Author: Archive

TNT extends fleet after one year of Mercurio’s acquisition

Posted by | Jan 14, 2008 | |

The Expresso Mercúrio, acquired one year ago by Dutch group TNT Express, intends to buy more 100 trucks this year to attempt the projected growth of the demand for the road load transport because of the good moment of the Brazilian economy. ‘In 2008 the market goes to grow above two digits. It goes to be a better or at least equal as 2007’, believes the president of the TNT/Mercúrio, Robert Rodrigues, who esteem that the market of express deliveries has grown about 15 pct in 2007.
In 2007 97 trucks and 88 pick up/ delivery vans had been bought and, with the acquisition of this year, Mercúrio will have 1,5 a thousand proper vehicles, approximately, between trucks and vans. The company still uses about two thousand third-party vehicles, depending on the time of the year.
Last year Mercúrio also constructed a new hub in Joinville (SC) and this year intends to raise new ones in Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza and Recife. Rodrigues, however, prefers not to disclose the value of the investment to be made in 2008. ‘But will be at least higher than 5 pct of our liquid invoicing ‘, inform.
According to Rodrigues, last first year Mercurio had as goal the improvement of the management, nomination of the new direction and adjusting the management stile to TNT’s one, as sending systematic reports to the Head Office. From now on, as Rodrigues affirms, all the attention is focused to the business. ‘We will increase the performance to speed up the growth’, says.

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Kraft Foods expands business with DHL as its primary US express carrier

Posted by | Jan 14, 2008 | |

DHL announced that Kraft Foods has renewed and expanded its contract with DHL as its primary US express carrier. DHL will provide US express shipping services for Kraft Foods.

With annual revenues of more than USD 34 billion, Kraft Foods markets a broad portfolio of brands such as Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings; Oscar Mayer meats; Philadelphia cream cheese; Nabisco cookies and crackers; Jacobs coffees and Milka chocolates.

DHL will provide express services for Kraft’s letters and small package shipments, including pickup and delivery of food product samples, point-of-sale advertising, inter-office documents and payroll, and product-sampling items – for Kraft vendors, plants, distribution centers, and its corporate offices.

DHL has also been chosen by Kraft Foods as a provider for US ground delivery and international express services.

“Kraft has been a valued partner for nearly 20 years,” said Charles Brewer, Executive Vice President of Sales, for DHL. “We are seeing many of the largest multi-national companies enhance their operations by leveraging DHL’s flexibility, customer-focused commitment, and ongoing US network enhancements.”

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Confidential details fall off the back of lorries

Posted by | Jan 14, 2008 | |

A box containing the banking details of 200 rich investors was found by the side of the road after apparently falling off the back of a courier’s van.

The container, which included cheques and other sensitive papers, was supposed to be safely carried between a Prudential building in Reading to a secure storage facility in Essex by a DHL courier. Instead, it wound up close to a motorway slip road.

Financial details of 200 wealthy investors, including three national lottery winners, were exposed as a result. Luckily, the box was discovered by a vehicle recovery driver on a roundabout close to the slip road for Junction 11 of the M4 near Reading in Berkshire. The documents have since been returned to Prudential.

Preliminary results from an investigation into the incident suggests that the box fell out of a van door that the DHL driver had failed to properly close. Prudential has suspended the use of DHL as a courier until the investigation is over, This is London reports.

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Japanese express service ties create strange bedfellows

Posted by | Jan 14, 2008 | |

The shifting express landscape in Japan is producing some unusual alliances. Concern about the international integrators encroaching on their turf has induced domestic rivals to form pacts with one another.

On December 18, All Nippon Airways, Kintetsu World Express and Nippon Express signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture company for international business-to-business express delivery service in Asia. Operations of the new company are slated to commence on April 1 of this year.

ANA will have a 34 percent stake in the new company and Nippon Express and Kintetsu will each take 28 percent, with the remaining 10 percent going to other forwarding companies.

The partners pointed to growth of international logistics and the need for integrated strategic distribution services as the main reasons for their alliance. They stressed the need in Asia for reliable logistics services that can support businesses with rapidly expanding production bases.

The new partnership seems to be a conflict of interest for ANA, which already formed a joint venture cargo airline with Japan Post that took to the air last year with a fleet of B767 freighters. However, the new carrier, which flies to a number of Asian destinations as well as to the US, has signalled that Japan Post’s volumes are not enough to fill the aircraft, so it has been looking for partners to generate more cargo. A planned partnership between Japan Post and TNT has failed to materialise.

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Wincor Nixdorf and DigitalPersona Partner for retail POS systems

Posted by | Jan 14, 2008 | |

Wincor Nixdorf has formed a partnership with globally-recognized biometric authentication solutions provider DigitalPersona to set new standards for POS technology.

