Zimpost to get 10 buses for mail, passengers

company was in the process of introducing post bus services that would carry both mail and passengers.
“We have already issued a tender for 10 more buses that would add to the two that we already have. The buses will be            servicing various areas,” said Mr Zimbango.
“Our plans are that all low mail volume areas that are in rural areas will be serviced by the post buses so that we limit our costs. The buses will be able to cover areas that are not covered by other buses,” said Mr Zimbango in Bulawayo during the launch of the second post bus to service the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route.
Mr Zimbango said the introduction of new technologies had forced their clients to abandon the traditional way of communicating and in order for the company to remain afloat and relevant, they had decided to diversify into the passenger-mail transport business.
Mr Zimbango said they had to date acquired two buses, one servicing the Harare-Beitbridge route and the latest one that plies the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route.
“With the introduction of new technologies people are now using the latest communication as opposed to letters and we have suffered with the rest of the world in terms of our traditional way of business,” said Mr Zimbango.
“But we have said while the letters will not die we also need to remain relevant and that’s why we are going into new areas like the post bus services ,” he added.
Mr Zimbango said transporting mail and passengers simultaneously was not a new phenomenon as Zimpost used to do so via private bus companies.
Mr Zimbango said they had decided to transport mail with their buses to counter some challenges that they were facing as private buses at times refused to carry their mail.
Mr Zimbango reiterated that mail volumes had now gone down in the past years and they had decided to introduce post bus services to reduce costs.
“If our vehicles run empty or half full it would cost us much. So we have decided to carry passengers and mail so that, economically, we remain sustainable,” he  said
Mr Zimbango said they were introducing the second post bus for Bulawayo-Victoria Falls as the route strategically links them to other countries in the Southern Africa Development Community               region.
“The route would enable us to meet postal operators from Zambia who collect mail from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi. We will pick up the mail and take it to Botswana. The Botswana operator would also take that mail to South Africa,” he said.