Author: Archive

La Poste serious about environment

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Venturi Automobiles and PSA Peugeot Citroën have joined forces to supply Citroën Berlingo First or Peugeot Partner Origin-type electric vans in response to a tender from the French Post Office, La Poste.

Issued in April 2007, the international tender initially involves the supply of a small number of test vehicles. Following a six-month trial period, during which the vehicles with be thoroughly tested, La Poste will select the supplier of 500 mail delivery vans.

As Venturi Automobiles’ partner, PSA Peugeot Citroën feels that this phase of real-world testing represents a valuable opportunity to fine-tune the technological solutions equipping these delivery vans, to align them seamlessly with La Poste’s expectations.

The Citroën Berlingo / Peugeot Partners will be tested with an entirely new powertrain proposed by Venturi. This extremely compact technology makes it possible to fit the electric motor, battery and other EV components inside the van’s engine compartment, in lieu of the internal combustion engine. This offers the major advantage of ensuring the same load volume and payload as in a conventional version.

The electric Berlingo / Partners will have a range of up to 100 kilometers, which is amply sufficient to cover their mail delivery routes.

PSA Peugeot Citroën will contribute its automotive expertise and experience, particularly in electric vehicles.

Venturi will provide a particularly compact and innovative powertrain solution, as well as its short-run production capabilities

The partnership will enable PSA Peugeot Citroën to relaunch its EV business, where it was a pioneer and European market leader, with nearly 10,000 vehicles sold. The Group believes that in the future, electric vehicles will play an important role in reducing automotive emissions, with sales being driven primarily by city delivery vans.

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Local airlines and USPS plan for Aloha Airline shutdown

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Local airlines and the U.S. Postal Service are making contingency plans in case Aloha Airlines shuts down next week.

Aloha Airlines’ cash plan runs for just 5 more days. They’ll let the bankruptcy court know Monday whether they’ve found a buyer or a loan to continue business.

Others are getting ready in case Aloha can’t go on.

Two additional Go! airplanes have shown up at Honolulu International Airport.

Hawaiian Airlines employees have been told it could be all hands on deck next week.

It’s all part of the back-up plan in case Aloha Airlines stops flying.

“There’s nobody that can fill the gap right away. I’ll tell you that right now,” said Randall Cummings, an Aloha Airlines pilot. “There’s nobody who can fill the gap right away if aloha goes out of business. It will be a crisis.”

A crisis starting with passengers. Hawaiian is already planning to add more flights to move more people if necessary.

“The expanded flight schedules are simply part of a larger contingency plan as a result of Aloha Airlines’ recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” said Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines.

Hawaiian could also make use of 1 spare 717. Their larger 767s are currently assigned to transpacific routes.

The 2 additional Go! planes on the ground now carry 50 people each, but Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Go!’s parent company, said, “We are monitoring situation closely and we will respond to the market demand.”

As for Aloha’s 3,500 employees, the unions are coaching members about how to cope with possible job loss — including help with bill payment, unemployment filing, and even getting enough food for the family.

“We’re all trying to be positive,” said Ed Paulo of the machinists union. “We went through this once and hopefully we can pull this out again.”

Besides passengers and employees, other sectors of the economy are working on contingency plans, too.

Aloha is the state’s largest air cargo carrier — including items for FedEx and UPS. It’s one of only 2 carriers handling interisland deliveries for the U.S. mail.

The postal service has seen similar disruptions elsewhere, and its Hawaii spokesperson Duke Gonzales said: “We have been able to overcome those challenges in the past and are confident that we’ll be able to continue to serve our customers.”

The postal service is exploring short-term emergency contracts.

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Swiss Post simplifies its brand structure

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Swiss Post will reinforce its core brand appearance in future. The PostMail and PostLogistics flagship brands and most brands of the Swiss and international subsidiaries are to be grouped under the core brand. The PostFinance and PostBus flagship brands – which have been in place for a number of years – will continue to exist alongside the core brand.

Swiss Post is beefing up its brand and gearing its brand structure more closely to customers’ needs. In future it wants to offer services increasingly from a single source under the Swiss Post core brand and make it easier for customers to obtain information about the various services available from the Group. The brands of most subsidiaries in Switzerland and abroad and the PostMail and PostLogistics flagship brands will be transferred to the core brand, which will benefit from their dynamic, innovative image. The national flagship brands PostFinance and PostBus and a few subsidiaries will continue to exist, for strategic and in some cases legal reasons. Swiss Post is thus bundling its forces, improving the effectiveness of communication and reducing the need for coordination. This will improve its chances of being perceived in a fiercely competitive market – on the international level too – and will also help to cut costs.

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Correos Spain launches new National Postal Express

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Spanish “Post Office has announced the launch of the new National Postal Express, a service that gives users the possibility to choose between three modes of delivery in order to adapt to the needs of each client. National Postal Express is designed for shipping packages as a matter of urgency, under signature of the recipient and a delivery time that does not exceed 24 hours for most destinations.The new service will unify in a single product the main features of two types of urgent packages, the Postal Express and traditional Prism National Post. As for the types of delivery, the first of which is the standard, which will take place at home or, failing that, at the post office; a second is called ‘light’ and guaranteed home delivery or return shipment to the sender and the third involves delivery to the office.”

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Unions meet with TNT and seek dialogue to secure rights for workers globally

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

UNI along with the ITF, Verdi and the Dutch unions FNV Bondgenoten and Abvakabo, met with TNT management to discuss the unions’ concerns about TNT not adhering to minimum social and labour standards throughout the world. UNI has been running a campaign to support Ver.di in Germany where they are demanding that TNT pay the legal minimum wage that was set for postal workers by the German parliament.

