Author: Archive

Pitney Bowes hails Singapore Post for new meter discount on postage

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

Pitney Bowes Inc. is praising Singapore Post for the post’s recent implementation of a postage discount for mail that is processed using a postage meter. This move, effective July 1, makes Singapore Post one of a growing number of national posts around the world that are passing lower transaction costs on to customers who use meters.

In announcing its decision, Singapore Post joins Royal Mail (UK), La Poste (France), India Post, An Post (Ireland), Norway Post, Finland Post, Sweden Post and others in offering some form of discount or rebate on some or all segments of metered mail.

These posts have decided to offer discounts because postage meters help them avoid the equivalent of millions of dollars in costs required to design, print, distribute, sell and account for postage stamps. The discount offered to meter users provides an incentive for mailers to switch to the high-tech devices, because postage is usually one of the largest expenses a mailer faces. Switching more mail to postage meters helps mitigate higher postage costs.

Discounts of this kind stimulate efficiency and innovation in the sector, a key objective not just for mailers and posts but also for independent postal regulators around the world.

Pitney Bowes has argued for many years that posts in more nations should implement discounts of this type.

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Western Union Services Now Available at 263 Checksmart Financial Locations in 11 States Nationwide

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

The Western Union Company and Checksmart Financial announced today that Western Union services are now available at 263 Checksmart locations in 11 states nationwide.

Checksmart Financial, which formerly offered a competitor’s services, joins Western Union’s network of more than 305,000 Agent locations – including subsidiaries Orlandi Valuta and Vigo – in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

With the agreement, 227 Checksmart Financial locations will offer Western Union(R) Money Transfers, Western Union-branded money orders, and utility bill payments to select utilities. Seventeen Checksmart locations will offer Western Union Money Transfers and money orders, and 19 locations will offer money orders.

Checksmart Financial operates locations under the names Checksmart, Buckeye Checksmart, Express Payroll Advance, Southwest Check Cashing, Buckeye Title Loan and Cash 1 in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Utah and Virginia. The majority of locations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, with some locations open 24 hours a day.

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Groups seek end to USPS monopoly on mailboxes

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

A group of taxpayer and consumer advocates are calling for an end to the U.S. Postal Service’s monopoly on mailboxes.

In response to a Federal Trade Commission request for comment in the May 1 Federal Register, the group questions a rule that bars putting letters or packages in mailboxes without paying a fee to the Postal Service.

The rule “injects unnecessary nuisance, cost and inefficiency into simple acts of community communication,” the group writes in a June 29 letter to the FTC. The letter is signed by officials from the Consumer Postal Council, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform and other groups.

Under the ban, private citizens cannot put neighborhood fliers or party invitations in boxes. And as online commerce grows, inability to receive private deliveries in mailboxes causes a mounting inconvenience, the letter says.

The FTC is expected to respond by August.

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DHL partnership with Brazilian Cia.Maritima

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

DHL has partnered with Cia.Maritima, Brazil’s largest producer of high-end beachwear, for the U.S. debut of the label’s 2008 collection during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami Swim shows.

DHL will provide its international delivery and logistics expertise to transport Cia.Maritima’s collection, which designer Benny Rosset debuted during Sao Paulo Fashion Week in June, from Brazil to Miami in time for its U.S. runway show debut on Wednesday, July 11th. DHL staff will also be on hand throughout the production with DHL “delivery men” removing the runway cover immediately before the start of show.

The partnership is the latest initiative in DHL’s multi-platform program to serve the unique needs of the fashion, apparel and retail industries. In January 2007, DHL became the Official Express Carrier and Logistics Provider of IMG Fashion’s U.S.-based fashion events. The relationship with IMG includes sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

In the U.S., dedicated DHL fashion staff in New York City offer services tailored to the industry such as sample room management, consolidation services and international vendor management. While DHL consolidation sweeps services combine shipments and reduce the number of consignments for DHL customers, DHL’s Import Express service allows fashion clients to navigate customs and government shipping regulations while ensuring critical deliveries arrive on time. With Import Express, shipments are handled by DHL from pickup outside the U.S. to delivery in the U.S., with all tracking, invoicing and single-currency payment through DHL.

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DHL among top finalists at American Business Awards

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

DHL announced today it was recently selected as one of the four top finalists at the 2007 American Business Awards, known as the “Stevie Awards.” DHL received the award in the ‘Best Human Resources Team’ category, and was the only company recognized for its achievements in sales training.

More than 2,000 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories this year. DHL was recognized for its College Recruitment Express Training (CRET) program, an 11 week educational program for new DHL sales professionals that provides a ‘Fast Track’ program focused on product knowledge, selling skills, customer management and an experiential learning aimed at enabling sales representatives to develop winning customer solutions.

DHL presented a business case that illustrated its new CRET program not only had a 100 pct retention rate after the end of the first year, but that the graduates brought in significantly more package revenue than participants in previous programs. In addition to training on DHL’s business, industry, and market, CRET graduates learn soft skills such as listening, rapport-building, as well as identifying and understanding customer needs. The interactive program blends conventional learning methods with experiential activities that expose the participant to real-world customer situations.

