PTT entry into logistics business signals plans to expand (Turkey)

The Postal and Telecommunications General Directorate (PTT) has launched operations in the logistics business to establish a powerful rival against the industry’s burgeoning private companies.
Seeking a way to increase business as its main service field, mail delivery, which is rapidly becoming obsolete with the rising dominance of e-mail, PTT is shifting its attention to the logistics business. Its new service, PTT Kargo, was introduced at a press conference in Ýstanbul yesterday with the participation of Transportation Minister Binali Yýldýrým. The minister said PTT is continuously expanding its sphere of interest to cover more and more fields for the sake of better and faster service.
In 2004 the PTT initiated the PTT Bank project to provide its customers with inexpensive and reliable banking services. Money transfers via PTT’s network have proven attractive to the general public because sending money through PTT channels costs roughly one-tenth the charge to transfer funds by way of a bank. PTT’s extensive countrywide network includes 4,000 offices, 30,000 workers and 5,000 vehicles.
Minister Yýldýrým noted that he was confident PTT Kargo will very quickly achieve an important position in the cargo transport and logistics business, which handled 1.2 billion packages last year. PTT Kargo enters the competition with important advantages, one of the most striking of which is that it will charge a flat rate regardless of distance. For the minister, the creation of a state-run company in the logistics business should not be taken as a blow to the presence of private companies. Instead, this should be seen as an attempt to improve the quality of service in the sector and to empower it with more dynamism.

The Postal and Telecommunications General Directorate (PTT) has launched operations in the logistics business to establish a powerful rival against the industry’s burgeoning private companies.
Seeking a way to increase business as its main service field, mail delivery, which is rapidly becoming obsolete with the rising dominance of e-mail, PTT is shifting its attention to the logistics business. Its new service, PTT Kargo, was introduced at a press conference in Ýstanbul yesterday with the participation of Transportation Minister Binali Yýldýrým. The minister said PTT is continuously expanding its sphere of interest to cover more and more fields for the sake of better and faster service.
In 2004 the PTT initiated the PTT Bank project to provide its customers with inexpensive and reliable banking services. Money transfers via PTT’s network have proven attractive to the general public because sending money through PTT channels costs roughly one-tenth the charge to transfer funds by way of a bank. PTT’s extensive countrywide network includes 4,000 offices, 30,000 workers and 5,000 vehicles.
Minister Yýldýrým noted that he was confident PTT Kargo will very quickly achieve an important position in the cargo transport and logistics business, which handled 1.2 billion packages last year. PTT Kargo enters the competition with important advantages, one of the most striking of which is that it will charge a flat rate regardless of distance. For the minister, the creation of a state-run company in the logistics business should not be taken as a blow to the presence of private companies. Instead, this should be seen as an attempt to improve the quality of service in the sector and to empower it with more dynamism.
PTT Kargo has chosen the motto “Fast, punctual, guaranteed, careful and economical.” Its target is to obtain at least a 10 percent market share in a year. More than half of the packages will be delivered in one day, while the rest will reach their destination in at most two days, depending on distance. Like other cargo transport companies, PTT Kargo will also make use of technology to increase consumer satisfaction; senders will be notified of a successful delivery via an SMS message. If the receiver is not available during the first delivery attempt, a redelivery will be scheduled free of charge.