This is to help you with a few pointers on Royal Mail and its staff from someone that works in the network.
First of all a day in the life of a postman:
A postman starts his day at half five in the morning when he arrives at work the goes onto whats called group sorting where he sorts all
mail for his
delivery area into various walks. This can be anywhere between 15 and 40 different walks.
He completes this in about 30-45 minutes depending on the amount of mail that he has to sort (Christmas periods and this could be double the time.)
After this he goes to his own delivery frame where he then sorts all the mail for his walk. He clears round all his designated boxes then sorts his mail into order
ready to be bundled up and delivered. This can take anywhere between 1 and 3 hours again depending on the amount of mail that he has to deliver.
When he has finished this he then collects a bag from the packet frame that contains all the packets that are on his walk. all packets to big for his delivery bundle will stay lose in his bag. These are remembered by him turning a letter in his bundle the other way round in his bundle and writing pkt (packet) on the letter. he then knows that he has a packet for that address. The same technique is used for recorded and special delivery items.
Around eight o'clock a missort run arrives in the office with a few more items that have been sent elsewhere first mainly due to incomplete addresses or a dodgy postcode.
When he has collected these few items he will the bundle his mail up into whatever he feels comfortable with. He prepares his bag that he will take with him and then a second and third bag which he will send out with a driver to points around his walk so he does not have to carry it all.
He then gets to the start of his walk either by foot, car or bus and starts delivery of his items. Whether its sunny, rainy, snowing, windy e.
t.c. he will deliver his items. Delivery of his items can take anywhere between two and a half to five hours depending on the amount of mail he has and the conditions that he is delvery in. Also some posties are quicker than others.
When he has finished his round he puts all the items he coulkd not deliver into a yellow pouch and this is posted or dropped in at a post office and gets sent back to him for tomorrow. This pouch will hold any recorded delivery items that he could not get a signature for and any items he could not get rid of because they was too big for the customers letter box.
Now a few services that Royal Mial provides:
1st or 2nd class: Standard and most popular sort of posting. 1ST class should arrive the next day if sent in uk and 2nd class the day after. In my time at royal mail 2nd class items do not take the extra day to get there and now i send all my post 2nd class and about 95% of the time its there the next day. Some destinations in the UK though can not be reached the next day so an extra day is needed. Not sure of these addresses but can find out if anyone wants to know.
Recorded Delivery:
This is done at your local post office or callers office. This service gives you a receipt with a barcode so you can track your mail on the internet only when it has been attempted to be delivered though. This is because the recorded mail service just gets sorted with normal 1st and 2nd class mail. Therefore the PHG (Postmans Higher Grade) who deals with confirming these items only sees the barcode on the posties delivery card and that is when the item is either confirmed as delivered or undelivered.
Special Delivery:
This is a service that keeps your mail seperate from all of the other mail. As a recorded yopu get a receipt with a barcode so you can track your mail. But with this service you can track your parcel at any time and know where it is. This is because with special delivery items the barcode is scanned every time someone recieves it. How it gets tracked along the line-- first tracked at your local mail centre, Then they despatch it to the destinations local mail centre, Then sent to the delivery office, Then gets allocated to the walk which it is going to be delivered, A postie then signs for this item after he has sorted all his other mail and he takes it on delivery with him, When he has finished his walk this item is either delivered or dropped into a post office, if post office is the case then the item is returned to the delivery office the next day to the callers office so you can pick it up. So from when you send a special delivery item it is scanned about 7 or eight times and you know exactly where it is any of the time.
Tampered or Lost:
Dont know much about this but will tell what i know.
Any mail that is damaged during either sorting or delivery gets placed in royal mail damage bag. This says our sincere apologies and gives you a phone number you can ring if anything is missing. All damaged items are still delivered. Some examples of what can get damaged, sending a jumper just wrapped in some brown paper, Sending heavy folders in envolopes.
Lost mail should not happen but in some cases it does. If mail is lost and you have sent the item Special Delivery the process is simple because of the barcode. The compensation you will recieve depends on the item you sent and the compensation value you took out when the item was sent.
Recorded delivery items or 1st and 2nd class is a bit of a pain i think. You are required to fill out a form in as much detail as you can and send this to
customer services where they get back to you to say if you have a valid claim. With this though it is only ten times the amount that the item cost to post. So if it was sent just using a first class stamp (30p) then they will offer you £3 (10x3). This process can take about two to three weeks to complete though.
Few pointers when sending mail:
- Always put correct postage on. If unsure got to a post office and ask them to weigh the item. Incorrect postage paid means the item will be surcharged at the recievers end to collect the difference in postage and a £1 handling fee put on by Royal Mail.
-Secure wrap and seal your items so that they are less likely to get damaged.
-Do not send money through the post and if you have to use the Special Delivery service.
- Address your items correctly and put postcode on. Insufficent addresses can cause a delay in your item being delivered or see your item not delivered at all.
- Finally always put a return address on the back of your mail. This then makes sure that if the person you are sending the mail does not recieve it then you will at least get it back.
Feel free to ask questions i will do my best to help!!!!
Royal mail provides a brilliant service to the whole country send a letter from Lands End to John O Groats for 30p. Now thats a bargain.
A posties view on Royal Mail!!! 
