How Fragile Goods are Handled.

A feature of the service is the mode of handling all classes of parcels. No matter what the nature of the package, the utmost care is exercised in the process of handling, particular attention being paid to packages of a fragile nature. Goods such as X-Ray apparatus, for instance, extremely fragile, are conveyed with ease and diligently cared for by the railways until safely delivered at their destination. Special provision is made, also, whereby parcels of a perishable nature are not loaded with packages giving off an odour which might be likely to cause tainting.

A fairly recent innovation is the introduction of a “cash on delivery system,” by which the Department will, if required, and provided the amount does not exceed £25, collect the invoice cost of goods from the consignee. This practice, as it becomes more widely known, is becoming an accepted custom with warehouses. The rate charged for collection, viz. 1/- in the first £1 and 6d. in each succeeding £1 or fraction thereof, enables the Department to transact this business with mutual advantage as between itself and its clients.

What might be called an off-shoot from the parcels traffic, is the conveyance of periodicals, newspapers, and stereotype casts. Some hundreds of tons of these are carried each week to all parts of New Zealand. The special and favourable scale of charges which operates for this class of traffic goes a long way towards keeping the cost of our reading matter down to a minimum.

Various systems of rail and road parcels services are also fostered by the Department.