Rural Post Contractors
ADG made this Official Information request to New Zealand Post Limited
Response to this request is delayed. By law, New Zealand Post Limited should normally have responded promptly and by (details and exceptions)
From: ADG
Dear Sir/Madam,
Pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982, I am requesting the following information concerning rural post contracts and parcel delivery practices:
* A list of all current rural post contracts where the contracted service does not include same-day parcel delivery (i.e., parcels arriving at the depot after the contractor has commenced their daily route and are delayed until the next working day's delivery). For each such contract, please provide:
* The approximate geographical area covered by the contract (e.g., specific rural delivery routes or regions).
* The reason for the absence of a same-day parcel delivery requirement in the contract (e.g., contractual terms, logistical constraints, service level agreements).
* The typical frequency of parcel deliveries under these contracts (e.g., 5 days a week, 3 days a week).
* Any provisions within these contracts that address or acknowledge the delay of parcels arriving after the daily dispatch.
* Any internal policies, guidelines, or communications issued to rural post contractors that specifically address the handling and delivery timeframe of parcels received at the depot after the initial daily dispatch for rural routes.
* Data or estimates, if available, on the average daily volume of parcels that experience a one-day delay in delivery to rural addresses due to arriving at the depot after the relevant rural contractor has departed.
I understand that NZ Post is obliged to respond to this request as soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than 20 working days after its receipt. If any part of this request needs to be clarified, please contact me as soon as possible.
If you decide to withhold any information, please specify the grounds for doing so under the OIA.
Thank you for your time and assistance.
Yours faithfully,
James
From: Customer Advocacy - OIA Officer
New Zealand Post Limited
Kia Ora James,
I am writing in response to your correspondence requesting the
following information:
* A list of all current rural post contracts where the contracted
service does not include same-day parcel delivery (i.e., parcels
arriving at the depot after the contractor has commenced their daily
route and are delayed until the next working day's delivery). For
each such contract, please provide:
* The approximate geographical area covered by the contract (e.g.,
specific rural delivery routes or regions).
* The reason for the absence of a same-day parcel delivery
requirement in the contract (e.g., contractual terms, logistical
constraints, service level agreements).
* The typical frequency of parcel deliveries under these contracts
(e.g., 5 days a week, 3 days a week).
* Any provisions within these contracts that address or acknowledge
the delay of parcels arriving after the daily dispatch.
* Any internal policies, guidelines, or communications issued to
rural post contractors that specifically address the handling and
delivery timeframe of parcels received at the depot after the initial
daily dispatch for rural routes.
* Data or estimates, if available, on the average daily volume of
parcels that experience a one-day delay in delivery to rural
addresses due to arriving at the depot after the relevant rural
contractor has departed.
Please be advised we are treating your request as a request for
information under the Official Information Act 1982.
This email is to acknowledge that this correspondence was received by
NZ Post on 13 June 2025 and to advise that in accordance with the
Act, a response to this request will be provided no later than 14
July 2025.
Kind regards,
OIA Officer
NZ Post
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From: Customer Advocacy - OIA Officer
New Zealand Post Limited
Kia Ora James,
Further to your request under the Official Information Act dated 13
June 2025 (as detailed in the email below), this email is to give you
notice, in accordance with section 15A (1) (a) of the OIA, that NZ
Post requires an extension of time to be able to provide the
information requested. The reason for the extension is that due to
the scope of the request and the operational resources required to
source and collate this information, meeting the original time limit
of 14 July would unreasonably interfere with the operations of NZ
Post.
We are extending the period in which to provide you information to 28
July 2025 but will endeavour to provide you with the information
earlier if possible.
You have the right under section 28(3) of the OIA to make a complaint
to the Ombudsman about this extension.
Kind regards,
OIA Officer
NZ Post
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From: Customer Advocacy - OIA Officer
New Zealand Post Limited
Kia Ora James
Firstly, thank you for your patience.
Please find the information you have requested.
A list of all current rural post contracts where the contracted
service does not include same-day parcel delivery (i.e., parcels
arriving at the depot after the contractor has commenced their daily
route and are delayed until the next working day's delivery).
NZ Post does not hold this information at a central point and so we
will need to request the information from local SD teams and pull
together a current list.
To clarify – NZ Post does not guarantee a ‘next day’ parcel service
in rural areas (nb. what they seem to be describing as ‘same-day’
parcel delivery is what NZ Post would describe as ‘next day’ parcel
delivery). We also note that * Delivery targets are a guide only.
Delivery outside major towns and cities, including to and from rural
or remote areas will take longer. See our Postal Users’ Guide for
further details. For urgent same day delivery we offer an Express
service. Call 0800 501 502 for a pick-up or price.
For each such contract, please provide:
* The approximate geographical area covered by the contract (e.g.,
specific rural delivery routes or regions).
We will confirm the RD number and location for any such runs. Each
RD run has a postcode associated with it – and so this will give the
geographic area covered.
* The reason for the absence of a same-day parcel delivery
requirement in the contract (e.g., contractual terms, logistical
constraints, service level agreements).
This is an interesting question – and would seem to indicate some
level of awareness of our contract provisions(?) NZ Post’s
contractual expectation is that our Rural Delivery Partners will sort
and deliver all mail and parcels product which is presented to them
by NZ Post, on the day it is presented (providing this is before
their daily departure time).
* The typical frequency of parcel deliveries under these contracts
(e.g., 5 days a week, 3 days a week).
We’ll need to confirm the current Rural runs – before we can comment
on this aspect.
* Any provisions within these contracts that address or acknowledge
the delay of parcels arriving after the daily dispatch.
As above, NZ Post’s contractual expectation is that our Rural
Delivery Partners will sort and deliver all mail and parcels product
which is presented to them by NZ Post, on the day it is presented
(providing this is before their daily departure time). Rural
Delivery Partners provide a single-cycle delivery service on their
contracted delivery route. If any product is delivered later into a
depot, after Delivery Partners have departed – it will then be
delivered on the next delivery day.
* Any internal policies, guidelines, or communications issued to
rural post contractors that specifically address the handling and
delivery timeframe of parcels received at the depot after the initial
daily dispatch for rural routes.
No – I think this is covered by my comments immediately above.
* Data or estimates, if available, on the average daily volume of
parcels that experience a one-day delay in delivery to rural
addresses due to arriving at the depot after the relevant rural
contractor has departed.
We do not currently hold any data or estimates on the daily volume of
parcels experiencing a one-day delay, as described.
We could potentially obtain an average daily parcel volume for any
identified runs – but at what point does disclosure of parcel volumes
become a commercially sensitive matter? (and potentially withheld).
Nga Mihi
OIA Officer
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From: ADG
Dear Customer Advocacy - OIA Officer,
Thank you for your response, however based on the information you have provided and the time extension already granted I belive it was fair and reasonable to have expected the informarion to have been collated from your SDM team already, as this is the most critical component of my request it is disappojnting to not be provided with this.
Please provide a timeline for this and the other missing detail to be provided allowing for a complete and comprehensive response to the reasonable request regarding rural parcelc and mail deliveries.
Yours sincerely,
ADG
Things to do with this request
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