Please wait!
22.03.2023
Continuing the modernisation of the company, this March Latvijas Pasts supplemented the company’s fleet with 340 new, environmentally friendly cars. The new cars will be received by postmen in areas where the universal postal service is provided at customers’ places of residence, and they will help to deliver items more efficiently. This is just one of the steps the company has taken in terms of sustainability.
“As important as it is for the new cars to be environmentally friendly, it is also important that they serve our postmen well, so they can have an easier time on the job. It is also often true that postmen fulfil a social function, just like teachers or doctors. Especially in rural areas, the postman is like a good fairy, who not only delivers newspapers and postal items, but also talks to the client and stops at a shop to buy some bread on the way to the client. The postman is often the only person a retired person sees in a week. Therefore, my wish for every resident of Latvia is to value and honour our postmen and, when you see them at work, whether they are driving a new car or using another means of transportation, go ahead and say hello and thank you,” Jānis Vitenbergs, Minister of Transport, emphasises.
In order to promote more environmentally friendly delivery of postal items, one of the most important criteria in the procurement of new company cars for postmen was the fuel consumption index. According to estimates, the new cars will consume up to 25% less fuel, reducing pollution in the environment caused by transport. The replacement of the car fleet will also help to reduce CO2 emissions. Based on calculations, Latvijas Pasts will thus be able to reduce CO2 emissions by 75.75 tons, or 28.58%, per year.
“Like other modern companies, Latvijas Pasts strives to operate sustainably and reduce its ecological footprint. At the same time, road transport, which is considered one of the major air pollutants, is a vital tool for providing high-quality and efficient postal services, and we cannot do without it. It is mostly used for item deliveries in rural areas, where the population density is low and distances between addressees in country houses can reach up to ten kilometres. Customers in rural areas often take the opportunity to apply for the receipt of postal services directly at their places of residence, as this is more convenient and cost-effective, especially in cases where they do not have their own private vehicle, but public transport is infrequent. Therefore, replenishing the car fleet with new, more environmentally friendly cars is a logical step that we implement as part of the measures outlined in the company’s sustainability strategy,” Mārcis Vilcāns, Chairman of the Board of Latvijas Pasts, points out.
The company’s head also stresses that the chosen postmen’s car, a TOYOTA Yaris Cross with a 1.5-litre gasoline engine and automatic transmission, has increased ground clearance, which will significantly facilitate postmen’s work when travelling along country roads. In addition, modern security systems, such as improved GPS monitoring, will make it easier to monitor quality assurance of item delivery to all customers, which is a big advantage.
The full-service lease of postmen’s company cars for five years is provided by Pilna servisa līzings SIA, the winner of the procurement launched by Latvijas Pasts. Besides regular service maintenance at dealer’s car care centres, the lease agreement also covers the provision of a replacement car if a permanent vehicle requires repair, as well as remote monitoring of the vehicles’ technical condition to ensure that the necessary repairs and maintenance are scheduled in time, without creating risks of item delivery disruptions. The lease price includes technical maintenance and inspections, repairs, tyre change and OCTA/CASCO insurance for the entire lease period.
Adding more environmentally friendly cars to the fleet is not the only project of Latvijas Pasts to achieve sustainability goals. The company plans to set up a park of solar panels with a total capacity of 110 kW, and in 2023, it plans to acquire cargo vans. Part of the cars included in this procurement will be electric cars that will be used to deliver items.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices and an extensive network of indoor and outdoor parcel lockers. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, parcel locker, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with around 3,000 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, 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 Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Vineta Kļaviņa | Senior Public Relations Project Manager
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv, vineta.klavina@pasts.lv
Latvijas Pasts social media profiles:
Twitter; Facebook; Instagram; Linkedin