§ 82. Mr. Spriggsasked the Postmaster-General whether there is a limit to the quantity of mail put in mail bags; what instructions are given to Post Office staff responsible for loading out; and whether loaded mail bags are checked for weight, in view of the danger to postal and railway staff who handle this traffic in transit.
§ Miss Pike:In the inland service the specified upper limit of weight for a mail bag containing letters is 60 lb. and for a parcel bag 50 1b. The comparable limits in the overseas service are fixed by international agreement at 66 1b. and 80 lb., respectively. Post Office staff have instructions to apply these limits, but in practice the average weights of mail bags fall well below the permitted maxima. As a general rule it is only bags conveyed by air which are regularly weighed before despatch, but there are facilities for weighing other bags in case of need.