The development of electronic information transmission is causing a revolution in the ways of communication. Before our very eyes and with our participation, traditional paper correspondence is being displaced by electronic mail. How do public postal operators envision their future in connection with this? The question is all the more valid as the logistics services market is developing dynamically. Here is a series of questions for Poczta Polska, the public postal operator.
Marek Sapalski: Publications concerning Poczta Polska are not very frequent and not always flattering…
Poczta Polska: There can be several reasons for this. One can assume that this is related to the un-media-friendly nature of Poczta’s activity. The “two ends” of the logistic process are commonly perceived: the initial one, i.e., the phase of accepting shipments at facilities or posting boxes, and the postmen finishing the process. Perhaps the entire “middle” of the process is not interesting enough for the media. Undoubtedly, an aversion to writing about the “state-owned behemoth” also plays a role. For many, the postal logistics system is too complicated, or simply boring. These are most likely the reasons why only scraps of information appear regarding Poczta, and not always precise ones. An example could be information from a few weeks ago, published in “Kurier Lubelski” and then in “Polska Gazeta Transportowa”, announcing that Poczta Polska intends to build an Express and Sorting Center (CER) in Lublin modeled on the CER in Wrocław. The point is that the CER in Wrocław does not exist yet. The start of construction is planned for the autumn of 2004.
M.S.: Does the activity of Poczta Polska fall within the logistics services sector?
P.P.: Definitely yes. The main task of any postal operator is receiving, sorting, transporting, and delivering shipments. This is a very dynamic process because each of its elements means movement. Defining logistics as the “practical art of movement” (1) , we can assume that everything concerning the organization and realization of movement is logistics. This is, of course, a maximum generalization. Because the movement of goods, services, or information consists of a series of detailed processes:
– planning,
– warehousing,
– sorting,
– kitting,
– packaging,
– forwarding,
– transport,
– distribution,
– communication, i.e., the transmission of information.
M.S.: What then does Poczta Polska move?
P.P: Mainly information in paper form. It can be a private letter, a postcard with holiday greetings, an official decision, a court summons, promotional materials, or an invoice for services rendered. A postal money order contains information that the addressee is entitled to collect a cash amount. On the other hand, postal parcels contain small quantities of goods.
M.S.: Where then is the place of the post office in the area of logistics services?
Poczta Polska: To answer this, this area needs to be systematized. The current trend dictates combining transport, forwarding, and logistics into a single TSL sector. This is due to the blurring of boundaries between them in practice within the activities of logistics enterprises. Express services are treated as a separate sector. One can also distinguish a “sub-sector” of express services – courier services. By association, each of these sectors can be characterized by one word:
logistics – process,
forwarding – cargo,
transport – movement,
express – time,
courier – messenger,
post – mass scale.
M.S.: Why mass scale?
P.P: This is due to the nature of public operators’ tasks and the quantities of shipments moved. Both European Union guidelines (2) and state law (3) emphasize two concepts: universal postal services and the public operator.
Directive 97/67/EC considers it essential to guarantee at the Community level a universal postal service comprising a minimum range of services of a specified quality which are provided in all Member States at an affordable price (…) The aim of universal service is to offer all users easy access to the postal network, primarily by making available a sufficient number of access points and by ensuring satisfactory conditions regarding the frequency of collection and delivery of shipments.
In accordance with the Postal Law, the operator is entitled to perform universal postal services, while the public operator is obliged to do so. The obligation to perform the tasks of a public operator in the Republic of Poland was entrusted to the state public utility enterprise Poczta Polska. There are no rational premises for entrusting this role to another operator – at least in the first decade of the 21st century.
M.S.: What are the consequences of acting as a public operator?
P.P.: The necessity of maintaining a suitably dense network of access points, i.e., branches and posting boxes. The obligation of delivery, and therefore an army of postmen who must ensure delivery at least 5 days a week.
M.S.: What do these obligations stem from?
P.P.: There are four main reasons:
- the customer, i.e., all citizens, all legal entities, and other participants in social and economic life;
- the product that the postal operator must deliver – let us repeat that this is receiving, sorting, transport, and delivery of shipments;
- quality, the standards of which are determined by the Minister of Infrastructure (4);
- continuity: regardless of whether the customer intends to use the services of the public operator, the operator must always be ready to provide them.
M.S.: How can the logistic system of postal services be described most simply?
P.P: Best in graphic form. Please look at Figure 1.
The diagram presents the structure of the three phases of the system:
1. acceptance of shipments,
2. transport and sorting,
3. delivery,
but in reality, transport occurs in all three phases. Each shipment – before it reaches the addressee – must also go through sorting several times.
The first and third phases are carried out by light transport, i.e., vehicles with a payload of up to about 1.5 tons. The middle phase is carried out by three types of transport: road and rail (to a very small extent) for moving the main mass of postal cargo, with a delivery time of up to three days. On the other hand, the air connection network is used for transporting priority letters.
M.S.: European Union directives do not rule out the complete liberalization of the postal services market in 2009. What then does the current state consist of?
P.P.: There is a weight limit reserved for the public operator. Until April 30, 2004, it was – 500 g, on the day of Poland’s accession to the European Union it decreased to 350 g, and on January 1, 2006, another decrease will occur, this time to 50 g.
M.S.: What shipments does the weight reservation apply to?
P.P.: Article 47 of the Postal Law puts it as follows:
a. correspondence shipments, b. advertising shipments, c. shipments other than those mentioned in letters a and b, posted in a manner preventing the inspection of contents and not exceeding the weight limit.
M.S.: Is there a way to bypass the weight limit?
P.P.: There is. Through the application of a correspondingly higher fee. Currently, this is at least PLN 5.70, and from January 1, 2006 – if the basis of calculation (5) does not change – the lowest allowable fee will decrease by 1/6, i.e., to PLN 4.75.
M.S.: When is the complete liberalization of the market, i.e., the abolition of the limit, planned?
P.P.: Currently, there is no unambiguous answer. Article 7 of Directive 97/67/EC contains the following provision: 3. The Commission shall complete prospective studies which shall assess, for each Member State, the impact on universal service of the full accomplishment of the internal postal market in 2009. On the basis of the conclusions of the studies, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council no later than December 31, 2006, accompanied by a proposal confirming, where appropriate, the date of 2009 for the full accomplishment of the internal postal market or determining alternative steps in the light of the study findings (6).
M.S.: What factors determine the volume of postal shipments?
P.P.: The development of IT and wireless communication certainly has an impact. However, it is difficult to see a clear relationship between the development of mobile telephony and the decrease in demand for written correspondence. This is a topic of interest especially for telecommunications operators. The postal services market is shrinking as a result of IT development. However, neither the scale nor the nature of the phenomenon can be precisely determined without detailed research. Besides, Poland – compared to the “old” countries of the European Community – still has several times fewer shipments per capita of the statistical resident. Therefore, an increase in the number of shipments can be expected in the coming years. Other factors are also at play, as the postal services market reacts to the level of technological and economic development.
M.S.: In what direction is the postal services market evolving?
P.P: Several main trends can be identified:
- the displacement of traditional paper letters by electronic correspondence;
- the increase in the share of marketing-related shipments (leaflets, offers, samples, etc.); marketing greatly drives paper correspondence;
- standardization of letter shipments; computer printouts are standardized after all, and the most common format is A4, which when folded in 3 can be put into a DL envelope (110 x 220 mm);
- automation of enveloping; the popular name “inserter” does not mean a machine for producing envelopes, but a device for automatically inserting correspondence into envelopes, i.e., enveloping (7), besides, there are already “combines” combining printing, material compilation, and enveloping;
- the development of e-commerce – to fulfill an order placed electronically, physical goods must be moved, most often with the help of an express, courier, or postal company.
Footnotes
(1) The process of defining logistics is not closed – in literature and publications, many different, more or less complex definitions can be found without major difficulties. For our purposes, i.e., defining so-called applied logistics, the concept of the practical art of movement is sufficient.
(2) DIRECTIVE 97/67/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of December 15, 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service.
(3) POSTAL LAW – Act of June 12, 2003 (Journal of Laws of 2003 No. 130 item 1188).
(4) REGULATION OF THE MINISTER OF INFRASTRUCTURE of January 9, 2004 on the conditions for performing universal postal services
(5) (…) three times the fee for a shipment of the lowest weight bracket of the fastest category specified in the public postal operator’s universal service price list (…) Art. 47 of the Postal Law.
(6) Amendment made by DIRECTIVE 2002/39/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of June 10, 2002 amending Directive 97/67/EC with regard to the further opening to competition of Community postal services
(7) In turn, “personalization” means placing personal data in a document, on material, or on an envelope.