Author: Archive

Dutch MP doubts minimum wage a problem for TNT

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

TNT has said it would lobby to delay the market liberalisation, due for January 2008, because Germany is poised to introduce a minimum wage which TNT says is too high for it to effectively compete with Deutsche Post. One of the conditions for opening the market was a level playing field with Germany.

TNT aims to compensate for an expected loss of business at home when the market is opened up by expanding abroad, and Germany and the UK are its main targets.

Mei Li Vos, responsible for postal liberalisation within the Dutch Labour party, said it was doubtful whether a minimum wage for postal workers in Germany would pose a major problem for TNT, adding she was not convinced Dutch liberalisation should be delayed over it. “As a social democrat, I find it great that there will be a minimum wage. I doubt whether that is really a problem with regards to a level playing field,” Vos told Reuters.

A delay is unlikely if Labour, part of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s centrist coalition, opposes it.

Asked if the German minimum wage was a reason to use an “emergency break” procedure to delay Dutch liberalisation, Vos said: “Not for this reason. If we are going to use it, it’s in the event that Dutch employment conditions have not been regulated well.”
Vos said, however, that no final conclusions had been reached and that parliamentarians were still looking into possible other competition problems in the German market.

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UPS To Relocate Europe Logistics Division To Brussels -Report

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

United Parcel Services Inc. (UPS) will move the headquarters for its logistics distribution division from Biel/Bienne, Switzerland to Brussels, Belgium, resulting in the transfer of 85 employees, Belgian daily L’Echo reported Monday.

The move follows the company’s decision to locate the company’s European headquarters in Brussels. The Swiss headquarters will close in May 2008.

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DHL Malaysia Launches Promotion to Beat Year-end Rush

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

DHL has launched the Beat the Rush promotion for international shipments to help customers beat the year-end holiday season rush.

The promotion offers include half-day advantage for inbound shipments, flexible pick-up times, daily uplifts to ensure timely delivery, zero hidden costs and 24-hour customer service.

“In addition, DHL has added daily flights out of Johor Baharu and from its Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong and adding 20 tons of additional capacity to each flight,” country manager for Malaysia and Brunei Sam Leong said on a statement today.

The decision to extend the daily flights to Johor Baharu was due to capacity constraints on the Hong Kong-Singapore flights, he added.

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Time:matters opens new branch office in Poland

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

German same-day express and emergency logistics provider time:matters has opened its third European branch office in Warsaw following the offices in Zurich and Vienna as part of its internationalization strategy under which it aims to achieve European market leadership within a few years.

Due to its location, Poland provides an essential link between the established Western European industrialized countries and the emerging economic nations of the former Eastern Bloc with a substantial market potential, time:matters said in a statement.

The new time:matters branch in Warsaw is staffed with local logistics experts who are not only well familiar with the Polish market, but also with the specific express logistics needs of companies based in other Eastern European countries, for example in the Ukraine or Hungary, it pointed out.

time:matters’ services now incorporate Polish companies into the company’s international logistics network that encompasses around 400 destinations in 90 countries. Customers benefit from extremely short processing times for the transport of their products to other economic centres. In addition, customers benefit from authorized accelerated customs clearance and options such as on-site pick-up and delivery, time:matters added.

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ProLogis leases more space to DHL in the Czech Republic

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

ProLogis has leased 424,000 square feet (39,400 square metres) of industrial space in the Czech Republic to DHL Logistics.

Under the new deal between the two parties, DHL has leased 100 pct of the space in a recently-completed building at ProLogis Park Prague-Jirny, a master-planned industrial park located approximately 20 kilometres east of Prague, along the D11 motorway. DHL now leases more than 1m square feet at the park; earlier this year the company signed new agreements for two other recently-completed buildings at the park comprising 642,000 square feet (59,700 square metres).

ProLogis Park Prague-Jirny consists of six buildings totalling more than 2m square feet (192,200 square metres) of modern warehouse and office space. In addition to DHL, GLOBUS, a German retailer and hypermarket chain owner, leases 323,000 square feet (30,000 square metres) at the park.

