NZ Post review requires many round trips

Postman John Andrew is trailed in Northeast Valley, Dunedin, this week by fellow postie Tony Adamson as New Zealand Post undertakes a regular review of postie rounds in Dunedin.
Postman John Andrew is trailed in Northeast Valley, Dunedin, this week by fellow postie Tony Adamson as New Zealand Post undertakes a regular review of postie rounds in Dunedin.
Dunedin posties will be closely followed over the next few months as New Zealand Post undertakes a regular review of all postie rounds.

Otago and Southland delivery business manager Robyn Leyden said the 52 postie rounds in Dunedin, excluding Port Chalmers and Mosgiel, were last measured about three years ago.

Those figures showed Dunedin posties covered a total 828km every day.

Of those posties, 39 delivered the mail on foot, covering an average of 15km a day, 11 cycled, each covering about 25km, and two made their deliveries on a motorcycle.

Dunedin's hilliest rounds were in Northeast Valley and Pine Hill, and those rounds were often alternated so posties were not walking the steepest hills all the time.

Postie rounds throughout the country were periodically measured to ensure they were suitably sized, Ms Leyden said.

Data collected included distance, the type of terrain and gradients, the number of delivery points and mail volumes.

Rounds were then fine-tuned as required.

edith.schofield@odt.co.nz

GPS

I can't believe they are not using a simple GPS. Surely someone from their fleet would have one. What a waste of time and money paying someone to follow round with a wheel. It's not 1980 anymore NZ Post!

Round resizing

The postie rounds are being resized so that NZ Post can get more work out of the posties for their dollar. Posties are already required to work six days a week, which means limited time for their bodies to rest after such strenuous activity day in and out with very little annual leave available year round.

Robin Leydon could do with getting out and delivering a round herself 6 days a week for a year and find out what the job is really about before slamming the posties with extra workload.

NZ needs to follow Australia Post's lead and deliver only 5 days a week - posties and their unions have been pushing for this change for years but NZ Post managment will not have a bar of it.

NZ Post management need to stop bullying posties and get off their beaurocratic butts and treat them like the human beings they are.