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08.12.2016
At the end of the year the volume of postal items around the world increases several times; therefore, in order for an item to reach the addressee before Christmas or New Year, it is essential to get it ready and prepare it for sending in good time. When planning the desired time for the delivery of the item, one must take into account the distance to the addressee’s country as well as the fact that even in Europe items are not always delivered through direct air traffic. A significant precondition for quality delivery of items is also the accurately specified address and the choice of corresponding stamps.
As December is the period when postal establishments around the world have a very intense workload in the run-up to the year-end holidays due to a manifold increase in the volume of items to be handled, the first and foremost requirement that customers should take into consideration is the preparing and posting of items for further shipping in a timely manner. Postal operators of several countries even set special deadlines by which items must be delivered to their countries in order to reach the addressees before the holidays.
This year the relevant information has already been provided to Latvijas Pasts by Belarus, India and Thailand: letters and small packets must arrive in Belarus by the 16th of December, in India – by the 8th of December and in Thailand – by the 20th of December. Previously, such conditions were also put forward by the US, China and other countries.
When sending gifts and holiday greetings, one should take into account the distance to the addressee’s country: the farther the destination, the longer the item is likely to travel, especially if there is no direct air traffic between the countries and the item moves in transit from one country to another. The same conditions must be taken into account when shopping in the most popular foreign online stores: items from China and other Asian stores travel to Latvia in transit via postal operators of different countries, and the shipping time during the pre-holiday period may increase even more due to a growth in the volume of items.
Items between the European countries may also travel longer if the postal operator of the country of origin does not choose to use direct air traffic for the delivery of the items, but to route the items from one country to another in the way most efficient to it, including through cargo transportation by road. In this case the shipping of the item in transit may take up to two weeks.
To ensure that the addressee receives the holiday greetings or a package with gifts in time, it is equally essential to specify the accurate address: an important part of the address is not only the correctly written street name, house or apartment number, but also the postal code. Although an item with an incorrect postal code will reach the addressee sooner or later, that item, however, will travel longer as items are primarily sorted based on the postal code specified.
It is important for the sender to make sure that the stamps of a suitable face value are affixed to the item: if the item is prepared for sending in the post office, the needed value will be accurately determined by the postal employees, but if the sender affixes the stamps himself or herself, it is recommended to double-check the information in the pricelist, which can be found on the website of Latvijas Pasts, or use the available calculator, which is a handy tool for calculating the cost of sending the item.
A convenient way to follow the route of the item at all its stages is to choose a registered postal item: a registered item is assigned a unique 13-character code by the postal operator of the country of origin. Such an item can be tracked either through the item tracking system of Latvijas Pasts or through the relevant country’s item tracking system, in which customers can receive prompt information on the item’s location and status. The customer can follow the route of domestic postal items from the sender to the addressee, while cross-border postal items can be tracked depending on the information published by the country of destination. Registered items can also be tracked and, in addition, the customer is eligible for appropriate indemnity in case of their loss or damage according to the Universal Postal Convention.
Latvijas Pasts would like to remind you that the last day for delivery of items before Christmas this year is the 23rd of December and for delivery before the turn of the year – the 30th of December.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with more than 4,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by TNS Latvia, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Vineta Danielsone
Public Relations Specialist
Phone: +371 67608504
E-pasts: pr@pasts.lv; vineta.danielsone@pasts.lv
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