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NetDespatch web portal to revolutionise Manx parcel deliveriesDocument Actions

Posted by | Jul 21, 2008 | |

The Isle of Man’s distribution company, Manxx Independent Carriers, is rolling out an innovative system for tracking parcels and freight using a new international ‘databank’ called PODXchange. Developed by NetDespatch, PODXchange is a web portal for proof of delivery (POD).

Manx drivers are being equipped with special mobile devices incorporating barcode scanners and a touchsceen. When deliveries are made and signed for, details of the shipment held in the barcode can be transmitted live to the web portal along with the captured electronic signature. Scan and POD data as well as signatures is then transformed into the appropriate carrier format and transmitted to Manx’s customers that include most major UK parcel carriers.

The portal accepts data from any POD system – for any parcel – and then makes it available via the Internet to any carrier. Manx is already delivering on behalf of all the major parcel carriers including Fedex, UPS, DPD, Citylink, Parcelnet and Amtrak. Using one device, Manx can now provide a live signature POD to any of these companies. The intelligent system recognises the carrier from the barcode on the parcel ensuring that each carrier only retrieves data on their own parcels.

First used in the Highlands of Scotland for parcel deliveries handled by AJG, the system is being implemented by Manx so that is can be used for all types of deliveries. “We travelled to Inverness to see the first PODXchange implementation in action with courier firm AJG parcels. It was immediately evident that it had real potential and we realised we could develop the first true multi-service POD solution giving our customers live updates on anything we delivered whether a parcel, pallet, an item of plant or a fresh food delivery,” says Coleman.

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UPS and Staples open co-branded store in China

Posted by | Jul 21, 2008 | |

UPS and Staples have opened another co-branded store in Shanghai expanding their strategic partnership in China, according to the business information provider SinoCast.

Following the opening of the two “Staples UPS Express” locations in Beijing in 2007, the additional location has been opened in the business centre Xintiandi in the Luwan District, Shanghai. The new store has an operational area of 330 sqm, engaged in providing easier and more convenient services for office supply and files buyers as well as UPS’ parcel and international transportation services.

The UPS and Staples co-branded store format combines a broad range of core offices supplies and document processing services from Staples with packaging and international shipping services for business customers and consumers from UPS.

China has become the most important international market of UPS and is creating huge demands for the company. UPS already opened its first two UPS Express retail centres in Shanghai in August 2006 as part of its planned wider expansion of UPS-branded retail outlets in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Earnings Preview: Economy weighs on UPS profits

Posted by | Jul 21, 2008 | |

Slowing U.S. economic growth and high fuel costs are expected to put a damper on United Parcel Service’s results for the April-June quarter. The Atlanta-based company lowered its earnings expectations for the quarter on June 23.

UPS predicted earnings per share for the second quarter, which ended June 30, would be within a range of 83 cents to 88 cents, compared with the 97 cents to USD 1.04 the company originally anticipated.

UPS is able to pass higher fuel costs on to customers in the form of a fuel surcharge on shipments. However, the surcharge increases have not kept pace with rapidly rising fuel prices. Meanwhile, UPS’ business has suffered amid the economic downturn in the U.S. The result has been lower-than-expected domestic package volume and customers making less use of premium air products.

UPS last month did not say what impact its lower expectations for the second quarter might have on its full-year results. But analysts have lowered their projections for UPS’ full-year results.

Wachovia Capital Markets analyst Justin Yagerman said in a research note last week that the U.S. economy will continue to be shaky for the rest of 2008, which will likely affect UPS’ results.

He also said that UPS’ international results going forward could be affected by slowing economic growth in Europe. Long-term, however, he said he remains bullish about UPS’ overall business prospects.

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FedEx chief says U.S. is not in a recession

Posted by | Jul 21, 2008 | |

FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith said the U.S. economy isn’t in a recession and that oil prices will “drift down for a while.”

FedEx said in June the coming year would be “very difficult” because of near-record fuel prices and a cooling domestic economy. U.S. shipping volume fell 3.4 percent for the three months ended May 31, as fuel surcharges for express service reached 28 percent.

Oil will likely fall in the second half, Smith said, declining to predict a price. “Whether it stays at USD 140 or goes down to USD 110 is anyone’s guess,” he said. “Barring some global event, I think oil prices will drift down for a while.”

Crude jumped more than 70 percent in the past year, closing at a record USD 145.29 a barrel on July 3. The price has dropped 10 percent since then, to USD 130.10 this morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

While some shippers are still trading down to cheaper shipping options such as two-day or ground delivery, the “vast majority” of those switches have occurred already, Smith said. Intercontinental express shipments are growing at a “good rate,” he said, without giving specific figures.

Smith wouldn’t comment on his interest in any acquisitions. The Financial Times reported on July 12 that FedEx is in preliminary discussions to buy TNT NV, Europe’s second-biggest express-delivery company.

