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If you want to send your parcel somewhere in the UK, you will probably use the Royal Mail delivery service. What is this, you ask. The Royal Mail delivery service is a postal delivery service that was first set up by the British government in the year 1516 and has already been in business for more than 500 years. The Royal Mail delivery service is one of the most preferred postal services in the UK.
In the year 2018, the service has a record of delivering around 14.4 billion successful deliveries. The Royal Mail delivery service was founded by King Henry VIII, which provided a cost-effective postal service in the UK. The company is still state-owned but was privatized a while back. Since 2013, shares have also been public and offered to many investors.
Royal Mail Delivery Service
Now, if you have ever sent a parcel through the Royal Mail delivery service or maybe received it once, you might have been through their delivery process already. The Royal Mail delivery service provides each of its users with a unique id that can track the parcel. You need to go to their website, or you can choose to download their app from available stores.
Tip: Make a note of the ID down or save it in case you forget it later.
Now various terms will come to your notice when you see the parcel’s status. One of these is RDC. An RDC or Outward RDC is a term that means that your parcel is at its warehouse and will soon be prepared for delivery.
What is the meaning of RDC?
RDC is also known as the regional distribution center. What is the regional distribution centre, you ask? For any mail to be delivered, the mail needs to be deposited inside the letter or parcel boxed by the Royal Mail service. Once deposited, all the emails from all over the country are taken to specific warehouses. Here the mail and the parcels are sorted out based on their delivery location. The mail is further dispatched from here, depending on such criteria.
The Royal Mail Service Warehouses
The Royal Mail service has many such warehouses around the UK. In 2019, the Royal Mail service consisted of 37 such mail facilities or warehouses. Each of these is located strategically around the UK to cover the maximum area with ease. These warehouses are the backbone of the mail service.
The Atherstone RDC
One of the warehouses in the Royal Mail service is the Atherstone RDC. It is located at 7 Coleshill Street, Atherstone, CV9 1AA. The office is open from 08:00-10:00 on Mondays and Saturdays and closed on Sundays. Other days the office is open from 08:00-10:00, 12:00-14:00 and again from 16:00-19:00. The last collection is around 30 minutes before the closing time.
A few tips, if you decide to go here, make sure that you print the prepaid labels beforehand so that you will not face any issues there. All deliveries in the CV9 1AA area falls under the Atherstone office. You can also choose to call them at tel: 03457 740 740.
Some other Postal terminals
The Royal mail service, as of now, has 37 operational postal centers, and these are all divided based on their location.
The Eastern region has Romford, Peterborough, South Midlands, Norwich, Sheffield, Chelmsford and Nottingham. The Western Region has Chester, Birmingham, Preston, West Midlands, Warrington, and Manchester terminals.
The Northern terminals include Northern Ireland (Newtownabbey), Aberdeen, Carlisle, Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Tyneside. However, the Southern part is subdivided into South West and South East. It includes Truro, Bristol, Cardiff, Dorset (Poole), Exeter, Southampton, Plymouth, Swansea, Swindon and Gatwick, Croydon, Greenford, Medway, Home Counties North, Jubilee, London Central, respectively.
How does the system work?
Well, the process begins from the moment you drop in your parcel or mail in a pillar box or at a post office. The mail is sent to all the depots, and here begins the sorting process. At the local post office, the mail at first gets sorted. A worker will usually pick up the letters and return them to their respective departments.
The mail is sorted according to different categories and whether the address is residential or even an office address. The letters are then bundled and usually in batches. It consists of 100 letters. These are done all by the workers, and then these are taken out by van and delivered around the town.
There is a process along which the whole system works, and not a letter or parcel gets lost or is misplaced. The work begins from the moment the letters are received at an RDC or maybe even at the Atherstone RDC. From sorting them to sending them off for delivery or maybe to other delivery centers, the whole process works smoothly to make sure your mail is delivered safe and sound.
Regional Distribution Centers
The RDCs are the heart of the mail delivery system. These centers are located in places strategic to ease delivery. The RDC offers the warehouse but also filtering and delivery of parcels are well. They make sure the delivery always reaches the correct destination. The Regional RDC include:
- Scottish Distribution Center at Wishaw
- Northern Ireland Distribution Center at Newtownabbey
- South West Distribution Center Bristol, to name a few
Conclusion
You can also apply for work at the Atherstone RDC under the Royal Mail service if you are interested. The RDC looks after the mail received daily, and without the use of these RDC, mail delivery would have been next to impossible. The Royal Mail service is one of the best and trusted by a majority as well. So now you know what delivery service to use next time.
FAQ
What is the meaning of Outward RDC Handheld Acceptance?
You might see this term as the status of the parcel. This means that the parcel is already at a warehouse, and soon after the sorting process and other formalities are over, they will send it for delivery.
