Transport

In virtually every country, customers can mail letters, packets and parcels to any other country in the world, every day. The staff responsible for defining the operational network for an origin Post must plan transport and transit, also called "Leg 2 – Transportation", to every country in the world, and do so such that it is logical for every day of the week and every season of the year, both for priority mail and non-priority mail.

This can be a very complex task, especially considering the changeability of conditions: daily and seasonal mail volumes, flight schedules, aircraft capacities, office of exchange (OE) working hours, etc. There is added complexity because the operational network plan (e.g. flights and transit arrangements) must be loaded into the dispatch system in a timely manner, so that when the origin office of exchange creates a receptacle label, the routeing information is included. In addition, the quality of this transport and transit planning directly influences the quality of service.

The Transport Group of the UPU Postal Operations Council examines matters relating to all modes of mail transportation. To achieve this goal, it works in direct collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), through the IATA-UPU Contact Committee. It also works in direct collaboration with Rail Organizations through the UPU-Rail Contact Committee on matters relating to the international transportation of mail by rail.

Safe and secure transportation

Within the Global Postal Model, designated postal operators and mail carriers have roles and responsibilities to ensure that transportation of mail products is safe.

Safety and security are enhanced through the sharing of electronic data among the various transport stakeholders. The UPU and several industry groups and international bodies are combining efforts to promote the correct use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) messages in order to overcome the transport challenges in terms of customer expectations and regulatory requirements. EDI interconnects posts and airlines, enabling the creation of an integrated end-to-end network that delivers an enhanced level of customer service through a managed supply chain.

Capacity building

Transport Workshops: UPU and IATA Transport experts share the latest developments concerning postal transport in workshops carried out in various regions of the world to help designated postal operators with implementation of EDI exchange, improvement of Leg 2 performance and meeting all legal requirements.

UPU Publications: UPU Transport publications are important resources either to understand postal transport operations or to plan them.

Transport group

• Meeting of January 2019
• Meeting of June 2019
• Meeting of December 2019
• Meeting of June 2020
• Meeting of October 2020
• Meeting of February 2021

IATA-UPU Contact Commitee

• Meeting of March 2019
• Meeting of October 2019
  
• Meeting of May 2020
• Meeting of October 2020

UPU-Rail Contact Commitee

• Meeting of February 2020

The basic rate applicable to the settlement of accounts between designated operators in respect of air conveyance is approved each year by the Postal Operations Council and published in an International Bureau Circular.

For 2019

0.539 SDR per tonne/km (see IB Circular 2018/60).

For 2020

0.512 SDR per tonne/km (see IB Circular 2019/69).

For 2021

0.486 SDR per tonne/km (See IB Circular 2020/63).

In application of the provisions of article 33-101 of the UPU Convention Regulations, the International Bureau publishes every year a list of Designated Operators entitled to reimbursement of air conveyance dues within their country.