In 2014, 97.7 percent of A Mail letters were delivered to their recipients on time, while the figure is a massive 99 percent for B Mail letters. With figures like these, Swiss Post exceeds the legal directives of the Postal Ordinance and is one of the leading performers worldwide in terms of punctuality.

The countdown begins

The countdown begins as soon as the A Mail letter is in Swiss Post’s hands. It can be posted at over 17,230 locations in Switzerland. These include more than 15,000 letter boxes, around 2,210 post offices and postal agencies and 46 acceptance points for business customers. In roughly 1,280 towns, customers can also hand over letters at their own door (home delivery service).

From the letter box to the letter center

First, the letters are transported to one of the three large letter centers, either by road or rail. Every year, around five billion consignments are sent to Eclépens, Härkingen or Zurich-Mülligen for sorting.

Through the maze of the sorting systems

The letter travels at high speed through the letter center on a maze of more than 34 kilometres of belt conveyors. First, it is sorted by format, processing method and urgency. Then any mail item that hasn’t already been stamped is given a postmark. The item then continues its way through the sorting process. The automated sorting systems recognize both computer-generated and handwritten addresses and sort them according to location. Each machine handles up to 30,000 letters an hour. Everything here relies on the stability of the technology.

The final sprint to the letter box

From the letter center, the letter is sent to the local delivery office. Once there, it is sorted by street, house number and recipient if this has not already been done in the letter center. The mail carriers do their rounds from Monday to Saturday to make sure that letters are delivered on time. Because the A Mail letter has to reach its recipient within 24 hours at the most!

Traffic jams and other obstacles

Traffic jams and building sites can hamper transport by road or rail and jeopardize punctual delivery. In these situations, Swiss Post adopts a flexible approach: if there is doubt that mail can be transported punctually by rail between the centers, for example due to construction work, the decision is taken to transport it by road. Barely legible addresses can also lead to delays. This is where the video coding team springs into action. The video “The journey of the letter” shows how these specialists work, as well as many other interesting facts.

Anyone who wants to experience “the journey of the letter” for themselves can sign up for a free guided tour at one of our three letter centers: www.swisspost.ch/guidedtours