G.P.O. Plans for Parcels by Road
Page 30
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• ONDON, Peterborough, Norwich, Ipswich, Chelmsford and Cambridge— these are the six centres on which parcels are to be concentrated by the Post Office in the forthcoming experiment of changing the latter stages of dispatch from rail to road.
The experiment will cover the whole of East Anglia, and the places named are those between which parcels will be dispatched in bulk by rail. Radiating from the five centres in East Anglia will be new road services, aimed at speeding up and cheapening the whole parcel system.
The parcel post is beginning to worry the Post Office, both as regards efficiency and cost. The number of items handled decreased by 15 million last year, and only part of them were diverted to letter post. The loss on the service in 1961-2 was over £9,000,000. Intense efforts are being made to improve matters—and the public's insistence on quick service is stressing the weaknesses of the present rail-based system.