The union delegation also expressed its concern at the apparent support for a “ghost” or “bogus” union that has been set up in the postal sector and which has clearly been funded by at least one of the post companies opposing the minimum wage.

The delegation asked that TNT respect the German minimum wage and that it would agree not to carry out social dumping and to pay decent wages wherever it set up its letter business. TNT said if the German court told it that they must pay the minimum wage they would abide by that decision, however there is now expected to be a considerable number of court actions over some lengthy period as the Ministry of Labour in German appeals the latest decision by a Berlin court.

The Union delegation also insisted that TNT not support any “bogus” unions and deal with real independent unions and to have further discussions with UNI and the ITF on developing a proper global social dialogue and meeting basic labour standards and workers rights while paying socially acceptable wages. TNT agreed to consider this request.

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US Postal Service moves to improve address quality for mailing industry

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Every accurate address enables the U.S. Postal Service to provide more efficient mail processing and helps mailers avoid wasted expense. In 2004, more than 9.7 billion pieces of mail were sent to undeliverable addresses of which over 600 million pieces were sent to “vacant” addresses—a house, apartment, office, or building not occupied for at least 90 days. To reduce that unwanted mail, the Postal Service has developed a new data table that is used with address matching software which helps mailers determine when they may be sending to vacant addresses.

The new “no-stat” and “vacant” tables are available through Coding Accuracy Support System address matching software (CASS Certified) as part of the Delivery Point Validation (DPV) product. The tables are simple to use and can help mailers save on production and postage costs by reducing undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail. If an address is flagged as vacant, the recommended course of action is to remove that address from the mailing until it becomes occupied again.

By utilizing CASS Certified software, mailers can standardize addresses and obtain the correct ZIP + 4 assignments and associated delivery point codes (DPC). CASS Certified software using DPV logic can determine if the ZIP + 4 coded address is recognized as a valid delivery within the USPS delivery network, further strengthening the quality and deliverability of address lists. Additionally, CASS Certified software is necessary for mailers claiming presorted, carrier route, and automation rates. The use of this software is the first step in effectively managing overall mailing costs and obtaining eligibility for postage incentives.

To learn more, mailers can contact their DPV product vendor to learn whether these new tables are incorporated in their products. If mailers are using a service bureau to process address lists, ask that provider to use these tables during processing. The release of the “no-stat” and “vacant” tables is another example of the Postal Service’s ongoing commitment to address quality and helping the mailing industry make effective and efficient use of the mail.

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TT Post spending USD 4.7m to upgrade its delivery service

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

The Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation (TTPost) is set to improve its delivery network at a cost of USD 4.7 million within the next three months.

TTPost communications manager, Simone Farmer, said yesterday that the company, currently involved in wage negotiations with the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Workers’ Union, had met recently and identified solutions to several issues.

Postal workers in South and Central have been protesting in recent times over a series of problems, including defective mail bags, unsafe conditions at the workplace and general “unsatisfactory working conditions”.

Recently in Chaguanas, Couva, Marabella and San Fernando, workers downed tools in protest of these conditions.

The buildings occupied by the Chaguanas and Marabella workers were deemed unsafe and the workers also protested insufficient motorcycles for the delivery officers.

Workers at San Fernando, Couva and other areas also complained about defective mailbags.

Farmer said in a statement that the company’s decision to spend millions to improve its delivery network was a result of concern raised by the workers.

Among the challenges faced by TTPost, Farmer said, was the inadequacy of staff facilities at premises rented by the company for its delivery operations.

“However, negotiations with the relevant landlords have secured approvals for structural improvements to the affected sites,” she said.

Farmer said April 25 was identified as the deadline date for repairs to the Chaguanas and Couva/California delivery offices, while defective mail bags and other old materials currently in use by workers will be replaced by April 30.

“TTPost is already working assiduously to expedite the completion of the scheduled improvements. In the interim, the corporation looks forward to the full support of its workers to ensure that the delivery of postal services to the national community will suffer no further interruptions,” said Farmer.

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Consultation Starts On Changes To Post Office® Network – Post Office Ltd announces plans for Norfolk and West Suffolk

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today opened a six week local public consultation on its Area Plan for Norfolk and West Suffolk. In line with the criteria and factors set by the Government in its response document, DTI The Post Office Network, Government Response to Public Consultation May 2007 (www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/page36024.html) the Area Plan proposes future provision of Post Office® services through a network of 336 branches across the area, including establishing eight new outreach services, resulting in the closure of 61 existing branches.

Under the proposals 98.1% of the area’s population will either see no change to their nearest branch, or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

Post Office Ltd is proposing to establish eight new outreach services in the Norfolk and West Suffolk area, which would use innovative ways to continue to provide Post Office® services – particularly in smaller communities – where the existing branch is proposed for closure.

Possible types of outreach service in the area could include a mobile service visiting small communities at set times, a hosted service operated within third party premises for restricted hours each week, or a partner service within the premises of a local partner (such as a pub landlord).

The detailed Area Plan proposal for Norfolk and West Suffolk is now available.

To obtain a copy visit www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange or write to Post Office Ltd at Freepost Consultation (no stamp required) or email [email protected]. Post Office Ltd is now seeking views on the proposed future service provision in the area including in particular views on access to Post Office® services, the accessibility of alternative branches to those proposed for closure and the appropriate form of outreach service to be provided. Consultation is due to end on June 2 2008.

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