Author: Archive

Industry cannot ignore labour market changes

Posted by | Sep 18, 2006 | |

The scale of recruitment and training activities in freight and logistics is demonstrated by some stark statistics provided by the chairman of a leading recruitment agency for the industry.

“Our sector employs around 33m people in the UK,” says Jim Cleary chairman of Surrey- based recruitment agency George Henderson Recruitment. “If just 10% of these ‘turn over’ each year, that means 330,000 – vacancies to be filled. With the population of the 48 countries that comprise the whole of Europe at 729m, perhaps 17- 18m might be engaged in
transport and related industries plenty of scope. for candidates and recruitment companies alike.”

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Mandatory training is set to grow

Posted by | Sep 18, 2006 | |

Traditionally, training for the industry has been divided into mandatory and voluntary parts. This distinction is likely to disappear, or at least become much less apparent, as the scale of mandatory training is set to grow over the next few years.

A significant example of the changing environment is the introduction of new, tightened mandatory training due to be introduced in 2009 for HGV drivers, says Ian Hetherington, CEO of Skills for Logistics, an organisation established two years ago to raise training standards throughout the logistics chain.

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Six VCs put their stamp on history

Posted by | Sep 17, 2006 | |

Six holders of the Victoria Cross are to be immortalised on a set of stamps to mark the 150th anniversary of the introduction of the medal.

And as a reminder of modern heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan, the presentation pack will include a tribute by Gen Sir Peter de la Billiere, the commander of British Forces in the first Gulf war.

The Royal Mail heroes include Midshipman Charles Lucas, the first person to win the VC. Michael Adams, 61, a broker from Oxfordshire and the great-grandson of Midshipman Lucas, supports the launch of the stamps on Thursday, as does Col Rewati Rai, a soldier in the Indian Army and the son of Cpl Agansing Rai, a Gurkha who won the VC in 1944 for attacking a Japanese machine gun nest in Burma.

Midshipman Lucas was serving on HMS Hecla during the Crimean War when his ship came under fire. When a live shell landed on deck, the 20-year-old grabbed it and hurled it overboard. The shell exploded as it hit the sea, but the sailor’s swift and heroic action saved many lives.

Boy 1st Class John Cornwell was only 16 when, serving in the Royal Navy in the First World War, he died heroically at the Battle of Jutland. Also honoured are Noel Chavasse, a First World War Army doctor; Charles Upham, a New Zealander, who was sent to Colditz; and Albert Ball, a fighter ace who was lost in action in 1917.

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Deutsche Post CEO wants to cut 150 mln eur from consulting budget

Posted by | Sep 17, 2006 | |

Deutsche Post AG chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel told company managers at a recent meeting he wants to cut more than 150 mln eur per year from the nearly 500 mln eur consulting budget, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported without citing sources.

At the meeting, Zumwinkel encouraged managers to come up with innovative ideas without the assistance of external advisors, the newspaper wrote.

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USA: Federal Express awarded contract for international cargo

Posted by | Sep 17, 2006 | |

Federal Express, El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded a USD17,704,603 fixed-price requirements with economic price adjustment contract to provide for door-to-door services for international cargo movement of perishable items for the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency, parent organization of the Defense Supply Center, Philadelphia. An average of 8.5 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for commissaries and restaurants, and frozen foods, milk and dry subsistence for re-stocking Navy ships, which is transported per year from San Francisco to customers in Korea, Japan and Guam plus emergency shipments throughout the Pacific. 80 percent of the shipments are to re-stock the commissaries in the Pacific. At this time, no funds have been obligated. Solicitations began June 2006 and negotiations were complete September 2006. This work will be complete September 2007. Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is the contracting activity

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Chief urges swift action over local post offices

Posted by | Sep 16, 2006 | |

The head of the body regulating postal services warned last night rural sub-post offices face near “freefall” unless a Government decision about the future of the network is taken soon.

PostComm chairman Nigel Stapleton issued the dire prediction as he ended a tour of Scotland in the far north with a visit to a pilot mobile post office at Reiss, near Wick, a traditional sub-post office at John O’Groats and talks with local businessmen and councillors in Thurso.

Earlier he visited an alternative pilot with a full sub-post office operating satellite sub-offices for a few hours a week in neighbouring villages around Leven in Fife and had meetings in Dundee.

As well as continuing Government cash support in recognition of the social role of local post offices in the community, he urged the lifting of the Royal Mail monopoly so the Post Office can benefit from handling growing business from private sector operators like TNT and DX a year after the end of Royal Mail’s monopoly delivering letters and parcels.

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For Scotland? Use air mail

Posted by | Sep 16, 2006 | |

A Tyneside businessman has been told he must send a letter to Scotland by air mail.

David Scott Cowper couldn’t believe his eyes when the envelope he sent to a client in Kilcreggan, near Glasgow, was returned to him.

On it was a large red sticker ordering the 65-year-old to pay more postage so it could sent the 180-mile trip by air.

David, a surveyor, said: “I just felt it was incredulous that I got the letter back and it gets delayed a few more days because some chap doesn’t know where Scotland is.

“So it seems Scotland is becoming a little further away from England than it already is because the Royal Mail is asking for air mail to get up there.

“Many people in Scotland like to regard themselves as being separate from the rest of the UK so it seems they got their wish thanks to the Royal Mail.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We apologise for any inconvenience but we cannot speculate on exactly what has happened to this item of mail without seeing it first.

“We recommend that the customer contact Royal Mail customer services on 08457 740740 so his complaint can be fully investigated.”

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Postal services’ improvement cited

Posted by | Sep 16, 2006 | |

The efficiency of government departments is expected to improve considerably with changes taking place at their helm, said Q-Post IT Manager George Scott Campbell.
Campbell was presenting a paper on the changes in the postal corporation in the five years of its existence, at a conference on corporate governance held at the Doha InterContinental Hotel on Thursday.
Q-Post is responding to the changes taking place in modern business, Campbell said. He also cited the initiatives that it has taken for the improvement of services in other countries.
Recalling the World Bank’s selection of Q-Post for exporting postal software to Malawi, Campbell said the corporation also provides consultancy services to some Arab countries. “The workshops held in the last two years under the aegis of Q-Post for improving the delivery standards of Arab postal corporations is one such initiative aimed at the overall improvement of postal standards in the region,” he said.

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