As of September 30, 2007, ProLogis’ platform in Central and Eastern Europe totalled more than 29m square feet (2.7m square metres) of industrial space owned, managed or under development, in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

DHL currently leases more than 2.65m square feet (246,300 square metres) from ProLogis in Central and Eastern Europe.

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DHL Germany delivers Sunday service before Christmas

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

DHL will provide a special service to its customers on the fourth Sunday in Advent: DHL will deliver packages like its a regular working day to ensure that all gifts will reach recipients in time for Christmas. Christmas Eve at DHL will be a regular delivery day for DHL for packages, parcels and letters as is the case every year. Customers who are not at home at the time of delivery on Christmas Eve do still have the opportunity to pick up their parcel on the same day until late evening at the nearest DHL station.

“This additional service on a Sunday again demonstrates DHL’s strong commitment towards customer driven services. Beneficiaries of this special offer are business customers as well as private consumers. Only DHL can provide this seamless service due to the engagement of our employees and our unparalleled distribution network in Germany,” says Uwe Brinks, Managing Director DHL Parcel Germany.

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Brunei Post: Email to Relegate Postals to History? No Way

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

The future of traditional postal services, over the past decade at least, is looking glum due to the increasing popularity of more convenient and quicker methods of communication.

During its prime, the Department of Postal Services handled over 22 million mail items annually from 1990 to 1995. The number has significantly lower in the last six years. In 2001 the department handled 13,245,798 pieces of mail, which includes letters, registered mail and postcards. A year later the figure fell to 10,439,846 and dropped to 9,390,420 in 2003, a six-year low.

There was an increase however to 9,735,119 pieces of mail in 2004, to 11,455,588 in 2005 and 11,524,555 in 2006.

Bolhassan believes however, that postal services will not be deemed obsolete just yet.

The department has given greater attention to business mail and is planning to provide its customers with new value-added services. One of these newly added services is hybrid mail, which enables government agencies, corporate clients and other bulk mailers to post monthly notices and bills.

Launched earlier at the opening of the new Mentiri Post office, the hybrid mail service allows an increased volume to be sent to customers, thus saving time and money.

In addition, the department is in the process of installing an automation counter to all 24 post offices throughout the country for the convenience of its clients. Through these automation counters, the public will be able to pay their water, electricity and telephone bills as well as renew their driving licenses and road tax.

According to Bolhassan, the department, under its Client’s Charter, promises “J+1”, which means delivery by the next working day.

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Ski costs slip in dollar-stricken USA but head east for the best downhill bargains

Posted by | Dec 3, 2007 | |

Costs may have tumbled in the USA but bargain-hunting skiers will find the best value by travelling east to Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia, according to the Ski Resort Report by Post Office® Travel Services.

Borovets in Bulgaria emerges as the cheapest ski destination¹, half the price of ski equipment and living costs in the fashionable resort of Vail, Colorado. Romania (Poiana Brasov) and Slovenia (Kranjska Gora) are also significantly cheaper than long established resorts in the big three ski destinations – Switzerland, Austria and France.

But Canada, hit by an 9.5 per cent drop in its dollar value against sterling, was by far the most expensive ski destination of 12 surveyed by the Post Office®. At GBP 457.56 for the seven items compared, the resort of Banff was almost three times as expensive as Bulgaria and 27 per cent more than Vail – where the weak dollar has resulted in a price drop of 30 per cent in the past two years.²

In the mainstream European market, the survey shows that Italy still offers best value for ski equipment and resort costs – well ahead of traditional favourites Austria, France and Switzerland. Germany, better known as a cross-country ski destination, is also good value this year – one of only two destinations where prices have dropped³.

The Post Office® found wide variations in the prices charged across Europe. Ski equipment hire varied by around GBP 60 whilst a six day lift pass cost just GBP 82 in Poiana Brasova, Romania but GBP 144 in Soldeu, Andorra – no longer the bargain destination it was a decade ago.

And in its shopping basket of items regularly purchased by skiers, Post Office® Travel Services found the total cost to vary by almost GBP 300.

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