Canada Post urged to end door-to-door mail delivery. What other countries have considered it?
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Denmark is the only country, at present, with firm plans to stop door-to-door postal delivery of letters.
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Denmark's state-run postal service, PostNord, has announced it will stop delivering letters entirely by the end of 2025, terminating a 400-year tradition. It will include the removal of all post boxes and the cessation of all letter deliveries, meaning there will be no door-to-door postal delivery of letters anywhere in the country.
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As digital mail services became established, the use of letters fell dramatically in Denmark, says PostNord. Letter numbers have fallen from 1.4 billion in 2000 to 110 million last year.
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Public services send communications via a Digital Post app or other platforms. Bank statements, bills, and correspondence from local authorities are sent electronically, says PostNord, making the letter market unprofitable.
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So, instead, PostNord is switching its focus to parcel deliveries. It means 1,500 workers out of a workforce of 4,600 face losing their jobs.
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What is the U.S. doing to increase post office efficiency?
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The U.S. considered the end of door-to-door delivery around the same time that Canada started to ponder it, the Associated Press reported back in 2013. But the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) continues to deliver mail directly to homes in places where this service is feasible and well-established.
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However, more centralized delivery is increasing, mainly through the use of cluster box units or curbside mailboxes in new developments. These centralized mailboxes serve multiple residences and are designed to reduce delivery costs and improve efficiency.
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Meanwhile, the USPS is refining its service standards and delivery operations to improve efficiency and reduce cost. That includes allowing postal carriers to travel greater distances and consolidating processing centres, but these changes have not equated to ending door-to-door delivery completely.
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In the U.K., the Royal Mail is drawing attention to the courier option as a potentially better means for package delivery abroad, while also promoting a new service to send British-themed gift boxes that include a range of popular food items.
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