Offpeak postage? What the.... ???

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Just picked up the mail and got (yet another) bundle from Reader's Digest, with the usual printed "prepaid" envelope and today I noticed it's stamped " Postage Paid (Offpeak) Australia" Hang on... "Offpeak" postage? :eek: Does anyone know what this actually means? :confused:

I know for a fact that if I buy a stamp when no-one else is in the post-office I will not get a discount. And if I tried getting service during what I'd consider off-peak hours (aka the "wee" or "witching" hours) I'd be more likely to get a summons than cheap postage.

Offpeak? Surely it doesn't mean they only deliver it after the posties have knocked off? That'd give new meaning to the term "snail-mail." Or does it mean that it costs more to send the same bundle to a mountain top?

Offpeak? Are they playing mindgames with us?

[oges]

Had a quick Google and found the possible answer:

* Between metropolitan areas of capital cities and country locations within the same State

- Normal - 2 Business Days

- Off-Peak - 5 Business Days

I guess its for when you dont overly care how long it take for the mail to get to the recipient

[Driver]

I'd be fascinated to know how they handle "Off-peak", as opposed to "Normal" mail between, say Perth and, say Williams.

It takes about 2/3 hours to drive to Williams from Perth (the variance allows for different traffic conditions within the metro area and different types of vehicle). If "normal" mail takes 2 business days, then I assume there is roughly a day consumed in handling the mail at either end and roughly a day to move it from Perth to Williams. So far, no mystery.

But how does the "Off-peak" mail take another three business days? Do they deliberately leave it lying around for a day and a half at the Australia Post depots at either end, or what? And how is this less costly?

Serious question. I'd really like to know how this works.

Post-script:

Back in the UK they used to have "First-Class" and "Second-Class" mail. Probably still do. This was easy to understand in the old traditions of the British class system. First-Class mail got whistled through with the serfs all tugging their forelocks and calling it "sir". The second-class stuff got trodden under foot and held up at every turn, with people sneering at it and generally patronising it whenever it looked like it might get ideas above its station.

[CameronPotter]

I assume that Off Peak is more based upon the idea that if there is spare room in a truck (or they are passing by or whatever...) they will throw it in and deliver it. Whereas, they won't go out of their way (until five days time after which it probably gets popped into the normal mail pile). :confused: :confused:

Cam

[Greg Q]

Post-script:

Back in the UK they used to have "First-Class" and "Second-Class" mail. Probably still do. This was easy to understand in the old traditions of the British class system. First-Class mail got whistled through with the serfs all tugging their forelocks and calling it "sir". The second-class stuff got trodden under foot and held up at every turn, with people sneering at it and generally patronising it whenever it looked like it might get ideas above its station.

Excellent, Driver. A First-Class sense of humour at work.

[Driver]

I assume that Off Peak is more based upon the idea that if there is spare room in a truck (or they are passing by or whatever...) they will throw it in and deliver it. Whereas, they won't go out of their way (until five days time after which it probably gets popped into the normal mail pile). :confused: :confused:

Cam

Spare room in a mail truck - wouldn't have thought that was ever going to be a real problem. By the way, with some WA locations, air transport is a far more normal proposition for "normal" mail. Driving from Perth to Kununnurra is a bit more than a cut-lunch and a water-bag job

Now I can begin to see a bit of logic creeping in. If "normal" mail for regional locations is sent by air and "off-peak" is sent by road then the 2 days / 5 days things makes sense for the really remote locations.

However, surely anything within say 10 hours drive would not be constrained in the same way. In WA, this would bring in places like Carnarvon, Kalgoorlie and Esperance - all quite far away.

Maybe they should have a system based on distance for intra-state mail. Or is this all too hard?

[Bob Willson]

I assume that Off Peak is more based upon the idea that if there is spare room in a truck (or they are passing by or whatever...) they will throw it in and deliver it. Whereas, they won't go out of their way (until five days time after which it probably gets popped into the normal mail pile). :confused: :confused:

Cam

Very close Cam.
Off peak means that the mail will be sorted at the large mail centres during the times whern the other (non off peak) mail is scarce. One must also have several thousand of these articles in order to claim the discount for off peak.

Also.many businesses now pre-bar-code their mail which means that Post doesn't have to go to the effort of barcoding that piece of mail itself.

Using Readers Digest as an example. They will bar code their books, the books will then be tipped into a machine that can read those barcodes and from there the books will be sent directly to a container for that area. ie Gold Coast (Robina) or Gold Coast (Tweed Heads) etc.

The same applies with mail (Letters). They would all go through a barcoder machine which can read the barcodes and sort the mail into individual postmans delivery rounds. If they were not barcoded then they would have to go through a different process altogether, one which involves far more steps. I am not sure of these figures, but I seem to remember that it costs a mail centre about 1.7 cents to process a pre-barcoded letter and about 12 cents to process a normal consumer letter.

[Driver]

Thanks, Bob.

All that makes sense.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Ahhh... I see. I'd also assumed it had something to do with the delivery and, like Driver, I couldn't see how it'd work. It's all in the sorting, eh?

Thanks for sorting it out, no pun intended, it's one of those gad-fly thoughts that would've haunted me through the wee hours tonight.

[Daddles]

Bob, this thread was going really well, then you had to bring logic, knowledge and sense into it. Surely this is outside the guidelines for this forum :confused:

Richard

[Driver]

Bob, this thread was going really well, then you had to bring logic, knowledge and sense into it. Surely this is outside the guidelines for this forum :confused:

Richard

Richard

You could have a point there!

Bob, you may have to be referred to the tribunal for a potential Code Violation. We'll get back to you. You might want to consider briefing your legal advisers.

[Gra]

Now its time to atatch a brick to that reply paid envelope and send it back to them.....

Unless it was mail you requested.

[Bob Willson]

This is all just a terrible misunderstanding. Somebody has been using my avatar and besmirching my name.

Off peak mail. Ahem, yes, absolutely, um.. a reduction in mail costs for people who live on mountain tops. No, I mean who don't live on mountain tops .. no, I mean people who live or don't live inside mountain tops. Something to do with the postie getting extra for steep hills .. I dunno, but we must find this person who is able to pretend to be whoever they like.

It wouldn't be would it? I bet it is. He's the only one with this sort of unfettered power. Let's get him .... yaaaaaaaah.