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Post office orders 'green' packages

Posted by | Jul 8, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service is requiring vendors to use environmentally friendly materials to create envelopes and packages that carry 500 million Priority Mail and Express Mail shipments annually.

Packaging-products suppliers including Bell Inc. must use materials that can be recycled and won’t harm the environment, Postmaster Gen. John E. Potter said. The changes apply to 10 direct suppliers and 200 makers of products such as glue, ink and paper.
In 2006, the Postal Service saw more than $6 billion in revenue from Priority and Express mail, spokeswoman Joanne Veto said. The Postal Service, which builds the cost of Express and Priority mail packaging into its shipping price, spent about USD 114 million on the packages themselves last year, Veto said.

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USPS: Tension and contention for postal world increases

Posted by | Jul 7, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service’s proposed increase would have hit light-weight catalogs and parcels hard with big double-digit increases. The Postal Regulatory Commission compounded things by knocking a penny off the First Class stamp, thereby draining revenue out of the postal system. To make matters worse, it steepened the increase on lighter-weight catalogs.

Cataloger contentions

Then, a group of catalog mailers started a new trade group to represent catalogs. This might make sense except heavy-weight catalog mailers are content.

The Postal Service’s Board of Governors, in an attempt to relieve industry pressure, particularly from catalogers, sent back to the PRC the Standard Mail portion of their rate increase recommendation for further review.

The commission proposed a temporary rate reduction of 3 cents per piece for Standard Mail regular flats and 2 cents for Standard Mail nonprofit flats. The reduction would end on Sept. 29 and could begin after postal Board of Governors’ approval. With the Governors’ decision still outstanding, the most mailers could get is three months of relief. This offers minimal opportunity to react and change mailing plans.

Automation complications

To top it off, postal software suppliers complain they will have no time to make and test software changes to automated postage reports. The PRC is suggesting manual bottom line adjustments to postage reports.

Another object of mailer tension and angst is over the Postal Service’s plan to automate the delivery sequence sorting of flats. There is no question that this area is a major expense and a big challenge facing the Postal Service. The objective is to have flats, primarily catalogs and magazines, bar coded and sorted into delivery sequence to reduce letter carrier in-office sorting time.

At a recent flats symposium, Deputy Postmaster General Pat Donahoe noted that letter mail delivery sequencing began 14 years ago, and it’s now operating at an 83 percent level. Mr. Donahoe said from the beginning of the program, the Postal Service expects flat-sorting sequencing at an 80 percent level.

Given address positioning requirements, flats stiffness and flexibility requirements and problems inherent with the physical characteristics of flats, the 80 percent level, if achieved, will be a fantastic accomplishment. Mailers and the Postal Service will be feeling plenty of pressure if the program gets off to a slow start.

Labor disputes

There are a number of issues relating to the Postal Service’s craft employees and their unions that’s adding to the tension in the postal world.

First is the fact that the service was unable to reach a contract agreement with the two unions representing letter carriers. They are the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, representing city and rural letter carriers respectively. Both sides are now preparing their economic testimony to be presented to an arbitrator who will make a binding decision.

Legal issues

And as if mail delivery needed more complications, a group of Democratic senators, led by Tom Harkin (D-IA), have introduced a bill that would forbid the Postal Service from contracting out any new delivery routes.

To top it off, the largest of the postal unions, the American Postal Workers Union, together with a coalition of consumers and nonprofit mailers, has filed a lawsuit against the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee. MTAC comprises trade association representatives that represent all segments of the business, government and nonprofit mailing community.

What’s next?

What else is causing concern? Certainly it’s the possibility of a USPS rate increase filing late this year with another postage increase likely in 2008. The underlying issue is whether the Postal Service will file for the increase under the new reform legislations essentially across the board guidelines? Or will it file under the old, cost-plus-m

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Q-Post chairman Ali Mohamed al-Ali presenting a memento to Universal Postal Union

Posted by | Jul 7, 2007 | |

Vincenzo Rousseau, coordinator of the International Financial System (IFS) of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), has highlighted the necessity of introducing more professionalism in the postal services to make it more vibrant and appealing.

The UPU official was making a presentation on the introduction of e-remittances, at a session hosted by Q-Post. While hailing the efforts made by the Qatar Postal Corporation to revamp its services over the years, Rousseau expressed happiness at Q-Post’s plans to introduce e-remittances to its customers.

The official expressed satisfaction at the efforts made by Q-Post to improve the quality of its services and also at the efforts made to add professionalism to its work.

Highlighting the necessity of e-remittance services, Rousseau said speed, accuracy, safety and time saving were crucial in today’s world. Calling for the introduction of e remittance services, the UPU official said they were not only less expensive, but the services were also easy to be handled.

Rousseau also pointed out that the system was in practice in more than 60 countries all over the world.

Rousseau also reviewed the aspects of further co-operation between the UPU and Q-Post in the field of electronic services and training of its personnel. The UPU official said the strategy of the apex body was focused on assisting postal corporations all over, in particular in the introduction of new services. He said the UPU is working round the clock to reduce the digital gap between developed and developing countries and also to provide technical assistance to integrate postal services into the society.

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