Author: Archive

GLS Belgian subsidiary ABX re-brands

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

ABX Belgium Distribution, acquired by GLS in December 2006, has re-branded to GLS Belgium Distribution as part of its integration into the European parcels group and ongoing modernisation.

Since acquiring the parcel and general cargo business ABX Belgium Distribution, GLS has started a five-year investment of EUR 16 million in modernising the company, including new firewall installations, scanners and security and surveillance technology. Two separate parcel sorting and freight handling systems are being installed at the subsidiary’s depots. Four of its nine depots work with the new systems, and the others should be completed by spring 2009.

“The modernisation measures will strengthen the company and increase quality,” Fritze explained. “In the Benelux countries GLS offers cross-border delivery of freight shipments in addition to its national and international logistics service – one address which is now also one brand.”

GLS reportedly spent about EUR 23 million to win a battle with other European CEP players to buy ABX Belgium Distribution from Belgian Railways in 2006 and thus become the largest B2B parcel company in Belgium. ABX Belgium Distribution generated revenues of approximately EUR 90 million in 2005, two-thirds of which came from the parcel business.

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Postal Quality of Service in Europe Remains Very High

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

Quality of letter service between postal operators in Europe continues at a very high level. It is far above both the European Union’s speed objective of 85 percent of intra-EU mail delivery within three days, and its reliability objective of 97 percent within five days.

In 2007, 94.1pct of international priority/1st class letter mail was delivered within three days after posting (J+3) and 98.7pct within five days (J+5). Average delivery time was 2.2 days. These results cover 29 European countries, i.e. the EU Member States (except Bulgaria which will be included in 2008), together with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Commenting on the results, Dr Herbert-Michael Zapf, President and Chief Executive Officer, IPC, said: “One of the key results is that the posts delivered almost twice as many letters in two days as they did in 1994, when Europe-wide measurement began. In 2007, the reliability objective of 97pct in five days was already exceeded in only four days when a level of 97.9pct was reached. This is the highest level of performance so far recorded by the IPC UNEX measurement system.”

Dr Zapf added: “The results demonstrate the continuing commitment of postal operators to excellent service to customers.”

Quality of service performance is measured by IPC’s UNEX end-to-end monitoring system which is conducted independently by an external research firm. Results are based on about 400,000 test letters per year, as they move anonymously through the international mail processing system, from posting to delivery.

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La Poste launches new services and cuts paper usage

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

La Poste has signed several partnerships with the supermarket chain Casino, EBay France and WWF France in the last few weeks to expand its network, enhance services and reduce its environmental impact.
Coliposte, the French parcels division of La Poste, entered into a partnership with the supermarket chain Casino to test its automatic parcel pick-up service “Cityssimo” in two supermarkets in Lyon and Paris.
Through the introduction of the Cityssimo service into the Casino supermarkets, La Poste aims at extending its network of parcel pick-up points to offer its customers the possibility to choose their preferred type of delivery of Colissimo shipments. The customers can thus pick up their parcels in their Casino store at the time most convenient for them.
In addition, La Poste and eBay in France have signed an agreement to enable customers to buy and to prepay online their express shipments saving time and ensuring traceability. Chronopost signed a similar agreement with eBay a month ago.
Meanwhile, La Poste has teamed up with the environmental organization WWF in France to promote a responsible mail policy. It has pledged to reduce considerably its CO2 emissions by 15% and to recycle 80% of its paper by 2012 as part of its overall environmental activities.

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DHL UAE switches to eco-friendly courier bags

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

DHL Express announced that the company will replace its regular plastic bags with new environmentally-friendly bags.

The new bags are not only stronger but are also fully reusable and recyclable and can degrade in as little as two years, leaving behind just natural elements: water, carbon dioxide and biomass. Conventional plastic bags, on the other hand, can take up to one thousand years to degrade; increasing landfill volume and contributing to the hazardous build-up of methane in landfill sites.

The switch to biodegradable bags is part of DHL’s worldwide initiative to reduce its environmental footprint across the 220 countries in which it operates. The move comes at a time when the most recent industry research indicates that the Middle East region and the UAE in particular, has an urgent need to focus on environmental sustainability.

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PIN Group Secures Nationwide Logistics

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

PIN Group has announced that its subsidiaries PIN mail GmbH (Dusseldorf) and PIN Logistics GmbH (Hamburg and Erkrath) has been sold to Xanto, a postal logistics service provider in Germany. The announcement was made by the insolvency administrator of the PIN-Holding, Bruno M. Kübler. Xanto had been a general service provider for PIN Logistics Ltd and by taking over the PIN Logistics GmbH independently Xanto will now direct contractual partners of the regional PIN companies and will continue to serve as a type of a hub for PIN-mail from all over Germany. “The acquisition of the two companies is an important step towards the preservation of PIN’s network,” said Kübler. “The outsourcing of logistics to experienced partner Xanto can with the reduced number of regional companies continue throughout Germany post. That was also essential in view of a “grand solution”, i.e. the possible sale of large parts of the PIN – Group to an investor.” The Dusseldorf-based PIN mail GmbH will be called Xanto mail GmbH and PIN Logistics GmbH will be called Xanto Logistics GmbH. The purchase price was not disclosed.

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TNT says Q1 broadly in line with outlook

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

TNT NV’s first-quarter business trends were broadly in line with its annual outlook, the company said on Friday, in contrast with U.S. rivals which have cut their earnings forecasts.

Volume growth in the express delivery division in the first quarter was in line with that achieved in the previous quarter, Europe’s second-biggest mail company said in a statement ahead of a shareholder meeting. The unit makes up 60 percent of annual sales.

U.S. rival UPS lowered its quarterly earnings outlook on Tuesday, blaming worsening U.S. economic conditions and high fuel costs.

Last month, FedEx Corp gave a low outlook for its current quarter, citing the same factors, after reporting a 7 percent fall in quarterly earnings.

TNT shares were 1.6 percent lower at 24 euros by 1431 GMT, outperforming a 2.2 percent drop in the DJ Stoxx industrial goods and services index.

But the company’s outlook might change if the European economy slows, Chief Executive Peter Bakker told shareholders at the meeting.

It said operating income for express will be affected by Easter, which fell in March this year, but the impact should be reversed in the second quarter.

TNT is targeting high single-digit organic sales growth and low double-digit growth in its 2008 operating margin for the domestic and international express delivery business, excluding emerging markets.

The mail operation, TNT’s other major business, also grew in line with the outlook provided in February, when the company released 2007 results.

TNT has guided for a low single-digit percentage organic sales rise for mail this year, with a targeted operating margin of around 16.5 percent.

TNT, which is seeking to expand its business in Germany to offset domestic market share loss, warned it may withdraw from one of the region’s three biggest markets if it loses a court case against hefty minimum wages for postmen there.

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TNT invests Euro 100 million to capture freight opportunities between Southeast Asia, Europe and China

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

TNT announced it will invest Euro 100 million over the coming 5 years to strengthen its network coverage, connectivity and infrastructure. TNT aims to build a leadership position by leveraging on the soaring demand for freight express services between Southeast Asia, China and Europe. This demand is mainly driven by customers in the high-tech, equipment and machinery and healthcare sectors that are increasingly moving large volumes of high-value goods between Southeast Asia, China and Europe.

Commenting on the inaugural landing of TNT’s Boeing 747-400 ER Freighter in Singapore, James McCormac, Chief Operating Officer of TNT’s express division, said, “Our strategic objective is to build a leadership position in domestic, intra-regional and selected intercontinental express flows in the emerging Asian region. TNT’s volumes between China and Europe have grown over 20 per cent in 2007, and we’re certain that the stop in Singapore will further accelerate this volume growth.”

With Singapore as its Southeast Asian hub, TNT’s connectivity between Europe, Southeast Asia and China will further be enhanced to tap into significant trade flows between these regions. According to a study by TNT, Greater China is one of Southeast Asia’s largest trade partners, representing some 24 per cent of total express volumes transported by air. This is followed by Europe representing 20 per cent, with trade within Southeast Asia accounting for 11 per cent. Within Southeast Asia’s air trade, the high-tech sector alone accounts for over 76 per cent of total trade value.

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TNT keeps on moving with GBP 6.5m stationery deal

Posted by | Apr 11, 2008 | |

TNT has secured a substantial three-year deal with JA Magson in excess of GBP 6.5m and involves the collection of thousands of items each week for delivery throughout the UK and Ireland, providing next day and 48-hour services for more than 18,000 delivery locations.

With TNT co-ordinating daily deliveries to this number of retail and distribution outlets nationwide, the company is harnessing its expertise and channeling it into providing tailored services for a mind-boggling range of goods seen on the High Street.

Eddie Calland, National Sales Manager, Corporate Development, said: “This is an attractive new market for us with customers who distribute high volumes of items to the High Street which is an area where we can obviously excel.

Eddie explained that the service will be masterminded from TNT’s Leeds depot.

Leeds Depot General Manager Kerry Miller has been instrumental in the negotiations to bring about the three-year deal with York-based Magson.

JA Magson Finance Director, Neil Mason added: “With TNT’s national coverage and expertise, they can offer us the capability to provide our customers exactly what they want – a ‘next day’ service coupled with a full customer accessible track and trace facility to ensure the customer is kept in the loop from order to delivery.

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