There have been “lots of rumors swirling about TNT for years,” Smith said. “We don’t comment on corporate development activities.”

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New Ombudsman appointed at Canada Post

Posted by | Jul 21, 2008 | |

Marc Courtois, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Canada Post is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Nicole Goodfellow as Ombudsman effective July 14, 2008 for a term of three years.

At the time of her appointment, Ms. Goodfellow was General Manager, Human Performance Excellence at Canada Post. Throughout her 30-year career with Canada Post, she has acquired extensive knowledge and leadership experience, at Head Office and in the field, primarily in Human Resources, Operations and Customer Service. Ms. Goodfellow holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario and Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Linguistics and Slavic Studies from Ottawa University. Amongst her many interests, she takes great pride in supporting under-privileged primary school children in Nairobi, Kenya. For the past 5 years, she has also been Canada Post’s representative on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

Ms. Goodfellow replaces Michel Tremblay who was the Ombudsman for Canada Post from September 1, 2002 until his retirement on March 31, 2008.

The Office of the Ombudsman was created in 1997 to safeguard customer interests by assisting with the resolution of customer service complaints and operates at arms-length from Canada Post.

For more information, customers can reach the Ombudsman’s website at http://www.ombudsman.postescanadapost.ca/

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Armenian Government to Prolong Haypost Trust Management Term for Five Years

Posted by | Jul 19, 2008 | |

Armenian government has announced its plans to reach an agreement about prolonging HayPost trust management term for another five years.

HayPost CJSC is the national postal operator of the Republic of Armenia. The company’s staff is 4,000 people. Under an agreement signed on November 30, 2006, HayPost was transferred in trust management of the Dutch HayPost Trust Management Company for five years, with a right to prolong the contract for another five years.

The government also decided to shift the company’s reporting schedule – annual reports instead the quarterly ones will be required. Besides, the trust management services will be paid in AMD instead of EUR. The trust management has wider authorities now – it can choose an auditor, open HayPost branches and offices, and approve their regulations.

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Deutsche Post in no rush to sell Postbank: CFO

Posted by | Jul 19, 2008 | |

eutsche Post is in no rush to sell its 50 percent plus one share stake in Deutsche Postbank, Post’s finance chief was quoted on Saturday as saying.

“If the management board would reach the conclusion that the time to sell is bad then we are under no pressure to sell,” Chief Financial Officer John Allen told German financial daily Boersen-Zeitung.

Post was still in talks with a small number of prospective buyers but it was impossible to say when or whether a sale of Postbank would happen, he told the newspaper.

According to sources familiar with the matter, prospective buyers of Germany’s biggest retail bank with nearly 15 million customers could include Deutsche Bank, Banco Santander of Spain and Dutch ING Group NV.

The recent fall in share prices of financial companies around the world — Postbank has lost a quarter of its market value since early June — has led analysts to doubt whether Post can obtain the kind of price it wants for its Postbank stake.

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A long and stony road to European postal competition

Posted by | Jul 18, 2008 | |

Following full liberalisation in four European countries (UK, Germany, Sweden and Finland), about 54 pct of the total EU mail market in volume terms is now completely open to competition, Alex Dieke, head of Postal Services and Logistics for German-based market research institute wik-Consult, told last month’s World Mail & Express Europe conference in Budapest organised by Triangle Management Services. But experience from these four liberalised markets showed that “it will take a long time for effective competition to arrive”, he commented. In the long-term, competitors might be able to gain up to 20-25 pct of larger markets, he forecast.

In Britain, which liberalised in 2006, competitors such as UK Mail and TNT Post had gained a 10 pct market share in terms of “upstream” volumes collected from customers but there was still no major competitor to Royal Mile for “last-mile” deliveries to businesses and consumers, Dieke said. In Sweden, where the market was opened in 1993, competitor CityMail still only had about 10 pct of the market. In Finland, which liberalised in 1997, high entry barriers meant there was no real competitor to Itella. In the Netherlands, which along with Slovakia might open its market before the official EU-wide liberalisation date of January 2011, competitors Selektmail and Sandd had gained 12 pct of the market despite TNT’s remaining monopoly, he noted.

Iain McLure, CEO of Spring Global Mail, criticised European postal operators for the repeated delays to liberalisation in recent years. “How long does the postal sector need to get prepared for competition?” he asked. In future, postal operators would have to focus on offering products in line with customer demand, better customer service and opportunities to achieve cost savings, the experienced postal manger forecast.

Spring, the TNT/Royal Mail/Singapore Post subsidiary, regularly used alternatives to national postal operators in some markets in order to provide quality services and lower costs, McLure pointed out. But he stressed: “As a broker, we are more of a customer (to postal operators) than a competitor.” Spring had been profitable for the past eight years, he noted.

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