Who has the best Postal service in the world? There are plenty of studies out there about this, but there really is no easy answer. Today we want to share some insights into a few of the different Postal services from around the world to give you a chance to see what we do differently.
Japan
Japan is a relatively small country with around 24,000 post offices. Japanese Post Offices handle letters and parcels, but in addition also offer banking and insurance. Japanese mailboxes are red and pickup times are listed on the box.
Only the city’s central Post Office is open on weekends, but they do offer a 24/7 counter. This may be only one nighttime counter, but this does mean citizens always have access to a Post Office if they look. Several years ago Japan became an IPO, essentially privatizing their Postal service.
In Japan you can send and receive parcels and mail any time of day (or night). This means that a parcel delivery at 9:00 PM on a Sunday may not even be an unusual occurrence. The Japanese Postal Service is very efficient and is considered to be one of the best in the world.
Australia
Australia faces many of the same issues as the United States when it comes to the large distance that needs to be covered when it comes to mail delivery. It is self-funding and committed to providing services to all citizens.
The Postal Service operates in three markets; letters & associated services, agency services & retail merchandise, and parcels + logistics. This covers mail delivery, insurance, currency conversion, parcel delivery, banking services, and more.
Australia is always looking for innovative ways to improve their Postal program. The mail service in Australia almost always makes a yearly profit, so they’re doing something right.
United Kingdom
In 2015 the Postal Service became privatized. Even so, it maintains Universal Service, meaning items of a certain size can be sent anywhere in the UK at a fixed price. They offer expedited mail delivery, business mail, and promotional mail.
They have a network of 38 mail centers which serve specific areas. Mail is transferred from these mail centers to delivery offices, from which mail is delivered to recipients. There are occasionally reports of mail going missing and not arriving at the final destination.
Privatization has led to a huge loss of jobs and of delivery offices. This means the workload on the Postal employees remaining has increased. The privatization of the UK Postal Service is still controversial in the country.
Singapore
Singapore has only 62 post offices, but it is one of the more innovative Postal services in the world. They provide mail service, self-service automated machines, and several years ago tested droid delivery.
Drones arriving with mail or parcels would make the delivery only if it received an authentication signal within three minutes. Otherwise it would return to the base.
While drones are not being used for day-to-day operations, officials are discussing how to use this new technology. Drones may be used in the future for reaching remote locations. Testing is still being done to determine if drone delivery will ever go mainstream.
South Africa
Many homes in South Africa do not have individual mailboxes. Instead, citizens may opt to pay for a PO box. These PO boxes can be located almost anywhere, such as in shopping centers. There is often a waiting list to be assigned a PO box close to the individual’s home.
Many financial transactions are handled electronically, which cuts down on the amount of mail being delivered at all. The sending and receiving of mail is simply not a large part of people’s lives.
If you do want to send mail quickly, you can go through a private parcel and letter service that can ship quickly both domestically and internationally.
