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.
Meeting documents
Transport group
IATA-UPU Contact Commitee
UPU-Rail Contact Commitee
Basic Air Conveyance Rate
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).
Internal air conveyance dues
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.
For this purpose, Designated Operators are requested to send, every year, their data for the weights and costs for letter post forwarded by air within their country, using the questionnaire linked below.
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International Bureau Circulars (2020-2019-2018)6/2/2020
Airmail distances and maximum rates
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Information for the calculation of air transit/transport costs.
Transport publications
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Postal Transport Guide (2018)2/21/2020The guide is an information source for postal staff dealing with postal transport and transit. It deals with all elements of international postal transport and transit.
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Electronic Consignment Security Declaration (eCSD) Guidelines (2018)2/21/2020These Guidelines are aimed at the designated operators (DOs) that are implementing the electronic consignment security declaration (eCDS) for mail consignments. The purpose of the Guidelines is to provide DOs with a simple description of how to implement the eCSD and where to find further information.
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The CN 68 list contained the airmail information for each country of the UPU or each dependent territory of a member country. The list has been discontinued, and any relevant information has been transferred to the Letter Post Compendium, the Transport section of the UPU website, or the Quality Control System (QCS).
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Framework service agreement between an airline and a designated postal operator (2018)2/21/2020
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Guidelines for establishing an international postal rail transport service (2018)2/21/2020For all stakeholders, postal rail provides unique opportunities to improve business processes and to facilitate and promote global trade, thus leveraging vast postal and rail networks and promoting regional integration and economic competitiveness. The objective of the guidelines is to provide an information source for designated operators, customs admin¬istrations and railway companies dealing with the international transportation of postal items by rail.
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Guidelines for using the framework service agreement between an airline and a designated postal operator (2018)2/21/2020The guidelines aim to provide supplementary information on the provisions of the framework agreement in order to help designated operators better understand and use the provisions.
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2/21/2020Contains international and domestic airmail distances. Domestic routes assigned for international transit cover the countries that send their data to the International Bureau for the weights and costs for mail forwarded by air within their country.
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PREDES and RESDES message exchanges: overview and benefits (2019)2/21/2020Exchanging electronic messages PREDES and RESDES allows tracking, assisting in handling anomalies; reducing manual data entry, cost savings; monitoring and analysis leading to quality improvements.
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QCS Dispatch - Service and volume report - User Guide2/21/2020This guide is in three parts:
- Part A is intended to provide information and explanation regarding how the report can be used to analyse and improve postal operational processes.
- Part B is intended to illustrate how to use the features of Excel when using the QCS Dispatch - Service and volume report Excel file.
- Part C is a short supplement to part A, primarily to assist in interpreting the report contents.
UPU–IATA Cooperation
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EDI Guide: Providing end-to-end airmail visibility2/21/2020By leveraging and expanding, the electronic data interchange (EDI) standards and technology already in place you can help your company grow its market share and increase revenues, improve customer service, reduce costs, and promote efficiencies.
Useful links