Coming to a street near you

Posties will soon be stepping out in a new uniform.

Your postie will start to look sleeker, more comfortable and hopefully more visible over the next few weeks as New Zealand Post introduces a new uniform.

The new design would be safer, more comfortable and better suited to the physical requirements of delivering mail, said Postal Services chief executive Peter Fenton.

It is the first uniform redesign in nine years for the country's 2300 posties and 535 Rural Post contractors.

The uniforms will be made of "poly-wicking" fabrics to move moisture away from the body, keeping the wearers warmer and drier.

They also feature ultra-violet protection and bright fluoro-yellow panels to ensure posties can be easily seen.

"Around 80 per cent of posties deliver mail by bike and are particularly vulnerable to cars on the road and backing out of driveways.

"Posties spend half their time inside sorting mail and half outside delivering it, so they need layers to pull on and off easily," Mr Fenton said.

Posties worked in all sorts of weather covering an average of 12km a day on foot or 22km if they were on a cycle, delivering to about 1000 addresses six days a week.

The new uniforms will be released as existing stocks run out.

They were designed by Auckland company Profile, a subsidiary of EziBuy.

- NZPA