Author: Archive

India Post will have own aircraft to meet private challenge

Posted by | Aug 16, 2007 | |

State-run India Post is seeking to beat growing competition from private courier companies by acquiring its own aircraft that would carry mail by the end of this month.

‘All these years, the postal department was considered to be a social service unit, but now we want to make it into a business unit. Our focus will be on the business clientele,’ said John Samuel, general manager, India Post.

The aircraft is being taken on wet lease from domestic carrier Indian.

All details of the new operation have been worked out and it would be just be a matter of days before the first plane carrying mails and parcels will take off. The aircraft will bear the India Post logo, while the color is still kept under wraps.

The postal department will start its operations focusing on the northeast states with a single aircraft, but has plans to increase its fleet in the days to come.

As night landing is not allowed in these states, the flight will operate in the daytime. The department intends to operate on the Kolkata-Guwahati-Agartala-Imphal route. It also plans to acquire a few more aircraft in future for other routes.

The new service will not only help deliver mail faster but also bring down overall postal charges.

While private couriers will find it difficult to match up the move, the postal department denies being under pressure from any competition.

‘We are an organization with an annual revenue of Rs.7,000 crore (USD 1.72 billion) and are far ahead of others. While they follow the benchmarks we have set, we too will follow some of their best practices.

Read More

DHL appoints Kelvin Leung as Chief Operating Officer for its Global Forwarding business in Asia Pacific

Posted by | Aug 16, 2007 | |

DHL the appointment of Kelvin Leung as the Chief Operating Officer of DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, and a member of the company’s Asia Pacific Management Board. He assumes the newly-created position with immediate effect and will report to Peter Landsiedel, CEO, Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding.

Kelvin is responsible for managing and directing the business unit’s activities in the region, in collaboration with the sub-regional and functional leaders. The heads of the airfreight and ocean freight businesses will report directly to him.

Prior to this appointment, Kelvin was Vice President of DHL Global Forwarding for Hong Kong, South China and Macau, where he was responsible for the long-term strategic planning, sales and operations as well as business development of the regional DHL Global Forwarding logistics markets. Since joining DHL in 2002, Kelvin played an instrumental role in making the company the market leader, and more than doubling the size of DHL Global Forwarding’s business in this region.

Kelvin graduated from the University of Cambridge, Magdalene College, with a Masters in General Engineering Science. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong.

Read More

Australia Post: Quarter Delivery Results

Posted by | Aug 16, 2007 | |

Australia Post has again exceeded its delivery standard according to the most recent review, independently audited by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
Across Australia for the quarter ended June 2007, 96.5 percent of domestic letters were delivered early or on time, and 99.0 percent within one day of Australia Post’s customer service standard.
According to Australia Post’s customer service standard, 94 percent of domestic mail must be delivered within specific time periods. For example: For standard size letters placed in a post box before 6pm, Australia Post undertakes to deliver that letter within the same metropolitan area by the next business day.
Across Australia, delivery targets were exceeded in every state. Tasmania was again the strongest performer with 98.0 percent, followed very closely by the Australian Capital Territory 97.2 pct and Queensland 97.0 pct. The national average was 95.8 per cent.

To ascertain whether Australia Post is meeting its delivery targets, the ‘travel’ of domestic letters is monitored using radio frequency identification technology and a network of more than 2,000 members of the public across Australia. The results are independently audited by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
“We continue to see gains from our investments both in technology and our people. These results demonstrate a real team effort at Australia Post and are something that the Australian public can be proud of,” said spokesperson Melanie Powell.
“This quarter’s strong results reconfirm that Australia Post is amongst the best postal services in the world this is a credit to our thirty five thousand employees across the country,” she said.

Read More

Experian says 80 pct of shoppers use hard-copy catalogues before going online

Posted by | Aug 16, 2007 | |

Experian’s poll of more than 1,500 British consumers found that seven out of 10 have shopped from home in the past year. Of those, 80 pct found the product they wanted in a catalogue and then went online to order it.
Major factors fuelling “flick to click” behaviour are time-poor, cash-rich consumers using online shopping for convenience (63 pct) and to get access to high quality goods (37 pct), Experian said.
The most active markets in the past year were home goods and furnishings, which quintupled, and men’s fashion, which more than trebled.

Read More

Royal Mail posts first loss in six years

Posted by | Aug 15, 2007 | |

Royal Mail slipped into the red for the first time in six years on its first and second- class and bulk business mail, incurring an operating loss of GBP 12m last year after a profit of GBP 197m in 2005-06.

Royal Mail’s operating costs were up GBP 181m at GBP 5.97 bn, despite shedding 6,300 jobs. The postal operator is likely to use the figures, which were submitted to Postcomm, the regulator last month, to press home its demand for an easing of price controls.

In its report, Royal Mail argued that it was suffering from a shrinking market as competition intensified and customers sought cheaper products that had not been anticipated by the regulator when it set its last price regime only 15 months ago.

The company is making an average loss of 5.6 p on each stamped item, amounting to GBP 185m for the year. It also lost GBP 61m on its bulk business mailing services. Its doorstep deliveries on behalf of other bulk mail operators that collect and sort the mail themselves doubled to over 2.4bn items under the new competitive regime introduced in 2006.

Royal Mail’s results also show that it made a slight profit, of GBP 27 m, on those services covered by its universal service obligation. This undermines the argument put forward by some of the company’s supporters that it is hamstrung by its duty to deliver mail to every address in the country at a standard rate.

Read More

GLS launches express services in Belgium

Posted by | Aug 15, 2007 | |

GLS announced today that it is launching express services in Belgium to broaden its service portfolio in the country.

From September GLS will offer its Euro Express-Parcel service for international shipments to nine European countries, including Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.

Express parcels will be delivered in less than 24 hours, with the exception of remote areas of Britain, the Czech Republic and Hungary where delivery will be within 48 hours. GLS has been offering domestic express delivery within Belgium since mid-June.

Read More

FedEx spent USD 1.6 M lobbying in 2007

Posted by | Aug 15, 2007 | |

FedEx Corp. spent USD 1.6 million in the first half of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based company lobbied on aviation safety, air cargo security and environmental issues, according to the form posted online Friday by the Senate’s public records office.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based company lobbied Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation, Treasury, Homeland Security departments.

Under a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches. They must register with Congress within 45 days of being hired or engaging in lobbying.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

Have you noticed a decrease of non-EU inbound parcel volumes since the implementation of the new €3 charge?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!


View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest