The Hague, Royal TPG Post today officially changes its name to Royal TNT Post. The new name was first announced on 14 September 2005. Many measures have since been taken to prepare the company for the rebranding. To celebrate the transition from TPG Post to TNT Post, a pre-franked envelope will tomorrow be distributed door to door, enabling people to send a letter or card free of charge as a gift from TNT Post.
Read MoreDeutsche Postbank AG could consider a tie-up in a wide variety of areas with the postal savings bank to be created in Japan next year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reportd, quoting chief executive Wulf von Schimmelmann.
The privatization of Japan Post’s operations is set to begin in October 2007.
Von Schimmelmann said in a interview with the business daily that Postbank would be eager to share its expertise with the Japanese postal savings bank in such areas as branch management, marketing, product lineup and risk management.
Referring to a plan to take the postal savings bank public in 2011, von Schimmelmann said a cross-shareholding relationship between their banks might be a useful arrangement.
He said Postbank does not have an interest in holding a majority stake, but might consider owning some shares if the Japanese bank desires.
Read MoreAtlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (AAWW), leading provider of global air cargo services, announced today that its subsidiary, Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc., has executed a letter of intent for DHL to acquire a 49% equity interest, including a 25% voting interest, in the scheduled-service business of Polar Air Cargo, Inc. (Polar), in exchange for USD150 million in cash.
The proposed transaction includes a strategic 20-year commercial arrangement that will ensure DHL access to aircraft capacity in key global markets, while providing the AAWW companies with a valuable, long-term customer and potential revenue stream in excess of USD3.5 billion over the full-term of the agreement, although there are certain early termination rights at five-year intervals. In addition, DHL will have access to available additional aircraft capacity from AAWW’s subsidiary Atlas Air, Inc. (Atlas).
Read MoreThe Royal Mail is forcing managers to reapply for their jobs, putting it on a collision course with a leading union and at risk of industrial action.
The state-owned postal service is reviewing its management structure, and has asked a number of managers to reapply as part of the process.
A spokesman said: “Royal Mail is facing tremendous challenges and changes. This effects everybody in the company. Our managers, just as much as our postmen, are committed to making sure that we’re delivering customer service and the right leadership.
The Royal Mail has 1,500 delivery offices, each of which has at least one manager. Insiders say the Royal Mail is seeking only to shake up the management structure, and is not looking to cut jobs.
But Amicus, which represents Royal Mail managers, is worried that jobs will still be lost and has not ruled out industrial action.
Brian Scott, assistant national secretary, said the union had already held meetings with the Royal Mail but so far had failed to come to an agreement.
Read MoreIn today’s shipping business, it’s easy to get your package to Singapore overnight if you’re willing to pay for it.
So being accessible to busy customers is the way to stand out.
FedEx partnered with Kinko’s to get into 24-hour stores. UPS teamed up with Mail Boxes Etc. and operates more than 5,600 locations worldwide.
Now, it’s the U.S. post office’s turn. The government isn’t planning to go 24/7, but it is trying to be more convenient. First it opened automated postal centers in some post office lobbies, and now it has licensed postal outlets inside retail stores.
Over the past year or so, the U.S. Postal Service has been rolling out these machines, called Automated Postal Centers (APCs), at select post offices across the state.
With step-by-step instructions available in English and Spanish, the machines also are accessible on days and at hours that the tellers are not; and at some locations, available 24 hours a day.
The APC does everything short of face-to-face transactions. While tellers still handle money orders, bulk drop-offs and other tasks, the machines, which take credit and debit cards, dispense stamps, weigh packages and calculate postage for Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail and Parcel Post items. Of the 21 machines in North Jersey, the machine at the Westfield Post Office is getting the greatest use, averaging USD1,400 in business a day, while Elizabeth is second, at USD1,200. Trailing closely behind are South Plainfield and Jersey City, said Elizabeth Postmaster Carmen Fede.
The machine has received mixed reviews from the postal workers union, where members have expressed concern that it will be used to cut staff. The primary purpose of the machines is customer convenience. The machines are extremely reliable and help reduce the lines at the post office, he said.
Read MoreThe U.S. Postal Service has been forced to change how it serves customers because Americans are relying on the Internet to stay in touch and pay their bills.
From 2003 to 2005, the volume of first-class mail handled by the postal service decreased about 5 1 / 2 percent. First-class mail includes most cards, postcards, letters and large envelopes.
Also declining has been the number of blue collection mailboxes on street corners and in shopping center parking lots.
Oklahoma has about 3,000 blue boxes, said Larry Flener, U.S. Postal Service consumer affairs manager in Oklahoma City. Thirty percent of those boxes are in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Nationwide, the postal service has reduced 42,000 blue boxes to scrap metal since 1999. About 295,000 boxes remained standing at the end of 2005.
Read MoreRoyal Mail’s biggest rival wants to put its own postmen and women on the streets across the country within five to ten years in the biggest assault on the state-owned postal group’s business.
TNT, which has the largest share of the competitive postal market with 1.2 billion items this year, is expected soon to begin a trial of its own delivery system in a city centre and then follow that with deliveries in the UK’s main cities. Peter Bakker, chief executive of TNT, said the growth of TNT in the UK meant that it wanted to have its own delivery network “sooner rather than later” and that this could be achieved in five to ten years if growth continued at its present rate.
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