DHL confident it will retain Postal Service business
DHL confident it will retain Postal Service business
>From JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, January 19th, 2001
By WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER – JOC ONLINE
DHL Worldwide Express is confident that it will retain its international
business with the U.S. Postal Service despite the agency’s new alliance
with
FedEx Express. “We do not see our alliance with USPS to be in jeopardy
since
USPS would be putting all their eggs in one basket,” said Steve Waller,
senior
vice president of strategic development for DHL International Airways.
Under a contract signed earlier this month, FedEx will handle domestic air
transport of priority and express mail for the Postal Service.
DHL handles international air transport, customs clearance and delivery of
documents and packages weighing up to 70 pounds for USPS from most areas
in
the United States to most of the world under a service called Global
Express
Guaranteed. The DHL-Postal Service alliance began in April 1999 with
two-day
deliveries of documents from 11 U.S. cities to 19 countries in Europe. It
was
significantly expanded last October to include packages and a much broader
geographic area.
The contract contains an escape clause permitting either party to
terminate
the contract after providing a certain period of notice.
FedEx officials have declined to comment on the prospects for expanding
the
domestic alliance with the Postal Service to include international
shipments.
However, they clearly hope that it can go beyond domestic air transport
and
putting drop boxes at Post Offices. FedEx spokesman Greg Rossiter cited
the
opportunities offered by the carrier’s “unparalled global market.”
Waller, however, contended that DHL is “the acknowledged international
specialist.”
JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, 19th January 2001
