Department store retailer Saks Incorporated has selected two operating companies of FedEx Corp. as exclusive providers of shipping services for all its divisions.
The agreement will be “multi-modal,” relying on services provided by FedEx Express for domestic, international and express freight deliveries and by FedEx Ground for ground and FedEx Home Delivery services.
Read MoreThe U.S. Postal Service’s financial outlook is bleak and getting bleaker, according to members of Congress, a presidential commission, the General Accounting Office and postal officials themselves. It is bad enough that some federal officials are warning of a huge taxpayer bailout — or dramatic increases in postal rates — if Congress does not reorganize the USD67 billion-a-year entity soon to help it operate more efficiently. “The Postal Service as an institution probably cannot survive without fundamental reform,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said at a Capitol Hill hearing this month. A nine-member presidential commission that spent seven months last year studying the future of the Postal Service sounded a similar alarm. The panel concluded in a 181-page report that the institution is in “significant jeopardy” and may not be able to continue delivering mail to every address six days a week.
Read MoreAn Post and the Communications Workers Union have agreed to attend talks under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission in an effort to resolve an ongoing dispute between both sides.
Read MoreLast week the Sejm amended the postal law and at the same time set the pace of liberalising postal services by 2006. Courier companies however, estimate that the modification of regulations will not break the monopoly of Poczta Polska (PP).
Read MoreIt is thought that an agreement may be reached between the French magazine press and La Poste, the French postal service, by the end of May. Three trade unions for the French magazine press have put forward some general proposals in the hope that an agreement can be reached; negotiations between the two sides have been at a standstill for just over a year.
Read MoreThe An Post dispute could have serious implications for the company’s deteriorating financial position. It expects to report an operating loss of more than E47 million for 2003, with losses in 2004 forecast to come in at almost E40 million. The company is not due to break even until 2005, and even then its problems may not end. Postal delivery is under pressure worldwide, and An Post is no different as e-mail continues its onslaught on what is sometimes called “snail mail”. While the company’s financial problems have been a concern of the Government since last summer, the difficulties date back to before then.
An Post has been making operating losses since 2001. An unfortunate combination of rising costs and falling profits have plunged it into the red. Only a few months ago chief executive Mr Donal Curtin described the company as being on a “knife edge”.
In August 2003, Postcomm issued a statement explaining the process it intended to follow to assess the application it had received from Royal Mail to introduce Size Based Pricing (SBP) from April 2005. Last December, Postcomm issued a further statement explaining that it was analysing Royal Mail’s proposal, and in particular, was discussing a number of outstanding issues with Royal Mail. Following initial analysis of Royal Mail’s application, Postcomm intends to issue a consultation document in April to seek views on the proposal. Interested parties will have 3 months to respond. This consultation will focus particularly on the principle of SBP, Postcomm’s approach to assessing Royal Mail’s proposal, and the impact on customers, including particularly practical implementation issues, such as the appropriate notice period for customers before any introduction of SBP. Postcomm is seeking as wide a participation of interested parties as possible.
Read MorePostcomm has began consultation on the proposed issue of a new long term standard licence to DX (Document Exchange) Ltd.
The licence would enable DX to carry bulk mail and provide consolidation, enhanced document exchange and tracked business-to-business services.
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