Through this alliance, Wincor Nixdorf and DigitalPersona are able to provide advanced POS solutions to their respective clients by incorporating DigitalPersona’s biometric fingerprint solution into Wincor Nixdorf’s TP.net POS software platform. With this integrated solution in place, retail employees can log in and out of each shift, sign on to casher’s stations and log into back office terminals by simply scanning their finger, eliminating the need for employee badges, sign-on cards and all hardware associated with these items. The technology also enables retailers to more accurately monitor employee behavior, decrease payroll fraud and maintain timekeeping integrity in their stores.
Wincor said additional benefits to retailers incorporating this integrated solution include:

Providing a more secure network by using fingerprint authentication rather than static numerical pass codes or key entry for various managerial tasks.
• Significantly increasing the speed of each transaction throughout a retail chain, ultimately delivering a strong ROI.
• Eliminating “buddy punching”
• Reducing shrink opportunities
• Improving overall profitability/return on investment
• Achieving regulatory compliance (PCI, SOX)
• Gaining credible evidence for lawsuits
“By adding fingerprint authentication to Wincor Nixdorf’s TP.net solution, retailers improve their profitability, gain greater accountability and simplify compliance efforts,” said Jim Fulton, vice president of marketing at DigitalPersona. “In addition, employees enjoy the ease and convenience of not having to carry keys or swipe cards.”

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Deutsche Post World Net launches Mail 24/7 service

Posted by | Jan 13, 2008 | |

In Berlin, the first so-called Mail 24/7 was put into operation today. This service island combines self-service options in a modern and compact design. At Berlin Südkreuz station, an easy-to-reach location with high volumes of foot traffic, the largest of the three versions available has been set up. It consists of a cash dispensor, a printer for bank statements, a Packstation, a stamp machine and mail boxes.

A total of thirty service islands are currently installed in Berlin with a further fifteen in Bonn and fifteen in Dortmund. There are three versions of Mail 24/7: ranging from a basic solution with a parcels box, stamp machine and mail box to the premium model with all existing self-service machines. All models are characterised by their user-friendly applications and uniform design. To make the services easier to use around the clock, the units are also lit up at night time.

With what are soon to be more than 13,500 retail outlets throughout Germany, some 900 PACKSTATIONS and shortly 1,000 PARCEL BOXES, Deutsche Post World Net is miles ahead of the competition in terms of accessibility and comfort. With Mail 24/7 the largest logistics company in the world is once again expanding its range of services and so reinforcing its position as the only full-fledged universal services provider in Germany.

If the service is received positively by customers during the trial phase, Deutsche Post will also set up 24/7 service islands in other cities.

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FedEx to stay with contractors (US)

Posted by | Jan 13, 2008 | |

Top managers of FedEx Corp. said last week they have no plans for major changes in the company’s reliance on contract drivers for its ground delivery division.

“We’re continuing to operate with our independent contractors, so you have to go from that premise,” said Dave Rebholz, Chief Executive of FedEx Ground.

Rebholz joined FedEx Chief Executive Frederick W. Smith on a conference call with market analysts to underline the company’s confidence in defending the independent-contractor model against a challenge by the IRS

The IRS issued a preliminary decision last month challenging FedEx Ground’s use of contract drivers instead of making its drivers employees. The decision, which FedEx vows to fight, assessed tax penalties and interest of USD million. The IRS decision is the latest in a series of attacks, primarily through lawsuits, on FedEx Ground’s independent-driver business model.

But Smith said most FedEx Ground drivers like running their own businesses as private contractors. “There are millions of people in this country who have chosen to work for themselves,” Smith said. “I personally believe that’s what freedom is all about.”

While declining specifics on the company’s arguments, general counsel Chris Richards said FedEx will begin meeting in the spring with the IRS over its decision.

Following a legal challenge to the contractor model in California, FedEx is offering financial incentives to single-route drivers there to encourage them to give up their routes or take on multiple routes.

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UPS to open Shanghai cargo hub in November

Posted by | Jan 13, 2008 | |

United Parcel Service Inc. in November plans to touch down on a new 1 million-square-foot air cargo hub in Shanghai. It will be the first U.S. cargo carrier to open a hub in the burgeoning China market.

UPS remained tight-lipped on the cost of the facility at Pudong International Airport, but said it has invested about USD 600 million in China in the past five years.

The new hub, plans for which were announced last spring, is expected to employ more than 1,000 by 2010 and serve cities in China as well as the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia.

UPS now operates from leased space at the Shanghai airport, which it shares with other freight carriers. The hub, which will include office and warehouse space, will give UPS greater control over operations — allowing the carrier to employ its own workers and schedule flights as needed.

While UPS may be the first U.S. carrier to open an air hub in China, it won’t be the only one for long.

FedEx Corp. is building an air hub in Guangzhou, China, scheduled to be completed by December.

UPS declined to disclose how much of its revenue comes from China, but said its export volume from the country was up more than 25 percent in the first nine months of 2007 compared with the prior year.

UPS, which became the first wholly owned foreign express carrier in China, serves more than 330 Chinese cities representing 85 percent of the country’s international trade activity.

The company has grown its China workforce to more than 4,500 employees while developing logistics infrastructure that includes more than 60 distribution centers.

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