Consignia Review of Road, Rail and Air
Consignia, the new holding company for Royal Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and Post Office branches, has announced a total review of its countrywide road, rail and air transport links as part of plans to reshape the entire network to meet demands for faster, cost-effective
services in the future.
The business operates what is believed to be the UK’s largest road vehicle fleet, as well as ovemight rail and air networks covering every part of the country, moving 80 million letters and 500,000 parcels every working day.
Paul Bateson MILT, Consignia’s Managing Director for logistics solutions, says: “The review is driven by our need to ensure reliability and reduce our operating costs. But, in addition, we are looking for an integrated network that gives us maximum flexibility for the future. We need to be able to introduce new products for our customers as well as enhance existing services.”
He says that the changing mail markets mean the nature of products and services – and their relative volumes – are changing, with growth in Consignia of such services as hybrid electronic mail services, business bulk mailings and time-sensitive, guaranteed services.
The review is expected to be complete by the end of this year, and changes to transport networks are expected to take place progressively in the following year or two. Consignia currently spends around £300 million a year transporting mail and parcels in the UK. Of the 80 million letters posted each day, 20 million are delivered locally by road, and five million travel by air.
Consignia has 40,000 vehicles, which cover 640 million miles a year. It also operates nearly 60 trains each night and 40 air services.
Paul Bateson says: “This review is not about tinkering with transport schedules and changing delivery routes. It is about designing from the ground up the best system to deliver letters and parcels on time, most efficiently and reliably to all 27 million UK addresses.
“We need to be able to rely on the transport we use and to have confidence that our transport suppliers can consistently achieve, and then improve upon, the specification as we drive up our quality of service at the most competitive price.”
