LTB 257/25 - New Posting Peg Trial (Revised Version) Within Royal Mail - Background and Update
- Angela Wright CWU Branch Communications Officer
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
No. 257/25
New Posting Peg Trial (Revised Version) Within Royal Mail – Background and Update
Dear Colleagues,
Further to LTB 184/25, issued on 26th August, that sought to update Branches and members on the trial activity linked to a further prototype Posting Peg at the Ary, Ashford, Boole & Seaforth, Bury and Plymouth Delivery units, which followed two previous trials of new Posting Peg designs.
While a series of LTBs have been issued covering all trial activity to date, as a recap, Branches will remember that back in June 2024, Royal Mail started activity linked to trials on new prototype Posting Pegs, which have been overseen and supported by the RM / CWU National Joint Dog Awareness Working Group.
The first trial, which commenced in June of last year, was based on a revised version of the current Mk1 ‘Red’ Posting Peg, but longer, more flexible version and with greater capacity. This new design was simply entitled the White Peg. The trials were held at the Dore, Derby, and Swindon Delivery units and concluded around November 2024.
The feedback received was positive, with users reporting that it improved usability. The individual survey, which followed the trial, highlighted that 78% of users indicated they would be more likely to use this version of the Posting Peg compared to the current ‘Red’ version.
However, the agreed next steps were to develop and trial a completely new prototype introducing additional functionality to the Peg, such as a pen holder, P739 card holder and flat writing surface. This resulted in a new design called the Multi-purpose Posting Peg, which was subject to further trials that commenced in January 2025.
This new prototype design was also trialled at the Dore, Derby, and Swindon Delivery units and was also extended to Chippenham and Rye. Although there was some positive response to the new prototype Posting Peg, the overall feedback from this trial was clear that it could be further improved, particularly by making it smaller and slimmer. The individual survey, which followed the trial, highlighted that 39% of users indicated they would be more likely to use this version of the Posting Peg compared to the current ‘Red’ version.
This then resulted in the most recent trial of a revised version of the Multi-purpose Posting Peg (Mk2 design), which commenced in September and was reported in LTB 184/25. For reference, attached to this LTB are photos of all three trialled Posting Pegs.
Whilst there was some positive feedback following this latest trial, concerns were again raised about the Peg’s suitability and usability on delivery. The individual survey following the trial reported that only 23% of users were more likely to use this version of the Posting Peg compared to the current design.
Given this, further discussions are now planned with Royal Mail to review this feedback via the RM / CWU National Joint Dog Awareness Working Group and consider next steps based on these trials.
While we will continue to update and report to Branches and members alike on further developments surrounding a new Posting Peg design, I would like to again take this opportunity to thank all members and Reps for their time and assistance in these trials to date. This has been greatly appreciated.
Equally, whilst on the surface it may seem somewhat disappointing that the Multi-purpose Posting Peg did not generate more positive feedback in the trials compared to the current ‘Red’ version, ensuring that the developed ideas and concepts, however well-intended, actually work in practice and for our members is, in short, the aim and reason for such trials.
Finally, in setting out the above, it is relevant to remind Branches that letterbox bites are reportable as an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act (Section 3), which followed the Court of Appeal decision in 2022 whereby postal workers do have applied access rights at letterboxes and as such are protected by the Act. Sadly, there remains some confusion in this regard and over trespassing laws, with even some Police Officers offering wrong advice on this issue, if hands / fingers accidentally enter the letterbox aperture. The full details of the Court of Appeal ruling were set out in LTB 220/22.
Further updates in terms of this wider subject matter will be issued in due course. In the meantime, any enquiries to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, email address: Pharacz@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Bouch
Assistant Secretary
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