Author: Archive

Cross-border mail going round houses' to get there

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

Residents living in border areas have been left asking if they are receiving a first class service after it emerged that letters sent to destinations just yards away are traveling hundreds of miles.

Barry McElduff, Sinn Fein MLA for West Tyrone, said he cannot understand why letters and parcels must go on such long journeys, even though “you could throw a paper aeroplane” between some of the border towns involved.

Letters between places such as Lifford in Co Donegal and Strabane in Co Tyrone – just hundreds of metres apart – travel to Athlone, Dublin and then Belfast before arriving at their intended destination, postal chiefs have confirmed.

A spokeswoman for An Post in the Republic said that mail posted in Lifford and meant for Strabane travels from Lifford to Athlone Mail Centre, from there to Dublin Mail Centre, then to Belfast and then on to Strabane for two-day delivery.

Mail from Strabane to Lifford makes the same journey in reverse.

“An Post sorts mail at its automated hubs for onward despatch to all national and international destinations,” the spokeswoman explained.

“The main hubs are located in Athlone, Portlaoise, Dublin and Cork.

“There is a next day delivery between Dublin and Belfast.”

Royal Mail defended their arrangements too.

“Royal Mail and An Post have special operational procedures in place to ensure that mail flows as efficiently as possible on a daily basis between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

“Items for either destination are handled separately in the mail centres of both Royal Mail and An Post where sorting machines are capable of processing mail at a rate of 30,000 plus items per hour, which is clearly much quicker than manual sorting.

“Mail is then transported in bulk by road between the two postal authorities for onward delivery.

“This arrangement is the most effective way of ensuring that cross-border mail is handled as efficiently and as effectively as possible.

“Royal Mail carefully monitors performance in this area as with every other aspect of our operations.”

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Magyar Posta to outsource post offices

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

Hungarian postal operator Magyar Posta Zrt plans to “outsource” more than 1,000 post offices across the country to private operators, reports portal hirado.hu. The process will involve five different tenders, the first of which will take place next summer, and involve 220 offices in four counties.

Under existing law, Magyar Posta is forbidden from closing any additional post offices, having already shuddered more than 100 this year. But maintaining its massive network of offices is also impossible due to financial constraints, and executives of the company expect these measures will save it Ft 2.5 billion (EUR 10 million) in 2009.

Entrepreneurs wishing to participate in the tenders have to own an office of at least ten square meters, while the locations being put out to tender are among the network’s smallest, with an annual turnover of between Ft 2.5 (EUR 10 million) million and Ft 10 million (EUR 40 million).

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Rival services take advantage of Royal Mail’s troubles

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has announced that its service disruption is over for the moment, but for many small businesses in Bucks, the damage has already been done and confidence has been badly shaken.

With SMEs forced to make alternative arrangements for vital aspects of their day to day running, many businesses have been left wondering if they can trust the postal service anymore.

And one competing postal business has already seen a major upturn in fortune in the wake of Royal Mail’s troubles.

DX Network Services was originally set up to serve the legal community, during the industrial action of the mid to late seventies. With so many important documents to move, such as deeds, mortgage information, invoices and cheques, the legal profession was particularly sensitive to postal disruption. But now the company provides a service to a wide range of businesses.

James Greenbury, chief executive of DX Network Services, said: “As the only end-to-end competitor to the Royal Mail, we have seen a substantial increase in new customers since the first rumblings of proposed industrial action in June – in fact we took on more customers over the summer strike period than we did in the whole of 2006.

He noted that delayed postal payments could easily spell cash-flow disaster for a small business. DX’s core service is document exchange, where customers drop off and collect their mail from dedicated mailboxes at more than 4,500 exchanges across the country. At present, only commercial facilities can currently send mail, although residential addresses can accept deliveries.

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Door drops under threat from environmental issues

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

The Direct Marketing Association has warned that the door drop industry could face strict measures in response to Government and public concerns over the medium’s impact on the environment.

Speaking at a doordrop media conference organised by postal operator TNT Post, Alex Walsh, head of postal affairs and industry development at the DMA, said environmental issues were posing a significant threat to the direct marketing industry.

He added that while legislation would be too complex to set up for the doordrop industry, a door sticker initiative, in use in the Netherlands since the 1990s, could soon be a reality in the UK. The door sticker, which is also in use in France, Germany, Norway and Belgium, allows consumers to opt out of unaddressed mail completely including free newspapers, or to opt out of undressed mail but opt-in to free newspapers only.

