Postal strikes give cycle couriers a boost
But they could face stiff competition from new electric vans

Published:
The current round of postal strikes in Britain may be bad news for Royal Mail but it’s proving a boon for cycle courier firms.
City Cycle Couriers who collect and deliver letters and parcels in
Cycle 4 U is turning a profit for the first time it opened six months ago. Owner Stephen Young said a lot of customers had told him they would continue using his service after the strike.
Ken Holder, owner of City Cycle Couriers, works from 7.30am to 7.30pm five days a week to deliver mail across three of the city’s postcodes. He was awarded the necessary licence to deliver letters (post weighing less than 350g) earlier this year by the postal regulator. He has just taken on an extra part-time worker to help ease the workload.
Yellow Jersey Delivery has two full-time employees plus an additional three or four couriers it can call on at busy times to help it deliver around 1,000 letters a week to six postcodes in
Director Jonathan Prime said “We’ve certainly had a lot more inquiries in recent weeks. I wouldn’t say people are unduly concerned about Royal Mail strike action, but they are certainly exploring alternative services.”
All this highlights the role of the bicycle in mail delivery. Loud objections have been voiced at Royal Mail proposals to reduce the role of bicycles in mail delivery.
Staff at
Any increase in the use of vans would need to be squared with Royal Mail’s target of reducing fleet fossil fuel usage by 14 percent by 2010.
A new player on the field is the electric van. Royal Mail have had a couple of battery powered vehicles operating in
They’ve been trialling Matra electric vans elsewhere with a view to using them instead of both bicycles and diesel powered vans.
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