Introduction

Photograph of a motorcycle combination used in mail collection, 1932.
The closed lid to the sidecar caused problems if too much bulky mail was to be collected.

The road operations of the Post Office cover the collection, delivery and transport of mail. Over a hundred years of motorised transport operations have provided hard-earned lessons on what works and what does not.

Mails have to be collected, transported from one end of the country to the other, and then delivered. Postal operations can range from intensive city-centre work, to a rural postman delivering a single letter to a lone cottage on the moors.

The diversity of the postal service provide ideal opportunities to experiment with more economic or effective road transport at a local level. Sometimes these trials have proved effective and rolled out across the country. Other have been less enduring.

(Left image) Bedford QL trucks from the Engineer's department at the Palace of Engineering, Wembley, 1947.
A Mini van with advertising panel in Royal Mail red livery, 1960s (Right image)

After many years of contracted services and local trials, the Post Office began to introduce its own motorised fleet in the years following the First World War. Alongside stores and engineering vehicles, this fleet included large numbers of vans and motorcycles destined for mail operations.

Standard body types and a range of sizes have often allowed vehicles to be used for more than one task. But for some purposes specific vehicles suited the work, such as the motorcycle fleet provided for the telegram service. And as well as vehicles to move the mail, special Mobile Post Offices have been used to take the Counters service to the community.

(Left image) A Post Office telephones van from 1932
A Reliant three-wheeled van from the 1970s (Right image)

The annual distances covered by the Royal Mail fleet are vast. In 1927, approximately 10 million miles were covered annually, 1 million in the London area alone. By 1982, the number of miles being covered by the national postal fleet had risen to 320 million.

The famous red colour of the postal delivery fleet once sat in contrast to the green-liveried utility vehicles. National identity continues to be celebrated in Wales with bi-lingual livery, and in Scotland with vehicles that carry the Scottish Crown (without 'E II R'). 

This photograph from a Royal Mail publication shows the vehicles from the Royal Mail fleet as it was in 1993.

Other liveries have been used to promote services, occasions and even ‘green’ credentials, as the postal service continues to experiment with alternative fuels.

Now take a look at our timeline of postal transport, or jump to a time before internal combustion engines with Postboys & Mail Coaches.

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