Czech Republic: Czech Post introduced the first mobile branches

---

The Czech Post is preparing to introduce mobile branches in cars in the countryside, which will have the full function of a postal stone branch. Testing of mobile mail will begin on October 1 in municipalities around Dobruška in the Rychnov region and subsequently in municipalities in the Bruntál region. Representatives of the Czech Post said this during today's presentation of the first two mobile mail cars in Náchod.

According to the Minister of the Interior Jan Hamáček (ČSSD), the idea of ​​a new concept of mobile mail arose during the spring coronavirus crisis, when it was not clear how quickly the post offices would be able to open.

It's a bit of a return to the past. I believe it will work and people will appreciate it, Hamáček said, referring to the former post offices in buses or aviation, which operated in the Czech Republic until the second half of the 1990s.

It is a stone branch on wheels. After evaluating the data from the operation of the pilot operation and finding out the public interest, we will continue to decide on further expansion, said Martin Vránek, Czech Post's director of business development. According to him, the post office could gradually acquire dozens of mobile branches, while the purchase price of more cars should also decrease.

The mobile mail in the first two cars was created by rebuilding Peugeot Boxer vans. Each car came with a conversion for less than a million crowns. Inside the car, the delivery man has equipment, including a safe. The client will stand outside and will be protected from bad weather by an awning. There is also an automatic anticovide disinfectant dispenser at the partition window.

In particular, mobile mail should provide services in places where a post office branch is temporarily closed, for example due to a covid-19 infection or reconstruction. The post office should also use the mobile branch in areas where there is no post office at all. This is an example of the villages of Semechnice, Bačetín and Pohoří around Dobruška, where mobile mail will serve about 1,500 inhabitants. Mobile mail vehicles will have a fixed timetable and will stand in each village for an hour a day.

Czech Post is criticized for canceling branches in the countryside, delays in the delivery of consignments and, more recently, for limiting operating hours. According to data from August, the Czech Post operates a total of 3,200 post offices and employs 29,000 people.