Walsh said that serial offenders who continue to deliver unaddressed mail to those who have opted out by using the door sticker, face fines. ‘No junk mail’ stickers exist in the UK, but there is no legal penalty for those who ignore them.

A spokesperson from TNT Post in Holland said that 13 per cent of households in Holland have chosen to opt-out by using the door sticker.

Walsh also hinted at other possible measures that could be imposed on the industry, such as an eco-tax, which exists in France. Suppliers of unsolicited mail are given the choice of supporting local authority recycling schemes or paying for advertising that encourages the public to recycle.

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Australia Post – Parcels bring in the cash

Posted by | Oct 18, 2007 | |

AUSTRALIA POST has flagged further investment in its logistics arm to propel its domestic and international expansion.

The parcels and logistics division is now the corporatised entity’s biggest money-spinner, responsible for a big part of the group’s 2006-07 net profit of $400.7 million, a rise of 8.7 per cent on the previous year’s $367.9 million.

Of the pre-tax profit of $561.7 million, parcels and logistics for the second year in a row was the biggest contributor, with $255.9 million. Letters, traditionally the lifeblood of Australia Post, had a pre-tax profit of $160 million, down 8.4 per cent.

Total revenue from the three core businesses – letters, parcels and retail – rose by 4 per cent to a record $4.71 billion.

The postal corporation will pay its shareholder, the Federal Government, a dividend of $296.9 million on top of the $474.9 million it paid in taxes and charges last year.

Australia Post’s chairman, David Mortimer, said cash flow in the business was very strong at $670 million. After the payment of dividends, more than $100 million would be available for investment, particularly in logistics.

“There will be investment in warehousing and electronic systems,” he said.

Parcels and logistics includes not just the sending of parcels: the group is increasingly expanding its broader logistics arm domestically and internationally.

The acquisition of JR Haulage, now rebadged Post Logistics Australia, has given the group a solid domestic platform in traditional logistics.

Growth in domestic parcel volume was due to the boom in online shopping, especially of products such as wine, electronic goods, CDs and DVDs.

Mr Mortimer said the expansion of the parcels service overseas owed a lot to the alliance with postal bodies in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States Britain and Spain.

Australia Post has forged a partnership with China Post called Sai Cheng Logistics, which is a stepping stone to a long-term aim of becoming an “essential partner” in Asia-Pacific logistics.

Mr Mortimer said the China venture was exciting. “But it’s still modest. We have to get the fundamentals right first before we expand,” he said.

The volume of domestic letters rose by 1.9 per cent, an extra 93.1 million letters. Mr Mortimer said the number of personal and business letters had fallen, with the broader rise driven by direct and unaddressed mail (such as advertising material), up 8 per cent and 11.4 per cent respectively.

Pre-tax profit from the retail network – 4449 postal outlets, including 2553 in rural locations – was a flat $86.6 million, with identity services, including passports and licences, a new and growing income source.

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Formula 1: showdown for the 'DHL fastest lap trophy'

Posted by | Oct 18, 2007 | |

The ‘DHL Fastest Lap Trophy’ 2007 will definitely go to Ferrari. What’s not yet decided is who will be the first Formula 1 driver to receive the award for the highest number of fastest laps in one season. Felipe Massa is currently in the lead with six of the fastest laps. The winner will be decided next Sunday, October 21, in Sao Paulo at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The two Ferrari drivers, Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen, have produced an exciting head-to-head challenge. This season Massa has driven six of the fastest laps during a race, closely followed by his teammate Räikkönen, who has achieved five of the fastest laps. If Räikkönen drives the fastest lap in the final race of the season then he will draw level with Massa. As the Brazilian and the Finn are so far neck-and-neck also in terms of the number of second fastest laps, Räikkönen can only win the trophy if Massa does not achieve the second fastest lap at the same time. The final decision will then be based on the number of third fastest laps and the Finn is in leading position here.

Since the beginning of the current Formula 1 2007 season, DHL has officially lent its name to this fastest lap and is awarding the DHL Fastest Lap Trophy for the first time to the fastest of the fast amongst the Formula 1 drivers. As the official logistics partner of Formula 1, DHL is also responsible during the 17 race weekends for the transportation of up to 300 tons of equipment. In addition to racing cars, this also includes spare parts, special racing car fuel and box equipment, right through to the equipment for the ‘Paddock Club’ and the entire TV equipment. Just like the actual races, this all requires speed, timing and successful teamwork.

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