Author: Archive

COO Pat Donahoe’s field updates focuses on reducing delivery costs

Posted by | Sep 22, 2008 | |

USPS Chief Operating Officer Pat Donahoe’s latest edition of Field Updates takes a look at several cost-reduction strategies for fiscal year 2009, with a focus on removing some of the fixed costs in deliveries.

Donahoe discusses two main strategies — maintaining the current hours per route through Quarter 1 and right-sizing route structures.

“Based on projected workload in city delivery, there’s over a billion dollars in savings associated with route reduction and route structure potential,” Donahoe said. Included in that USD 1 billion is a full-time street concept worth USD 424 million in savings.
Overall, the plan is expected to save USD 1.4 billion. And with mail volume down and an uncertain economy tightening everyone’s purse strings, Donahoe’s plan will help the Postal Service survive the challenging financial times ahead.

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Massive lay-offs planned at Polish Post

Posted by | Sep 22, 2008 | |

Poland’s state-owned postal service intends to make up to 15,000 redundancies in an attempt to cut costs.
The biggest cuts are to be made in the company’s extensive administration – clerical workers, accountants, inspectors and mail sorters in big cities are facing the cut. So are some of the employees of small post offices in towns and villages.

In October, the head of the Polish Post is to present a reconstruction and modernization scheme. At least eight sorting facilities are to be fully automated. It is also possible that the Polish Post will introduce a programme allowing for electronically monitoring the whereabouts of parcels and letters next year.

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TNT captures 'can do' mentality in new strap line

Posted by | Sep 22, 2008 | |

TNT launched it new global strap line ‘sure we can’ capturing its ‘can do’-mentality. Furthermore, TNT launched its new Express and Group websites which are the first touch points that will carry the new strap line. Over the next several months TNT will start to apply ‘sure we can’ to all its vehicles, such as the trucks and planes, as well as to communication materials and campaigns.
TNT website has also been given a complete makeover including both the Group site as well as the Express country sites. These sites have all been updated to improve the intuitiveness, relevance and accessibility for visitors and to refresh the look and branding in line with TNT’s new ‘sure we can’ strap line.
For all of the sites an innovative site structure was implemented which is expected to increase the accessibility and usability substantially. The enhanced navigation and content is also expected to deliver an improved customer experience and further encourage customers to use its full range of convenient business tools including tracking and self service shipping tools such as myTNT. Several new applications were added to TNT’s Group site such as videos featuring Peter Bakker explaining topics such as ‘sure we can’, TNT’s strategy and Planet Me. The search functionality of the TNT websites has improved by means of advanced search functionalities and an improved general archive. The renewed websites aim to be best in class in terms of accessibility and usability and to stay fully web standards compliant.

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DHL launches intra-European airfreight solution

Posted by | Sep 22, 2008 | |

DHL Global Forwarding (DGF), the air and ocean freight business of Deutsche Post World Net announced its intra-European, overnight transport solution for the life sciences industry.

Called “Airfreight Plus for the Life Sciences Industry”, the service combines the speed of express with the individual care of a freight forwarder, providing day-definite, door-to-door delivery of heavyweight goods across 32 European countries. For DGF’s life sciences industry customers, this means not only late cut-off times and next-day service, but also temperature-controlled facilities, minimal tarmac times and dedicated handling of shipments by trained life sciences staff.

Transportation of +2°C to +8°C goods includes door-to-door freight management with LifeConEx, DGF’s joint venture company specializing in the management of temperature-controlled life sciences industry goods. This service is optionally available for ambient shipments as well (+2°C to +25°C).

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U.S. Postal Service encourages voters to ‘mail early’

Posted by | Sep 22, 2008 | |

With more than 31 million ballots expected to be mailed this fall, the U.S. Postal Service is encouraging voters to “mail early” this election season.
Voters are asked to mail completed absentee ballots five days before they are due to ensure the safe, timely delivery of their vote. Americans overseas, including men and women in the Armed Services, should plan on sending ballots back at least two weeks before Nov. 4, the date of the federal general election. Service members stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan are asked to mail completed ballots by Sept. 30, where possible.

Americans with busy lifestyles and the desire for flexibility are seeking voting options. 28 states allow individuals to vote by mail via absentee ballot, without requiring an excuse or explanation; three additional states allow each county within the state to offer voting by mail as an option. In the state of Washington, 36 of its 39 counties are completely vote by mail. Oregon is the only state in the country that casts ballots exclusively by mail.

The Postal Service plays no role in how elections are carried out in the United States, although it is fully authorized to inform and educate election officials about USPS products and services available.

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Catalogues are a hit with ‘Tech Generation’ of younger shoppers (UK)

Posted by | Sep 22, 2008 | |

Almost two thirds of young consumers use a catalogue to shop, new Royal Mail research revealed.

Royal Mail’s Home Shopping Tracker Study 2008 revealed that 54 per cent of all adults use catalogues, either for buying directly or helping them with online or in store purchases. But for the 16 to 34-year-old age group this figure is even greater at 62 per cent – demonstrating that the ‘tech generation’ of young shoppers is embracing catalogues in the greatest numbers.

The annual study also revealed that the 37 per cent of shoppers who consulted a catalogue before making purchases online in the past year spent 13 per cent more than those who did not. Online shoppers spent GBP 1,502 on average but the figure rose to GBP 1,694 for those who used catalogues first.

The research also revealed:
• 62 per cent of consumers now shop from home – the highest ever recorded level, representing a 35 per cent growth since 2005
• Online shopping grew by 13 per cent in the last year with 44 per cent of adults now shopping via the web
• 98 per cent of consumers are highly satisfied with online shopping, with convenience being the key driver for 69 per cent, ahead of price, which was singled out by 33 per cent of online shoppers
• 71 per cent of home shoppers and over half (56 per cent) of non home shoppers like to receive catalogues, most preferring to get them through the post
• One in three non home shoppers browse a catalogue for at least one store purchase
• 75 per cent of home shoppers keep catalogues as a reference source for prices, browsing and ideas – and two fifths keep catalogues for over four months
• 85 per cent of home shoppers say that they recycle their catalogues

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Search begins for successor to Royal Mail chief (UK)

Posted by | Sep 22, 2008 | |

The government has begun a search for a successor to Allan Leighton, the Chairman of the Royal Mail, who will step down from his post after seven years when his term expires next March.

Mr Leighton, Royal Mail’s longest-serving Chairman, took up the position at the state-owned group in March 2002, having joined the organisation as a non-executive director in 2001.

Mr Leighton believes the group is now in a strong position to recruit a new Chairman. Significantly, the Hooper Report on the future of the postal services market, by Richard Hooper, the former telecoms regulator, is due to be published next month. The report will examine the degree to which private capital should be involved in the service.

The government extended Mr Leighton’s tenure last year, ending a search for his successor after a number of unsuccessful approaches to several businessmen, including Sir Philip Hampton, the Chairman of J Sainsbury.

Industry sources said Mr Leighton, who has a reputation as a turnaround specialist, is likely to want to do one more “big job”. They said he had already fielded some offers.

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Postal service’s bumper revamp

Posted by | Sep 20, 2008 | |

When the national mail delivery system is all but defunct, maybe the best promise a major modernization campaign can make is simply that the mail will arrive at all.
“Te llega” (You’ll get it) is the banner head of a major overhaul for Mexico’s postal service, announced this month.
Gone is the grim SEPOMEX acronym, swapped for the friendlier and historically familiar Correos de Mexico, with a bright pink-and-lime palate adding cheer to the sleek new logo.
After a year of consulting with international postal advisors on the myriad challenges facing Mexico’s underfunded agency, so mistrusted that it has been largely abandoned in favor of private carriers, Carpinteyro concluded a complete image change would be fundamental to reenergizing the demoralized institution.
She stressed that the “Te llega” campaign isn’t just about image, and that Correos de Mexico is changing its entire structure to deliver mail consistently and efficiently.
The federal government outlined a 32-percent increase in the service’s budget for 2009, which Carpinteyro said will be used primarily to purchase equipment and 40 percent more vehicles to handle increased volume. The agency will also hire some 2,500 additional carriers.
Around the nation’s 4,000 postal offices, networked computers will replace typewriters, digital machines will replace antiquated scales, automated sorters will replace burlap sacks and delivery routes will be redesigned. Employees will be trained in updated organizational practices to improve productivity, says Carpinteyro.
Post offices, especially those serving rural communities, will offer prepaid Internet service.
Correos de Mexico also announced a partnership with federally-funded discount grocer Diconsa to sell stamps and offer basic postal services inside their 23,000 locations nationwide. In turn, post offices will sell and ship discount non-perishable food kits (called canastas basicas) for low-income families.

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