Author: Archive

UK Post office bureau de change kiosks now in selected WHSmith stores (UK)

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

People going abroad this year can now pick up their holiday money at the same time as their summer reads. Shoppers dashing around the high street for last minute holiday bits and pieces will be able to use 50 new Post Office bureau de change kiosks at selected branches of WHSmith.

Most of the kiosks – located in prime shopping centre and high street locations – will be open seven days a week and close later than traditional Post Office bureaux, giving holidaymakers even more choice and convenience in how and when they purchase travel money in advance of their break.

The kiosks are opening at a rate of five per week; participating WHSmith shops will display a Post Office sign showing the latest foreign exchange rates in the store window.

Post Office kiosks have already opened in 30 WHSmith stores including Exeter, Bristol, Brent Cross, Kingston-upon-Thames and Sheffield. All fifty branches will be fully operational by the autumn.

Read More

Royal Mail wins city contract (UK)

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has won a contract with Manchester city council worth GBP 4.2m initially, with the potential to grow to GBP 8.4m.

Royal Mail will handle all of the council’s mail and expects to cut the authority’s bills by increasing the amount of post which can be sorted mechanically and by introducing more cost-effective mail products.

The contract will run for two years initially but will be extended for a further two if savings targets are met.

Dave Hulton, Royal Mail’s relationship manager in Manchester, said he was confident of doing so.

Read More

SAS Air Mail and Post Danmark sign total mail agreement

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

Post Danmark has just signed a new two-year agreement with SAS Air Mail on international mail transportation. This means that the two companies will continue their integrated partnership on constant quality improvements for export mail.

The new contract has been awarded following a public tender, where airlines from all over the world made quotes on parts or all of Post Danmark’s international mail traffic. It is a total agreement, where SAS Air Mail accepts full responsibility for the economy and quality performance of Post Danmark’s letter mail shipments from Denmark to 22 countries, which are members of the EU and/or the International Post Corporation (IPC).

By analyzing the quotes, Post Danmark found that SAS Air Mail was best suited to fulfill the requirements. The partnership, which has existed for a number of years, could therefore be continued.

Contrasting our previous agreement with Post Danmark, the new contract does not cover the entire world, but only the most important mail destinations and countries within SAS’ routing network. This limits SAS Air Mail’s economic liability and enhances our quality performance, because we can keep the total logistic flow from airport-to-airport in control, says Michael Thomasen, managing director of SAS Air Mail.

Read More

Negotiations still continue for some Portuguese unions in CTT – Correios de Portugal

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

One of UNI’s Portuguese affiliates, Sindetelco, has finished negotiations and signed a new collective agreement with CTT – Correios de Portugal. The union advises that they think this is a good deal for their members and that after three years of hard work they have agreement that in 2008 100 new workers will have definitive contracts and 100 in the next year.

However the other UNI affiliates involved, SNTCT and SINTTAV are unhappy with the offer and have continued their protest action including their fifth strike since negotiations started which took place on 9 June. The unions say 65 pct of the CTT workers participated in strike action. They say that CTT are trying to make worse working hours, end the concept of a work place, and to take away the universal access for workers to the CTT private system of health and social assistance.

SINTTAV and SNTCT are undertaking with the Portuguese government ministry of labour, a mediation process. They are not confident that this will resolve the impasse so they have also initiated a complaint to the ILO. UNI Post & Logistics continues to monitor the situation to assist affiliates as appropriate.

Read More

IWCO Direct receives USPS and safety awards

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

IWCO Direct has received a “Corporate Business Achievement Award” from the U.S. Postal Service. In addition, the firm has been recognized as an “Industry Safety Leader” by the Envelope Manufacturers Association (EMA).

The USPS recognized IWCO Direct for its commitment to Intelligent Mail. IWCO Direct was among the first to test a new process for electronic documentation of commingled mail and collaborated with the USPS on acceptance procedures. IWCO Direct also participated in the Seamless Acceptance pilot test for Standard Mail.

The pilot test used unique Intelligent Mail Barcodes on mailpieces, trays and pallets, submitted all documentation electronically through the PostalOne! website and created mailing statements electronically.

The “Safety Leader” award was based on EMA’s evaluation of the organization on its safety achievements, based on quarterly and annual surveys. Employers are required to provide information on injuries and illnesses, as well as internal safety programs. EMA also calculates Days Away From Work due to Injury/Illness (DAFWII) based on the number of employees in the organization. To qualify for the award, DAFWII must be at or below 1.5 days per 100 employees.

