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Courier companies should 'get out there' during mail strike in the UK

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

The latest round of postal strikes may be bad news for many businesses, but it is a boon for courier companies.

Speaking to the BBC, Robin Mackintosh of Maidenhead courier firm Fast Lane International said that industrial action at Royal Mail is good news for his business and other couriers.

“It’s beneficial to the courier trade in general when there’s a postal strike and we as a company gain long-term business from that situation,” he said.

“It’s clearly beneficial to us but chaotic for everyone else. Without taking a swipe at Royal Mail, when people see the benefits they reap from speed, traceability and value for money then they often use our services again.”

He said his firm would enjoy a 60 per cent increase in inquiries each day, as businesses look to ensure their post gets through.

A British Chamber of Commerce spokesman gave out the same message.

“Businesses need to get cheques out in the post. What solutions have they got? This is the only solution for the next few days,” he said.

“Our advice to courier firms is to get out there, because you’re knocking on open doors.”

The current dispute at Royal Mail is over pay, pensions and proposed business changes. The Communications Workers Union is worried that the changes “will actually take the service backwards”.

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CPL – Spanish CEP operators seek to add value in changing market

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

The Spanish courier and parcels market faces vital new challenges over the next few years as margins shrink, the integrators strengthen their market share and a raft of new employment legislation is introduced.

This was the clear message sent out by leading representatives of the Spanish industry when they spoke to delegates at yesterday’s final session of the Courier and Parcels Logistics Summit in Barcelona.

Growth in the courier segment had averaged about 14 pct between 1997 and 2001, but this had fallen to 8.8 pct between 2002 and 2006 in a market “very close to maturity”. Now operators had to increase added value to the client in the face of falling margins, adjusting their prices, improving quality and offering a wider range of services, Boronat explained.

Fernando Rodríguez Sousa, president of the Spanish Association of Couriers, Aecaf, said the country’s EUR 7 billion parcels market was heading for serious consolidation. “Although there are nearly 5,500 registered courier companies, 57 pct of the market is shared by 10 of them and consolidation will continue to increase,” Sousa said. “The challenge is to improve the management model in a more competitive market with pressure on margins.”

Four new laws coming into force over the next couple of years would have a deep impact on the industry, Sousa said. This involved new regulations governing self-employed workers, adoption of a working time directive, legislation concerning contracts in the transport sector and a new law affecting professional driving licences. This was forcing the industry to revise pick-up and delivery models, he said.

Carlos Rosa Maureta, international unit director with Correos, said postal networks across Europe and the world were growing fast. The E-Parcel Group (EPG), for distribution in the EU, increased the volume of items it carried in 2006 by 18 pct and has grown from nine European postal operators to 21 over the past decade. Similarly, the Kahala Postal Group (KPG), for delivery between the US, Asia and Europe, which Correos joined last year, now covered 31 pct of the world population.

Yves Delmas, CEO of leading parcels carrier Seur GeoPost said the French-Spanish venture was developing successfully in the changing market due to a series of factors. The company was gradually purchasing Seur franchises (it now has eight) across the country, but was keeping on staff and giving them a vested interest in the success of the new joint business. “And we have time,” said Delmas. “There is no calendar for the buying up of the franchises.” Seur-GeoPost was achieving double-digit profit growth through exclusive focus on parcels and flexibility. “We are an interfacer, not an integrator,” Delmas added.

Soledad Santiago, commercial vice-president for Iberia Cargo, said Madrid’s Barajas airport was proving Europe’s express gateway to Latin America. Iberia Cargo’s IBExpress service, used by other couriers, was constantly beating records and could now deliver packages and documents in well under 24 hours to most destinations in South and Central America due to the daily or greater frequency of flights between the two continents. “Direct connections also means minimizing the risks of excessive handling,” she pointed out.

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CPL – TNT, DPWN take up the environmental challenge

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

TNT and Deutsche Post World Net are responding to the environmental challenges facing the CEP sector with a wide range of similar operational measures but are taking a divergent strategic approach on the issue of “green” products, the CPL Summit in Barcelona this week heard.

Presenting TNT’s new “Planet Me” environmental program, Carin ten Hage, project director social responsibility, stressed the importance of a comprehensive program covering not only operations but also issues such as company cars, business travel and employees’ private lifestyles.

But TNT had deliberately decided not to introduce any “green” products in the style of DHL’s GoGreen services, ten Hage noted. “We don’t want to have a green product, we want to be a green product,” she commented. “If you use us, then you know you are using a company that does everything it can to reduce emissions.”

Winfried Häser, DPWN director of environmental strategy and policy, outlined the German group’s three-tier environmental management approach of measuring, reducing and finally replacing emissions through various carbon-neutral GoGreen products. However, the latter services, now available in selected markets, were still “niche” products at present, he said.

In an overview of the challenges facing the CEP industry on environmental issues as it continues to grow on a worldwide scale, CEP-Research chief editor Paul Needham warned that external pressure from stakeholders would grow in the years to come, with harder-hitting regulations to follow.

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Japan Post Holdings, Nippon Express to Form Alliance in Parcel Delivery Service

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

Japan Post Holdings Co., the recently privatized postal service, and delivery company Nippon Express Co. said Friday they have agreed to form a comprehensive business alliance.

As a start, the two companies will integrate their domestic parcel delivery operations beginning next October, they said in a joint statement.

The move is expected to help boost their competitiveness against industry leaders Yamato Transport Co. and Sagawa Express Co.

The alliance is the first major tie-up for Japan Post since the company was established Monday as part of the nation’s 10-year postal privatization plan.

Nippon Express, the nation’s No. 3 package delivery company, and Japan Post, which is the fourth-largest in the service, will set up a new company on Oct. 1, 2008, to integrate their delivery business. They are also seeking tie-ups in other areas to use their expertise, the companies said.

The new company will be a subsidiary of either Japan Post Holdings or its delivery unit, Japan Post Service Co.

Nippon Express has stepped up efforts to form partnerships to better compete with its rivals. The company said in August that it was considering joint air transport services with Kintetsu World Express Inc. between Japan and other Asian countries.

Under the postal privatization plan, the parent Japan Post was broken into four separate businesses initially held under a government-controlled holding company: an insurance company, savings bank, mail courier and post office management firm. The companies will be made independent by 2017 and listed on stock markets.

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GCC postal units to set up logistics firm

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

Postal corporations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States are working to set up a regional level logistics company, according to a Q-Post official. An international consulting firm is conducting a feasibility study, he said. The consultant is expected to complete the study shortly.

The official said discussions on the need for such a company would be held at the forthcoming GCC Postal Meet to be held in Jeddah later this month.

The GCC postal forum’s plans to acquire aircraft on lease to carry mail will also figure at the Jeddah talks.

The official said at present only Emirates Post operates courier aircraft to select destinations in Asia and Europe.

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Royal Mail strikes deal with managers

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has reached an agreement with its managerial staff on pensions and pay, although the battle with postal workers, which will disrupt postal services well into next week, is still dragging on.

The deal, which was secured by the Unite union on behalf of its 12,000 members and covers a 27-month period, gives managerial staff a 2.5 pct pay rise, backdated to April.

Under the agreement, Royal Mail’s existing pension scheme will be closed to new members from 31 January 2008 and replaced by a defined contribution scheme for subsequent joiners. The retirement age will increase from 60 to 65 from April 1 2010.

Paul Reuter, Unite’s national officer, said: “Unite has secured a deal with Royal Mail which we believe will protect GBP 1.5bn worth of pension benefits for Royal Mail staff. We now have a pension package that we can take to our members.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said the 2.5 pct basic pay rise recognized “the positive role that managers will play in the modernization of Royal Mail, essential to enable the company to compete in a market open to full competition”.

Managers’ bonuses – which range from 5 pct-9 pct of their annual salaries – will also become pensionable, a detail that helped persuade Unite to accept the terms.

While Royal Mail managed to avert strike action by Unite, postal workers continued to form picket lines in the second day of a 48-hour postal strike.

They are protesting against pension cuts, pay and a modernization program that the Communication Workers Union believes could cut up to 40,000 jobs.

The Royal Mail said in a statement that there were 50 pct more people working today than during previous national strikes, indicating “support for the CWU strike amongst its members [was] weakening”.

A second wave of strikes is scheduled to begin on Monday and last until Wednesday. The CWU has pledged a rolling series of strikes starting October 15 if they fail to reach an agreement with Royal Mail.

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Schenker – First test phase between Hamburg and Hong Kong successfully concluded. Now also fitted with GPS sensors

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

Schenker’s oceanfreight containers that are used all over the world can now for the first time be continuously monitored, thanks to a special new security technique. For test purposes the company has fitted out ten of its containers, also known as SCHENKERsmartbox, with special sensors in addition to RFID technology. These ‘GPS Security Devices’ communicate the current GPS coordinates, temperature levels and security parameters (like door activities). The transport units are in regular use between Hamburg and Hong Kong.

The first test phase for the RFID technology has been successfully completed. RFID status notifications communicate the most important points where liability changes hands, when the containers are loaded and unloaded at the packing stations in Hamburg and Hong Kong, as well as the time of arrival at the terminal. This gives a clear view of when and where the load is being transshipped.

“It is becoming clear that this technology will be ripe for serial production in the near future. At least the RFID technology promises to be suitable for use on a wide scale, from the economic point of view as well,” comments Dr. Wolfgang Dräger, Senior Vice President, PM Ocean Freight, Schenker AG.

The new GPS sensors give information at regular intervals about conditions in the container: is it cold or hot, are there any sudden temperature changes? Does the container get shaken up in the course of the journey? Does it deviate from the planned route? These and other data are compiled in a report, which Schenker can then consult. “As soon as this technology is ready for serial production, it will open up new possibilities of service to our particularly demanding industrial customers,” explains Dr. Wolfgang Dräger. For example, the temperature of pharmaceutical products and other sensitive goods can be continuously monitored, which could come out cheaper in the long term than transporting them in refrigerated containers, provided that the appropriate temperature tolerances can be guaranteed.

It is a similar situation with goods that are vulnerable to shock, like laptops and other valuable articles. Even if it is not possible to prevent the goods from being shaken about at all, at least you can determine in retrospect when and where they have been exposed to shock and what has occurred. Finally it is possible to determine when and where the door of the container has been opened. If this happens unexpectedly or the door is forced, an alarm is triggered and at the same time appropriate security measures will be initiated.

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Will strikes signal last post for the Royal Mail?

Posted by | Oct 5, 2007 | |

The postal strike which will freeze all mail delivery until next Thursday is “potentially disastrous”, Welsh business leaders warned last night.

Members of the Communication Workers Union walked out on a 48-hour strike at noon yesterday in an escalation of a bitter dispute with Royal Mail over pay, jobs and pensions, saying another UK-wide two-day strike would follow from 3am on Monday.

Firms were warned there will be no deliveries until late next week and it is estimated the row will cost industry millions of pounds.

The Federation of Small Businesses Wales last night warned of the potentially serious damage to businesses while the Confederation of British Industry Wales said the strike would have “a far greater impact than previous ones”.

But both groups added that the advent of e-commerce meant the strikes would be less damaging than they would have been 20 years ago, and that the more likely effect would be to hasten the demise of Royal Mail as companies looked to bypass its services.

The first signs of this were evident last night, when Royal Mail lost a GBP 100,000 contract with Warranty Direct, which said it would stop using the postal organization to deliver 12,000 letters a month.

A rolling program of strikes will start on October 15 and will continue every week until the dispute is resolved, union leaders warned.

But this could be a case of the union “shooting itself in the foot” as businesses look for alternative ways of doing business, said the FSB and CBI.

David Rosser, director of CBI Wales, said the strike, though disruptive, was still “more annoying than disastrous”.

“Twenty years ago, the impact on business would have been much greater, but the use of e-mail and e-commerce means the effect is much less than it would have been otherwise,” he said.

“The Royal Mail has significant competition in terms of business mail from other businesses and other technologies and a prolonged period without Royal Mail services will encourage companies to look elsewhere.”

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