Belgian Post to deliver morning newspapers before 0730 H from 2006
Belgian postal services company De Post/La Poste will deliver daily newspapers before 0730 h local time from 2006, the company said on April 12, 2005.
Currently, De Post/La Poste succeeds to deliver some 82 pct of all dailies, or 370,000 newspapers, before 0730 h and some 18 pct between 0900 h and 1430h, as it had agreed with Belgian newspaper publishers. Publishers complained that they lost customers due to the late delivery of the dailies by the post. On the other hand, late delivery has also damaged the image of the postal company.
The delivery was especially irregular in the Walloon region, southern Belgium, and in the rural areas.
In order to improve its newspaper delivery service De Post/La Poste will need to buy 457 new vans and employ 167 full-time personnel, which would cost a total 11 mln euro (USD14.3 mln). One third of those additional costs will be covered by the newspaper publishers and the government will provide a subsidy. De Post/La Poste distributes about two thirds of all morning newspapers in Belgium.
