Author: Archive

Postal dept's FDI move fails to deter foreign investors

Posted by | Nov 6, 2006 | |

The postal department’s proposal to cap foreign direct investment (FDI) in courier services and make small parcels and letters the monopoly of India Post has failed to deter the interest of foreign investors in this booming sector.

While the Overseas Courier Services Company of Japan has firmed up plans to invest here, existing foreign players like Fedex and DHL are also pumping in additional investments.

Overseas Courier Services of Japan recently won the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) nod to invest in the country on condition that the clearance would be subject to government’s policy decisions on the sector.

Fedex is now pumping USD30m more through an acquisition to beef up its business here while DHL is planning significant investments in the next couple of years. It is expected that other international players would also take interest since the current signal from the government is that there is no going back on liberalising this sector. Confusion had arisen over FDI in courier services after the postal department proposed that foreign investment ceiling in the sector should be brought down to 49% from the existing level of 100%.

Citing India Post’s universal service obligation (USO), the postal department had called for an amendment to the Indian Post Office Act to give exclusive rights to the government-owned service for carriage and delivery of letters all across India.

Read More

Polar Air Cargo Begins Service to Beijing

Posted by | Nov 6, 2006 | |

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (AAWW) (Nasdaq: AAWW), a leading provider of global air cargo services, today announced that Polar Air Cargo, Inc. (Polar), would begin scheduled-service operations into Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) starting November 11, 2006 with two weekly frequencies.

Ronald A. Lane, Chief Marketing Officer, AAWW, said, “We are extremely proud to expand our operations in China by beginning scheduled air cargo service into Beijing. Polar reliably serves China through our operations in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Now that we are well-established in these zones, we considered it imperative to expand our mainland presence by focusing our operations on the Beijing-Tianjin Bohai Bay region. We believe that this region will soon be a dominant commercial hub for trans-Pacific air cargo. At Polar, we wanted to launch our service early in this market, and to be among the few air cargo operators to have regularly scheduled service in and out of PEK.”

Read More

TNT completes sale of logistics division

Posted by | Nov 4, 2006 | |

TNT N.V. announces that it has completed the sale of the logistics division to affiliates of Apollo Management, L.P., a leading private equity firm with offices in New York, London and Los Angeles. With the completion of this transaction, Dave Kulik will become CEO of the new Company and therefore resigned from the TNT Board of Management. The now completed sale to Apollo was announced on 23 August 2006. On 29 September 2006 the shareholders’ meeting approved the transaction and on 24 October 2006 the European Commission granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation. The total transaction value is euro 1,480 million on a cash and debt free basis, of which approximately euro 15 million has been received in the form of a 5% equity stake in the new company.

Read More

USPS reiterates CASS/DPV plan

Posted by | Nov 3, 2006 | |

The U.S. Postal Service reminded mailers Nov. 2 that beginning in August mail pieces will receive CASS-related discounts only when the agency’s delivery point validation process confirms the primary number — or the first line — of the addresses.
Jan Caldwell, manager of address management at USPS, reminded attendees at the quarterly Mailers Technical Advisory Committee meeting here at postal headquarters that the new system will improve addressing for mailers and the postal service by eliminating the need to manually process the mail because of incorrect primary numbers.
“Over 348 million pieces of mail are returned or wasted as a result of incorrect or missing primary numbers at an annual cost to USPS of USD60 million,” Ms. Caldwell said.

Read More

Postwatch joins the bloggers

Posted by | Nov 3, 2006 | |

Howard Webber, the newly appointed Chief Executive of Postwatch is delighted to announce that Postwatch’s blog www.postwatchuk.blogspot.com is up and running.

Welcoming the launch of the Postwatch blog Howard said: “Organisations need to innovate or they become stale. Organising a blog is a bold move by Postwatch and shows that we are keen to explore all ways of discussing issues with customers.

“The blog will be updated regularly by Postwatch. More important it can be used by others to give their views on postal matters. Postwatch is looking forward to hearing about customer experiences good, bad or indifferent. We want to hear from all customers and from the postal industry itself. The blog provides a new channel of communication for everyone.”

Read More

FedEx Express to increase net average shipping rates 3.5 percent in 2007

Posted by | Nov 3, 2006 | |

FedEx Corp. will increase the net average shipping rate for FedEx Express by 3.5 percent, which is composed of a 5.5 percent average increase in standard list rates, offset by a 2.0 percentage point reduction in its fuel surcharge. The new rates will be effective Jan. 1, 2007 and apply to U.S. domestic and U.S. export express package and freight shipments.

The fuel surcharge also now will be levied on some transportation-based surcharges such as Residential and Delivery Area surcharge for all domestic shipments and for those U.S. export and U.S. import FedEx Express shipments paid by U.S. payers.

Additional changes will be made to other FedEx Express surcharges effective Jan. 1, 2007. The details of these surcharges will be available on fedex.com by Nov. 10, 2006.

FedEx also will add a new dimensional weight system for oversized, large FedEx Ground shipments. If the dimensional weight is greater than the actual weight, dimensional weight will apply to FedEx Ground shipments that are three cubic feet (5,184 cubic inches) or greater. A FedEx Ground dimensional weight customer aid will be available on fedex.com to assist customers. This will be effective Feb. 5, 2007.

FedEx Ground rates also will increase for 2007. These changes will be announced later this year.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

Have you noticed a decrease of non-EU inbound parcel volumes since the implementation of the new €3 charge?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!


View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest