day and 98.5% of 2nd class mail is delivered by the third working day (08-09 monitoring results). This means Royal Mail is currently achieving regulator set delivery targets for 1st and 2nd class mail.
2nd class mail has to wait to be sorted at various stages in its journey but in no other way is it treated any different from 1st class. The use of the word class in the service names can be misinterpreted.
All mail posted through Postal Services leaves the University on the day we collect it from you, whatever its class. It is then treated by Royal Mail in the same way as it would be if you handed it over the counter at a Post Office.
An ordinary 1st class letter, no heavier than 100g or bigger than C5, costs 9p more to post than by 2nd class. For items bigger or heavier the difference is greater. Postal Services handled nearly 180,000 1st class items during the last financial year; 53% of them were heavier than 100g or bigger than C5.
By posting the vast majority of these by 2nd class post, the University will save nearly £25,000.
Incidentally, we posted more than 250,000 2nd class items in 08-09; 47% of this mail is heavier than 100g or bigger than C5.
Weight is the only issue for the 6 tonnes of overseas mail we sent on your behalf last year.
Try to make international mail lighter and all UK mail lighter and smaller to save money.