France/ In the Jura region, a mobile post office will criss-cross these eight communes for a year.

A mobile post office will be visiting eight towns in the Jura to meet local residents. We explain how this experiment works.

Starting this Saturday, April 27, 2024, La Poste will be experimenting with a mobile post office model, to reach out to residents who have no or no longer any post offices.

A sort of yellow camper van, with a counter and a letter carrier on board, it will travel to communes to offer La Poste's essential services: sending mail, parcels, postal bank services, meal delivery...

Which towns are involved?

The mobile office will pass through eight communes: Colonne, Château-Chalon, L'Etoile, La Chailleuse, Frébuans, Etival, Mesnois and Cressia, serving 2,726 inhabitants .

The choice of communes was made in consultation with elected representatives, as part of the postal presence commission.

An appointment with local residents

The mobile office will operate five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday, with stops of 2 to 3 hours depending on the commune. The route will be the same every week, to establish a regular rendezvous with local residents.

The truck will be driven and manned by three letter carriers, Adeline, Karine and Baptiste, who have undergone 400 hours of training to meet the varied demands of the service.

"I chose to apply because I wanted to get back in touch with people," explains Karine.

"A post office is bigger, more informal... Here we have a small 9^m2 space with everything we need, so we have more time to spend with people. In addition to our traditional missions, we'll be playing a somewhat social role, to break the isolation."

Helping to maintain public services

"Through this initiative, La Poste is demonstrating its determination to boost its presence in rural areas and, more broadly, to help maintain public services throughout the country." Philippe Dorge, Executive Vice President of La Poste Group in charge of the Services-Courrier-Colis branch, said at the inauguration of the mobile post office in Mesnois on Friday, April 26, 2024.

"The mobile office is also a France Service outpost, directing citizens to dedicated services Pôle emploi, Caf, France Rénov... or guiding them through administrative procedures."

This experiment, co-financed with the Banque des Territoires, will run for a year and will be continued if it meets a need and is satisfactory to users.

Source: actu.fr/