A new registered postal service was launched in Oamaru this week, guaranteeing a 24-hour delivery within the town's boundary.
Whitestone Post, a new venture of Whitestone Taxis, was set up to fill a gap in local mail service, owners Murray and Liz Bell said.
They thought Oamaru deserved a better postal service, with mail previously taking from three to seven days to be delivered locally by New Zealand Post.
Whitestone Taxis employs 20 staff, with one or two drivers servicing each nightshift.
During the week, nights could be very quiet for the taxi company, so a postal service also filled a gap for employees who now operate the sorting house, as well as mail pickup and delivery.
''The law says we have to be available 24 hours, so we [often] have someone sitting here who's getting bored and costing us money,'' Mr Bell said.
''It means our drivers are now gainfully employed all night and people are getting their mail overnight.''
All mail will be sorted at the taxi company's Eden St office, then delivered either overnight or early the next business day.
''Barring exceptional circumstances, all mail will be delivered by 10am in the morning,'' Mr Bell said.
''Even in exceptional circumstances, all mail will be delivered by 3pm.''
All of their vehicles are equipped with monitored GPS for the safety of drivers and passengers. This will also enable them to track the mail delivery.
Initially targeting the business community, two steampunk-themed drop off boxes, designed by Brian de Geest, will soon be installed for public use in the Oamaru CBD and at the North End. They will be cleared at 4pm each day.
More will be built and installed to meet demand with feedback sought from the community as to which areas boxes would be best placed in Oamaru.
''It's hard to know, at this stage, how many we're going to need until we gauge public reaction,'' Mrs Bell said.
For now, delivery will be to the Oamaru and Weston areas, but if there was demand, rural areas could soon be included.
Whitestone Post's rates have been set at 70c per letter, with sheets of custom-designed Whitestone Post stamps for sale from the taxis and office.
By law, delivering items for 80c, or less, required the company to register as a postal service.
Now, the company has a ''Four P Policy'' - offering passenger, paper, parcel and postage services, he said.
Mr and Mrs Bell, who have owned the business for more than 10 years, said their new venture was ''off to a good start''.
Businesses has expressed support for the local service and the Bells expected their customer base to grow as they became more established.
They were looking forward to servicing ''another big client'' from next week.
