NZ Post will no longer deliver newspapers and parcels to rural addresses on Saturdays.
It says those deliveries are no longer commercially viable. Monday to Friday deliveries will continue as usual.
NZ Post chief operating officer Brendon Main said that right now, Saturday services to rural areas are limited to subscription newspapers and some parcels.
“We deliver very low volumes of items on these days and it costs us more to deliver on Saturdays than we earn from the products we deliver.
“From June 29, NZ Post will no longer deliver newspapers and parcels on Saturdays in the majority of rural New Zealand, with the exception of 17 rural delivery runs that will be phased out by June 2025. These 17 delivery runs are in Canterbury and Waikato and are being kept in place to give our business customers more time to put alternative arrangements in place for their customers.
“It is important to note that there will be no changes to rural mail delivery as we do not currently deliver mail on Saturdays to any address. Rural mail delivery will still take place Monday to Friday, and we will still be fulfilling our obligations under the Deed of Understanding, which is an agreement we have with government that includes how often we deliver mail.
“We acknowledge the effect that ceasing Saturday deliveries may have on Kiwis who live at a rural address. This is not a decision that we have made lightly and we empathise with those who could be impacted by this change,” Main said.
Impacted rural customers can expect to receive a written notification about the change from NZ Post. Rural customers who currently have newspapers delivered on Saturdays are advised to contact their newspaper subscription service.
This change will also affect rural customers who are PO Box holders and currently receive deliveries through the NZ Post Box Lobby service on Saturdays. PO Box holders who are impacted by this change will receive a letter from NZ Post.
NZ Post has consulted with rural delivery partners and said it considered the impact to business customers before confirming this change.
“We need to make some hard decisions about our future and the services we offer as we evolve to meet the needs of New Zealanders. We are continuing to invest in growing an unmatched delivery business, while managing a transition to a commercially sustainable mail delivery service as we move toward a single network for mail and courier delivery as announced on March 26 2024.
“These are not always easy decisions to make, and we again acknowledge the impact on rural communities,” Main said.
