Posti in Finland is planning to trial the delivery of letters, magazines and advertisements with the early-morning delivery of newspapers in four municipalities in Pirkanmaa and Satakunta. Two thirds of Finnish citizens support the change, which would result in recipients receiving their mail in the morning instead of the afternoon.
The delivery of letters, magazines and advertisements with the early-morning delivery of newspapers has become necessary as the mail volume to be delivered has decreased significantly meaning there is not enough mail for two separate delivery networks.
“In the 2000s, the number of letters reduced by over 60% because of digital communications, and the coronavirus crisis is accelerating the decline of printed mail even further. The volume of letter mail delivered by Posti decreased a record-breaking 24% in April-June from the corresponding period in 2019,” said Yrjö Eskola, senior vice president, postal services, at Posti.
According to Eskola, a regional delivery solution where letters, magazines and advertisements are delivered in connection with the early-morning delivery of newspapers may improve the cost-efficiency of delivery operations. Maintaining two separate delivery networks will become unprofitable in upcoming years as the delivery volumes will decrease significantly. Posti operates entirely without public funding.
Eskola continued, “This plan is about moving the letters and magazines delivered in the daytime to be delivered in the early-morning delivery together with newspapers. By combining the deliveries, we will ensure that our deliverers have enough mail to carry despite the drastically declined volumes of printed mail. This will keep the delivery cost of individual items at an affordable level. This is essential for both media corporations and magazine and newspaper subscribers.
This change is being planned for four municipalities in the Pirkanmaa and Satakunta area. The affected municipalities and their postal codes are Virrat (34800), Urjala (31700, 31720, 31760 and 31830), Merikarvia (29900) and Mänttä-Vilppula (35700, 35820 and 35990).
No decisions have been made to carry out similar changes in other Posti early-morning delivery areas. The majority of Finland does not have an early-morning delivery network for newspapers so mail is delivered only with the daytime delivery.
Early-morning deliverers in Pirkanmaa and Satakunta have delivered letters and other items in early-morning delivery already when they were deliverers of the Alma Media subsidiary Alma Manu Oy. At the start of this year, Posti assumed responsibility for newspaper delivery in the area following an acquisition.
In Finland, there are more than a dozen delivery companies that deliver letter mail in the morning together with the newspapers.