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Local Distribution Company Joins Logistics Network and Predicts Major Growth

Posted by | Oct 17, 2007 | |

Goods 2 Go, based in Lewisham South-East London, has joined Palletways, the number one palletised freight network in Europe.
The company has become one of more than 100 depots that make up the UK network, which provides a range of express distribution services for small consignments of palletised freight, including next day, economy and timed delivery options. Goods 2 Go will cover deliveries to EC and WC postcodes in central London.
Goods 2 Go, which was founded in 2001 and has a 15-strong vehicle fleet, predicts that its membership of Palletways will increase its annual turnover by 30 per cent.
Ash Douglas, Managing Director of Goods 2 Go said: “Joining Palletways will enable us to fully exploit the palletised freight marketplace in the UK and Europe. Being part of the largest network of its kind will enable us to offer our customers cost-effective overnight and express freight services to anywhere in the country for the first time ever, as well as being able to offer services to mainland Europe, a service which we intend to grow over the next few years.”
As with all companies in the Palletways network, Goods 2 Go will benefit from high-speed connections to the internet, and the track and trace consignment monitoring.
By accessing the Palletways website and entering their unique login name, Goods 2 Go customers are able to go online and check the status and location of their consignments with track and trace.

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Timing is everything in FedEx expansion

Posted by | Oct 17, 2007 | |

FedEx Ground is undergoing an overall expansion — and its new facility in Orion Township is part of that growth.

Timing is everything for FedEx when it comes to opening up new facilities, says Allison Sobczak, corporate communications for FedEx Ground. While Metro Detroiters have yet to greet trick-or-treaters at their doors, FedEx is in full swing of their busiest season — the winter holidays.

The new 190,000-square-foot, USD 30 million facility replaces two Metro Detroit FedEx facilities in Pontiac and Sterling Heights, which have been closed. Their operations are transferred to the new facility in Orion Township.

FedEx Ground chose Orion Township because of its access to major highways, the local labor pool and its business-friendly reputation. “Most importantly, we look for proclivity to our customer base and from what I understand a lot of the growth in the area has been north of the city.”

FedEx Ground has facilities in Livonia and Ann Arbor to handle the rest of the greater Detroit area.

The Orion Township facility will utilize much more automation in processing packages than the facilities it replaces. It is one of 300 other expanded local facilities in the nation.

Sobczak says reduced transit time is part of FedEx Ground’s overall expansion plan. “In 2003 in more than half of our shipping lanes, about 65,000, we have been able to decrease transit times.”

With the opening of the Orion Township facility, transit times from Detroit to Florida have decreased from four days to three, says Sobczak “Overall these facilities speed up our network, they improve package processing with the improved automation and minimize package handling.”

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CWU presents terms to postal executive to settle dispute with Royal Mail

Posted by | Oct 17, 2007 | |

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it has presented terms to the postal executive, an elected body of CWU members, to settle the dispute over pay and job cuts, following its talks with Royal Mail’s chief executive Adam Crozier.

The TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has now invited both parties for a further meeting so that the CWU can clarify the remaining outstanding issues, CWU said.

As a result of the latest developments, the current round of industrial action has been suspended.

More than 100,000 postal workers disrupted mail services earlier this month by staging two 48-hour walk-outs in opposition to Royal Mail’s modernisation plans, which include cutting 40,000 jobs, reforming the company’s pension scheme and limiting pay rises to 2.5 pct.

Royal Mail had won an injunction stopping the latest strike, which was scheduled to start on Oct 15.

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Australia Post delivers more mail and record profits

Posted by | Oct 17, 2007 | |

Australia Post earned a record pre-tax profit of USD 561.7 million in 2006/07 (up 8.9 per cent on the previous year), according to the corporation’s Annual Report, which was released today.

This record financial result underlines the strength of the postal corporation, with revenue growth in all three of its core business areas – letters, parcels and retail – also contributing to record-high revenue of USD 4.71 billion (up 4 per cent).

Australia Post’s 2006/07 Annual Report also indicates that Australian mail volumes are continuing to grow – despite predictions that paper-based mail would decline in the era of electronic communications.

Domestic letter volumes grew by 1.9 per cent (or 93.1 million items), which is the strongest increase in letter volumes since the 1990s. And domestic parcel volumes increased by 3.7 per cent – making this the fifth successive year of robust growth for Australia Post’s parcels network.

Australia Post met or exceeded all of its customer service charter commitments during 2006/07. This includes on-time letter delivery performance of 96.3 per cent (up from 95.6 per cent last year).

Other key results and highlights from the 2006/07 Annual Report include:
– a record net profit of USD 400.7 million
– return on revenue of 11.9 per cent
– productivity improvement of 3.2 per cent
– total mail volumes increased by 1.8 per cent to 5.51 billion items
– the delivery network now reaches 10.26 million addresses (up 218,000 on previous year)
– the maintenance of Australia’s largest retail network, with 4,449 postal outlets
– workplace safety improved, with a record low LTIFR of 7.4 lost-time injuries per million work hours
– the launch of a new brand advertising campaign: Australia Post – Part of every day.

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DMA leads alliance to set environmental standard

Posted by | Oct 17, 2007 | |

Taking a leading role in shaping the industry and reducing its environmental impact, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has developed an alliance of like-minded member companies to partner with BSI British Standards to create the first standard for environmental performance in the field of direct marketing.

The Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is expected to form a benchmark for the UK and potentially across other industries and will enable users to make a verifiable environmental claim. It will provide a vital business and future-proofing tool to add substantial value and credibility to businesses. The alliance, comprising Royal Mail; Acxiom, one of the UK’s largest data companies; ISBA, the voice of British advertisers; and the TPS, the consumer telephone suppression file, has proved fundamental in gaining the necessary support and funding for the scheme.

The standard will be independently facilitated by BSI and is expected to take nine to 12 months to develop. The development process will build consensus around a way forward that is pragmatic and achievable, underpinned by good practice. BSI will carry out research and consult with key stakeholders from government and industry such as Defra, WRAP and the Environment Agency, as well as other relevant trade associations and key consumer groups.

All areas of direct marketing will be covered by the standard from email marketing to direct mail to field marketing. The consultation process will provide insight into how the environment relates to each business sector where initially the connection may not be obvious.

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Royal Mail fills CIO gap with Dargue appointment

Posted by | Oct 16, 2007 | |

The Royal Mail has confirmed that the former Diageo chief information officer Robin Dargue will take over as its CIO, following the retirement earlier this year of David Burden.

Dargue is expected to take up the post at the end of the month, having already moved on from drinks firm Diageo, where he made a name for himself in part by promoting IT as a driver of innovation and growth to the wider business.

Among the key projects overseen by Dargue in his time at Diageo was the global roll-out of an SAP platform.

Burden stood down at Royal Mail a few months back after five years on the organisation’s executive management team.

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DHL buys Israel's Flying Cargo

Posted by | Oct 16, 2007 | |

International shipping giant DHL announced Tuesday it had bought the international delivery line of Israel’s Flying Cargo. The USD 100 million deal is pending approval by the Israel Antitrust Authority.

The Flying Cargo Group was formed in 1982 by Avi and Danny Reich, providing international delivery services, as well as various shipping, logistics and cargo insurance services.

Once the sale is finalized, the Reich brother will remain owners of the Flying Cargo Group’s other divisions.

DHL, one of the world’s leading international delivery companies, with some 220 bases around the world, is not expected to make far-reaching changes in Flying Cargo’s international delivery division’s management.

“The fact that the world’s leading shipping company decided to buy Flying Cargo is a testimony of trust in the company’s line, its management and its employees,” said Danny Reich.

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UK postal workers union suspends strikes as it considers Royal Mail offer

Posted by | Oct 16, 2007 | |

The Communication Workers Union said it has suspended industrial action planned for later this week, as its executive continues to discuss the agreement reached with Royal Mail late on Friday.

Drivers and workers at the Heathrow sorting centre were due to walk out in a series of 24-hour strikes in the latest stage of their dispute over pay and job cuts.

Earlier this month deliveries were severely disrupted when more than 100,000 postal workers staged two 48-hour walk-outs in opposition to Royal Mail’s modernisation plans, which include cutting 40,000 jobs, reforming the company’s pension scheme and limiting pay rises.

The union said its executive was continuing to discuss the outline agreement from Royal Mail, which is thought to include a 6.9 pct pay rise over 18 months.

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