Author: Archive

USPS selects AT&T for wireless data devices and services76

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has selected US communications holding company AT&T Inc. to support the agency’s move to wirelessly enable enterprise applications for more efficient operations.

AT&T said it will provide new wireless data devices and services to 5,400 employees across the US initially, deploying a solution which includes BlackBerry 8800 series handsets from Research In Motion (RIM) for postal managers and key staff. They will use the handsets for access to e-mail and other postal applications and will have wireless access via AT&T’s EDGE network, which provides availability in over 13,000 cities and towns and along 40,000 miles of highways.

The BlackBerry 8800 Series device incorporates a QWERTY keyboard, trackball navigation system, GPS, voice and data functionality and expandable memory slot. It is the first dual-mode BlackBerry handset, combining EDGE/GPRS/GSM cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity for flexible data access and is proposed for phase two deployment later in 2007.

According to USPS, the wireless solution enables it to access location-based tracking, asset and supply acquisition, IT support and video training applications on the mobile device, helping to streamline operations across the US.

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UPS expands "Green Fleet" with 306 alternative fuel vehicles

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

UPS today announced it was adding 306 alternative fuel vehicles to its “green fleet” by placing an order for 167 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery trucks while taking delivery of 139 new propane delivery trucks in North America. Additionally, the company has launched an initiative to use biodiesel fuel in its ground support vehicles at the UPS Worldport® air hub in Louisville.

The CNG trucks will be deployed early next year in Dallas, Atlanta and four California cities – Los Angeles, Ontario, San Ramon and Fresno. They will join more than 800 such vehicles already in use in the United States. The propane vehicles are joining nearly 600 propane trucks already operating in Canada and Mexico.

UPS’s global alternative-fuel fleet now stands at 1,629 vehicles – the largest such private fleet in the transportation industry – and includes CNG, liquefied natural gas, propane and electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The company also is working with the Environmental Protection Agency on a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle.

The propane and CNG trucks currently in the UPS fleet were converted from gasoline and diesel vehicles in the 1980s to run on alternative fuels. The new trucks are originally manufactured for alternative fuel use.

The chassis for the CNG trucks are being purchased in two sizes from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation. The trucks will feature engines from Cummins Westport that are expected to yield a 20 percent emissions reduction and 10 percent improvement in fuel economy over the cleanest diesel engines available in the market today. The truck bodies will be identical externally to the signature-brown trucks that now comprise the UPS fleet and will be marked as CNG vehicles.

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UPS Indianapolis freight workers ratify contract

Posted by | Oct 7, 2007 | |

United Parcel Service Inc. freight workers in Indianapolis ratified a new five-year contract reached by the Teamsters union that raises workers’ wages and boosts the company’s contributions to pensions and benefits.

The contract, which covers 125 freight employees, is considered to be the first step toward the unionization of UPS’s freight work force of about 15,000. The contract was ratified by a 107-to-1 vote.

UPS Freight was formerly known as Overnite Transportation.

UPS and the Teamsters union reached a tentative agreement on Sept. 30.

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Private rivals urged to save post offices in the UK

Posted by | Oct 7, 2007 | |

The UK’s postal regulator, PostComm, will this week call on private businesses competing with the Royal Mail to help sustain the country’s flagging post offices.

In its annual report, PostComm will urge private postal operators such as UPS and DHL to strike a deal with the Post Office to use its branches as holding areas for undelivered mail.

Currently, if members of the public are not at home to sign for their privately delivered parcels or registered letters they are returned to company depots which are often situated far from the delivery address.

Private delivery staff sometimes have to visit a property up to three times before the mail is delivered or customers are required to collect it themselves, often at premises far from their homes.

PostComm will suggest that private companies could make an arrangement with the Post Office for undelivered mail to be held at branches close to the customer’s home. This, it will argue, would save both time and money for the private companies and generate extra business for the struggling Post Office network.

A spokesman for PostComm declined to expand on the plans. However, he did confirm that the regulator will be recommending a number of ways in which the Post Office can make money from the numerous private rivals that have come onto the market since the postal service was opened up to full competition last year.

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Postal System to Be Exported to Central Asia

Posted by | Oct 7, 2007 | |

Korea Post is to help Mongolia and Kazakhstan modernize their postal networks by sharing its experience in setting up one of the world’s most efficient logistic networks, and by introducing advanced mail-handling systems developed by South Korean IT firms.

The representatives, including Jung Kyung-won, president of Korea Post, will sign a partnership pact and will draw a blueprint of modernizing the Central Asian postal network, it said.

The forming of the committee will be a gateway for Korea’s system developers to make inroads into the developing markets in the region, where the mail services are still in their rudimentary stages compared to their Eastern neighborhoods. It can become a breakthrough because the domestic market has already begun to shrink due to the increasing use of e-mail and other electronic communication tools.

Korea Post is considered one of the world’s most advanced and efficient mail handling systems. It spent more than 16 billion won between 2002 and 2004 on establishing the electronic mail logistics system called PostNet. This May, PostNet was recognized as the best postal technology in the world by the World Mail Award, which was organized by a British consulting firm Triangle.

The government’s investment in upgrading Korea’s postal system also nurtured its private sector as well. Some 30 companies are now providing various types of goods and services for the postal network, such as an automatic sorting system, labeling system, delivery scheduling software and hand-carry information system for mailmen.

Among them, LG CNS will be taking charge of Mongolia’s postal modernization project, and SK C&C will bid for the Kazakhstan project, the agency said.

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A prized moment for DHL India as Best Express Operator

Posted by | Oct 6, 2007 | |

DHL walked away triumphant with the Best Express Operator award at the Express, Logistics & Supply Chain Awards. Organized by India Times Mindscape and Business India Group, the Award ceremony was a part of a two-day Express, Logistics & Supply Chain Conclave, held at Taj Lands End Bandra, Mumbai.

The Awards Nominees and Winners were extensively researched and rated on many criteria by the reputed Market research agency, A.C. Neilsen, and governed by an Advisory Council. At a Gala Awards Function, Craig Grossgart, Country Manager, DHL Express India accepted the award on behalf of DHL.

Blue Dart, now part of the DHL group, also bagged the “Cargo operator of the year (Cargo Airline)”. Blue Dart was adjudged winner in this category for its size of network, reliable service, range of products and value added services, introduction of new products and services and cost efficiency.

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Royal Mail claims UK postal strike is flagging as rivals target business

Posted by | Oct 6, 2007 | |

The Royal Mail claimed that support for the controversial postal strike was “weakening” yesterday as talks between the two sides aimed at bringing an end to the disruption continued.

The Royal Mail, in its statement, maintained that “50 per cent more people” were working compared with previous strike days.

It said: “Attendance at strikes across the country varied hugely with up to 90 per cent of our people working as normal in some offices and with about 35,000 people coming to work as usual during the first 24-hour period of action. This is around a third of people due to be at work. We expect this level to rise over the next few days.” The Royal Mail said “the high level of attendance” meant it was continuing to process mail and that deliveries were taking place across the country, although at reduced levels.

The two-day strike – over a 2.5 per cent pay offer, job cuts, changes to working practices and plans to change the company’s generous final-salary pension scheme – was called by the 130,000-strong Communications Workers’ Union and started on Thursday. A second stoppage planned for Monday means the dispute will paralyse deliveries for a week.

A CWU spokeswoman said: “We are not at all concerned by Royal Mail putting that out. It is always possible to find offices where more people have turned up, but we know we have the overwhelming support of our members.”

The spokeswoman said in response to criticism that the strike will damage the postal industry: “We are very concerned about the future of Royal Mail, which is why we found ourselves in this position. We don’t feel that the business is addressing the problem of competition effectively and we are incredibly keen to have an agreement. That is why we are still in negotiations.”

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