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Did you know that Royal Mail is a reliable and trusted mailing company in the UK and globally? Between 2017 and 2018, Royal Mail delivered around 1.2 billion parcels and 14.4 billion parcels. Royal Mail follows a set procedure to ensure that your mail is delivered accordingly.
When you send a parcel through Royal Mail, you will be assigned a link to track your parcel. Through their mail tracking system, you will notice that your order changes from time to time under different tag names. In this article, we shall discuss some of these terms so that you can easily track your parcel.
What is Outward RDC?
You have encountered this term on your mail tracking dashboard but wondered what it meant. RDC refers to Regional Distribution Centre. A Regional Distribution Centre comprises a large warehouse, usually of one or multiple companies where daily parcel deliveries happen. When shipping the parcel out of the UK, your mail will be accepted at an RDC before it is shipped out.
What is Outward RDC – Volumetric Acceptance
Once your parcel has been received at a Regional Distribution Centre, your mail status will change to Outward Regional Distribution Volumetric Acceptance. This simply means that your parcel has been received and will be scheduled for shipping from the warehouse to the posted destination.
What is Outward RDC Handheld Acceptance
After your parcel is marked “Accepted” at the warehouse, it is held for some time before it is dispatched to the postage destination. The parcel is still in the system and will soon be marked for distribution. For instance, if you order a printer from Amazon, once Amazon processes your order, it will be handed to Royal Mail for distribution. This makes the parcel achieve the “handheld Acceptance”.
What Does RDC Mean in Royal Mail?
Before letters and parcels are distributed, they will first have to be collected to a warehouse then redistributed to the various destinations. An RDC refers to a Regional Distribution Centre within the UK. An RDC will comprise either one or two companies. Daily mailing happens in an RDC.
Tracking Process by Royal Mail?
Royal Mail allows you to track your mail by assigning you a mail number that you enter in their tracking system. Every time your mail is scanned, the information is updated on the tracking system keeping you up to date on your mail’s progress. It is good to note that the amount of scanning is dependent on the service used. The following are some common terms you will encounter in the tracking system
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Item Dispatched
After you post your mail, you update Royal Mail that you have dispatched your mail to them. This helps them to update their tracking information for mail processing.
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Item Received
This basically means that your item has been received and is already in the Royal Mail system. Depending on the service you use, if you chose delivery confirmation only, you will be updated only when the item has been delivered.
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Item posted at Royal Mail Customer Service
Your item has been dropped off at Customer Service with location, date, and time details. The information is then updated on the Royal Mail system for tracking.
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Internal Technical Issue
This means that the Royal Mail has experienced technical system issues that have affected the normal mailing processes.
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In Transit
Once your item has been received, it is then scheduled for delivery. It is then marked “In Transit” as it moved through the system for delivery. Status and location details will be updated and you can track this using your reference number.
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Pending
There are various reasons why your item would be marked as pending including;
- The fee to pay – this arises when the sender fails to pay the postage costs or when a customs charge is applied on the item.
- Redirection – the recipient can change the delivery address by purchasing a redirection service. This delays the item by a day or two.
- Keepsafe Item – the recipient can request to have the item kept at the delivery office for a longer time by purchasing a Keepsafe service.
- Delivery Attempted – Royal Mail may incur problems accessing your address. They are unable to access the address for mail delivery. They can then try to deliver the item the following day.
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Ready for Delivery
Once your item has been marked ready for delivery, unless you purchase a Keepsafe service, the item will be delivered as soon as possible. Delivery status will be updated under your track number on the tracking system.
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Item Delivered to Safe Place
Due to some unavoidable circumstances, you may not be around to have your item delivered so you opt to use a safe place for the delivery. Once your item has been delivered to the safe place, your item status will be updated.
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Retention Item
Business entities may have a Retention Service that covers days that they don’t open. The item will not be delivered during these days but only when they are open.
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Collected
This is updated once the recipient has collected their item after delivery.
Other Terms in the Royal Mail
POL – this simply refers to a Post Office
Inward RDC Volumetric Acceptance – this means that the item is in the system and is halfway through the process.
Office of Exchange – this is an office in every country where parcels are received before they are shipped out to another country.
Unknown Bag Received- Missing- DUN – this error arises when the label of your mailbag comes off. No need to panic as Royal Mail replaces it and your item is in no way affected.
In Summary;
Sending a parcel or letter using the Royal Mail is easy and efficient since you can easily track the order’s progress through their tracking system. From the dispatch to the collection of the parcel, the mail will have to go through a Regional Distribution Centre where the mailing process begins. Through the tracking system, you get to track your order through the system to when you collect the order.