Read More

No missing mail with RFID tags, says European Commission

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

With full liberalisation of all the EU’s national postal services planned for 2013, the likely increase in the number of operators will make improved traceability of sent items a vital necessity to avoid dysfunctions, the European Commission has underlined, calling for the deployment of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips to tackle the issue.

Indeed, all EU member states are requested to abolish lingering national monopolies on postal services by December 2012 at the latest. While the intention is to open the market to new entrants and make mail deliveries more efficient across Europe, there is also a risk that, with an increased number of actors involved in the process, items may get lost.

Innovations that can ensure the safe management of items are therefore needed and the Commission is looking at RFID as the “right” technology to do this.

Radio Frequency Identification chips have been already deployed by postal companies in around 50 countries across the world to measure the quality of their services.

Item-level tracking implies a massive deployment of RFID, potentially involving all the items sent. This would result in a close-to-zero risk of failed delivery.

To make this possible, RFID chips would have to be cheap, tiny, easily available and based on common standards. High-tech companies, like Hitachi or Motorola, are currently working to make chips more affordable and functional. The size has already decreased so much that now experts do not talk of chips, but of “smart dust”.

But interoperability remains a key concern. At the beginning of the year, the European Commission launched a two-year project called GRIFS to build a global RFID standards forum. All stakeholders agree on the need of talking and finding common grounds.

Common standards would indeed pave the way for a broader application of RFID technologies for end-users and not just service providers. Radio Frequency Identification tags could then become a day-to-day technology used for making payments through mobile phones or to check the origin of food purchased in a supermarket. The final stage would be the so-called ‘Internet of Things’, where active RFID could make objects communicate between themselves to automatically address daily needs.

Read More

TNT Says Fuel, U.S. Economy Haven't Hurt Express Unit

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

TNT said rising fuel prices and the slowing U.S. economy aren’t hurting its express-delivery division. ‘TNT is coping well with the uncertainty in the economy,’ Marie-Christine Lombard, head of the Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based company’s TNT Express unit, said today at a press briefing in Liege, Belgium. There is ‘so far no impact.’

Jet fuel prices in northwest Europe have risen 42 percent this year, Bloomberg data show. TNT’s Memphis, Tennessee-based competitor FedEx Corp., the second-largest U.S. package-shipping company, posted its first quarterly loss in 11 years yesterday and projected earnings that fall short of analysts’ estimates as fuel costs rise and the country’s slowing economy curbs demand.

TNT is transporting as much as possible by road rather than air, helping to hold back costs as prices for diesel fuel rise more slowly than for jet kerosene. The company’s U.S. business makes up only 2 percent to 3 percent of total express-delivery volumes. TNT isn’t planning to expand its operations within the world’s largest economy, Lombard said today. ‘We’re not a big player intra-U.S.A. and we don’t plan to be one,’ she said.

TNT, which operates a fleet of aircraft for its express-delivery network, is considering forming a partnership with cargo airlines to use their freight space on some routes, Lombard said. Such an alliance would probably be a ‘commercial’ agreement and not involve a capital investment, she added.

Bonn-based competitor Deutsche Post AG’s DHL express-delivery unit and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-biggest airline, set up the AeroLogic cargo joint venture this year. The business will fly freight and express mail from Germany to Asia and the U.S. starting in 2009, stepping up competition with TNT as well as U.S. rivals United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx.

TNT will invest in new aircraft in the event that there is sufficient shipment volume that requires additional capacity, according to Lombard.

Read More

Roberts Europe teams up with e-kurier.net for European capacity

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

Time-critical freight logistics company Roberts Europe has signed a partnership agreement with German-based online freight capacity platform “e-kurier.net” to increase its available capacity and generate more business for the courier platform members.

The cooperation with e-kurier.net is part of Roberts Europe’s expansion plan in Germany including restructuring and investment in state-of-the-art automating systems. With the agreement, the company aims at integrating the e-kurier.net solutions in its new planning systems.

Under the partnership, Roberts Europe will have access to spare capacity offered by the platform’s 1,800 German and European members, which will be mostly empty return journeys. It expects to optimise its shipping capacity and thus reduce costs for customers. In return, e-kurier.net’s courier companies will increase their volumes through Roberts Europe’s sales and marketing activities.

The automation systems of both companies are now connected to each other so that Robert Europe can book free shipping space.

Fred Snippe, owner and CEO of Roberts Europe, commented: “e-kurier.net and its members are absolute professionals. We complement each other in our core competences and can therefore achieve a strong win-win situation for all parties.”

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

How ready do you feel for the de minimis changes coming in July?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!




View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest