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USPS repositionable notes extended for additional year

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

The US Postal Service Governors accepted the recommendation of the Postal Regulatory Commission to extend the test on repostionable notes, or “sticky notes,” for one year.

The USPS’s repositionable notes allow mailers of First-Class Mail, Periodicals and Standard Mail to affix a Post-It-type note to the outside of cards, large letters, catalogs, magazines and newspapers for a fee, in addition to postage for the host piece.
RPNs are removable, 3-inch by 3-inch paper advertising messages used by business owners, advertising agencies and marketing professionals. They have been described as “billboards for a business’ mail,” because of their unique look and the fact that they can be removed from the mail piece and placed on computers, refrigerators or checkbooks as reminders.

Fees, which are based on a “value pricing” concept, are one-half cent for First Class and 1.5 cents for Standard Mail and Periodicals, plus the cost of postage.

RPNs were introduced on a provisional basis for a one-year period on April 3, 2005, and renewed for an additional year.

On June 14, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved the USPS’s request for another one-year extension to test the market desirability of RPNs

The USPS filed for the one-year extension request on April 2, the day before the April 3 expiration date. The extension sought to further test market demand and interest at the current price for the service. The USPS Governors approval means, rates can remain at their current levels through April 3, 2008.

Since the service first was introduced in April 2005, more than 1,500 customers have used RPNs on almost 247 million pieces of mail.

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Royal Mail faces threat of watchdog censure in battle over prices

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is facing action from the postal regulator after a complaint from DX, one of its rivals, that it had breached pricing regulations.

Postcomm is due to make a formal ruling in the next few weeks, but the regulator has already outlined concerns over a new service that operates in DX’s area.

As the dominant incumbent, Royal Mail is not allowed to lower its prices selectively because that impedes emerging competition. Instead, if it lowers prices it has to offer those prices to everyone. DX argued that it had circumvented this by creating a new service and arguing that this served a niche market, rather than a broad one.

Last year Royal Mail was fined GBP 1 million by Postcomm for failing to ensure that it did not gain an unfair commercial advantage over its competitors in the “access to the last mile” market.

The move came after complaints from three of Royal Mail’s competitors at the time – Express, the dairies business, TNT and UK Mail – who said that they had been hampered in getting uniformly priced access to the final-mile delivery, which is carried out by Royal Mail postmen.

Two years ago the regulator found that Royal Mail’s advertising had breached competition regulations.

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Union wary of Postal Service’s plans for KCK center

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

A union leader has criticized the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal to close a facility in Kansas City, Kan., that employs 300 people. John Savala, president of National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 297, said a recent public hearing on the matter left him and his organization frustrated.

The postal facility in question is a processing and distribution center at 5215 Richland Ave. The Postal Service has proposed consolidating its operations into a bigger facility in Kansas City, Mo.

The Postal Service has indicated that no layoffs would occur as a result of any consolidation. About 240 employees would be transferred to the Missouri center, and the remaining workers would leave through attrition.

Richard Watkins, a Postal Service spokesman for the Mid-America District, said changing economic conditions were forcing the Postal Service to adapt and make its own changes. The proposal to close the Kansas City, Kan., center is part of a national study by the Postal Service evaluating its operations.

The volume of the Postal Service’s most profitable product, first-class mail, has dropped 22 percent since the late 1990s, Watkins said, while costs continue to rise. As first-class mail volume declines, it makes sense for the Postal Service to examine consolidating operations from a leased facility to one it owns that has nearly 500,000 square feet of available capacity, according to Watkins.

Watkins said a study had shown that nearly USD 5.7 million could be saved annually by combining the operations.

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Air Canada drops Shanghai service

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

China’s boomtown has turned sour for Air Canada Cargo. At the end of June, the airline returned a leased MD-11 freighter to World Airways and scrapped its all-cargo flights between Shanghai and Toronto.

Withdrawing the all-cargo service marks the culmination of Air Canada’s retrenchment on the Pacific. The airline launched Shanghai freighter service in spring 2005 with two leased MD-11s, operating five days a week between the Chinese city and Toronto. Last October, however, the disappointing peak season prompted management to return one MD-11 to World and scale back the other two to three flights a week.

This April brought another step back from Air Canada’s Asian ambitions when the carrier canceled an order for two 777 cargo aircraft. Scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2009, those planes were earmarked mostly for trans-Pacific operations.

A major reason has been the increase in freighter operations between Shanghai and North America. U.S. carriers Polar Air Cargo, UPS and FedEx have used new traffic rights this year to step up their Shanghai flights. Moreover, Chinese carriers are increasingly targeting the North American market.

Since last fall, Shanghai Airlines and Yangtze River Express commenced U.S. flights with 747 freighters, and Jade Air Cargo is poised to start a 747-400 freighter operation from Shenzhen through Shanghai to Vancouver and Houston this month.

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FedEx could lure private equity interest

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

FedEx Corp. could become a target for private equity buyers because of its modest valuation and turnaround potential, Barron’s reported in its July 9 issue.

With an enterprise value of USD 35 billion, FedEx is valued at about six times expected fiscal 2008 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda.

The attraction for buyout firms would be the potential to cut capital expenditures to help finance a deal as well as the opportunity to turn around ailing retail unit FedEx Kinko’s.

Even without a buyout, which Barron’s said may not be imminent or even likely, FedEx shares should perform fine on their own, the investor weekly said.

FedEx shares, which are essentially flat this year, closed on Friday at USD 110.84.

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DHL’s new ‘A.M.ERICA Campaign’ promotes speedy delivery between Japan and America

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

DHL launched its ‘A.M.ERICA Campaign’ to promote the advantages of using DHL for deliveries between Japan and America.

The campaign seeks to raise awareness of the convenience and quality of DHL services from Japan to America, which include timely next-morning delivery to major U.S. cities. The campaign will be launched via newspapers, magazines, and the Internet, focusing on the catchphrase “A.M.ERICA”- a combination of “A.M.” and “America.” Conducted in conjunction with the ‘A.M.ERICA Campaign’ will be an prize campaign offering customers the chance to win a trip to this year’s National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game in New Orleans. In May this year, DHL concluded a logistics partner agreement with the NBA covering Asia Pacific region.

In response to sharply increasing demand for air cargo transport between America and Asia, DHL has invested in excess of US$1.2 billion since 2004 to reinforce its American infrastructure, opening new air and ground hubs and expanding existing facilities.

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Palletline member scoops top industry award

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

Halifax-based Expect Distribution, a leading member of Palletline plc, the UK’s most experienced palletized freight distribution network, has scooped the road haulage industry’s most prestigious prize – the 2007 Motor Transport Awards Haulier of the Year award.

The award recognizes the outstanding haulier or distribution company of the year – companies have to show not only strong financial results, but a strong all-round commitment to professionalism and customer care, and active measures taken to improve service levels.

The ceremony for the awards, which since 1988 have recognized excellence in the field of logistics and distribution, was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London.

A key factor in Expect’s success was the impact of a major GBP 200,000-plus rebranding exercise in the first quarter of 2006 which saw the company change its name from Pennine Parcels to Expect Distribution to better reflect the nature of its business.

Based in Listers Road, Halifax, Expect Distribution (www.expectdistribution.com) employs 125 people and owns and operates 52 vehicles. Established in 1988 as a parcel delivery service, the company’s work with palletized consignments grew so rapidly that this has now been its core business for a number of years. It is the largest inputter into Palletline, for whom it covers the LS, WF, HX, BD, HG, HD and OL postcode areas, inputting more than 2,500 pallets each week. Indeed, since becoming a founder member of Palletline in 1992, its annual turnover has rocketed from GBP 350,000 to around GBP 10 million, with growth of 16 pct in the first half of the company’s current financial year.

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