Royal Mail Peak Business Collection Capacity Limit

Royal Mail have announced some service terms and conditions changes for businesses, and the most important to note is their new business collection capacity limits for peak collections.

During the months of November and December, the daily collection capacity provided will be limited to a maximum of 3 times the usual collection capacity used. Royal Mail’s Business collection capacity limit for peak periods will be in addition to any existing volume caps that exist.

• The capacity provided on a business collection will be limited to three times the average size of a usual collection outside of the peak period.
• If you typically have ten yorks collected each day, this will be limited to a maximum of thirty yorks collected per day during the peak period.
• If you typically have one trailer collected each day, this will be limited to a maximum of three trailers collected during the peak period.
• These limits will be in addition to any existing volume caps in place.

Bearing in mind that most retailers see massively increased volumes over the Black Friday and the period in the run up to Christmas, this is a significant limitation on volumes that Royal Mail will be willing to accept.

Royal Mail Peak Surcharge

Royal Mail’s Business collection capacity limit for peak periods comes on top of Royal Mail’s Peak Surcharge, which generally comes into effect from mid November through to the first week of January.

Royal Mail will also withdraw Catalogue Mail from the 3rd August, update Timed Delivery terms, and introduce a surcharge for Tracked Items incorrectly presented (i.e. handed over at consumer drop-off points, such as Parcelshops, Post Offices, and Collect+ sites if you already have a free collection).