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ARCEP launches a public consultation on what information postal service users need and expect about universal service quality

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

One of ARCEP’s missions is to monitor proper provision of the universal postal service.

This entails ensuring that the service delivered by La Poste – the operator designated by law as the universal postal service provider – is of satisfactory quality, and that postal service users have all the information they need about it. Details of the various basic components of universal service quality are now available on La Poste’s website:

laposte-portail.cvf.fr/groupe_poste_nous_connaitre_service_universel_postal_16.html.

ARCEP is acting to maximize user benefit by launching a public consultation about any needs and expectations they may have in this area. The aim is to ascertain whether the information currently published by La Poste is satisfactory or whether further data should be provided.

ARCEP therefore wishes to collect suggestions from postal service users and the associations representing them about:

areas on which it might be expedient to publish information;
how often and in what form this information should be published.
Depending on the consultation findings, ARCEP will consider with La Poste the technical and economic practicability of providing fresh information on these topics so as to obtain a comprehensive set of indicators that usefully supplements the existing universal service road map.

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U.S. Catalogers plagued by the rising postage costs

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

With the increase in postage rates in effect for nearly a month, some businesses are feeling the heat more than others. While many companies that mainly use catalogs as marketing are being scorched by the new restrictions and costs, companies who use postcards haven’t been affected enough to feel singed. Indeed, all postage prices went up, including the inexpensive postcard that went up from USD 0.24 to USD 0.26 per card. The postcard, however, isn’t nearly as affected due to the weight and size of a postcard being consistent, whereas catalogs are of varying weights and sizes.

Several big catalog companies—including J.C. Penney, Spiegel and Brighton—have for some time mailed out postcard campaigns in order to get prospects to call them or visit their website. Once a prospect is interested and requests a catalog, one is sent. This is a more cost effective way for businesses as each postcard costs less USD 0.35 to design, print, address, etc. A catalog can cost up to USD 2. Then when is comes to sending the promotion to the prospect, a postcard costs a flat rate, as opposed to a catalog that has to be weighed prior to being stamped.

Postcards were found to have the highest read rates of all direct mail media, compared to other media such as letters, flyers and magazines. Considering consumers are hit with over 3,000 advertising messages on a daily basis, having the highest-read-rate percentage speaks for itself.

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Czech Republic : DHL opens new warehouse near Mladá Boleslav

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

DHL Exel Supply Chain has opened a new warehouse in Neprevázka in the industrial zone near Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic. The new cross-docking center will cater to the company’s Automotive sector with 13,000 m² of space and 130 newly created jobs.

This new site will service 500 suppliers and coordinate transport to Germany, Belgium, France, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia on a daily basis.

The warehouse includes all the latest technology to operate thirteen gates for unloading and three ramps for back unloading. 180 trucks will operate from this site every day and supply customers in a number of European countries while 50 of the vehicles will service the Czech Republic daily.

DHL Exel Supply Chain’s customers include some of the largest vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers such as VW, Škoda, Audi, SEAT, Renault, Dacia and Faurecia.

DHL Exel Supply Chain’s Automotive sector specializes in logistics services to the car industry. DHL’s extensive network includes a collecting service for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

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UPS Store owners are angry – Franchisees file a complaint, saying the business model keeps them in the red

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

More than 200 owners of UPS Stores across the country have filed a complaint against UPS and its franchiser, Mail Boxes Etc.

The franchise owners said in a filing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that they haven’t been able to make money because UPS undermined them by using the branded stores as drop-off points for prepaid packages and forcing the owners to focus on providing document and printing services.

“For a large group of us, it has been very difficult to make this work,” said Larry Bowdoin, the Alabama-based president of the Brown Shield Association, a group of UPS Store franchise owners. “Who would’ve thought that UPS would’ve created this franchise and wanted to see it do anything except succeed?”

The complaint, filed in April, claims the business model of the UPS Stores has been disastrous to franchisees’ bottom lines.

UPS bought Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001, and many franchises converted to UPS Stores about two years later.

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On-the-move Canadians can change their address online at smartmoves

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

Canada Post handled more than 290,000 change of address requests for Quebec in 2005 and more than 302,000 in 2006.

With more than 116 million items a year redirected throughout Canada, Canada Post, through its change of address service, provides an affordable service that is among the most reliable.

It is well known that the months of June and July are a feverish period punctuated by many moves for people in Quebec. Between boxes, moving out, renovations, decorating and moving in, you want to make sure that your regular mail and even your occasional mail (financial statements, license renewals, memberships or subscriptions, annual reports and product recall notices) are delivered.

Before moving, the person can go into one of the Canadian Post outlets to fill out a Change of Address Notification.

The online change of address service is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Smartmoves TM program (www.smartmoves.ca) will provide an user-friendly checklist. Is is also possible to send virtual cards free to friends and family to notify them of the new address.

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DM News webcast addresses postal rate increase

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

Converting flat mail to letter size is just one way for mailers to reduce the burden of the new postal rates, said Elizabeth Lombard, USPS rate specialist at Pitney Bowes.

“Consolidate mailings,” Ms. Lombard said. “For example, mail fewer but heavier pieces. This is ideal for households and consumers.” One could mail a statement and offer in the same envelope rather than mail them separately.

Ms. Lombard also suggested that mailers consider First-Class Mail postcards as an alternative to letters. She said that it is not only cheaper but also a guarantee that the consumer will at least see a message since it is out in the open. Envelopes are not always opened.

“Eliminate non-machinable characteristics to avoid the 17-cent surcharge for First-Class letters,” Ms. Lombard said. “Also avoid parcel rates by designing flats to meet new regulations.”

She said mail pieces should be uniformly thick so that any bumps, protrusions or other irregularities do not cause more than a quarter-inch variance in thickness.

Exclude the outside edges of a mail piece when determining variance in thickness.

Mail pieces should be flexible, too. If it can bend at least one inch vertically without being damaged and does not contain a rigid inset, no further testing is necessary.

The rate increase for periodicals will go into effect July 15, 2007.

“Bundle rates will be based on sort level and container level,” said Mike Plunkett, acting vice president, pricing and classification at the United States Postal Service. “Container rates will be based on container type, level and entry.”

He also said that the rates hike for periodicals was put on hold by USPS Governors to allow time for software development.

When talking about the rate hike that is already in effect, Mr. Plunkett said the increase reflects changes in operations and the marketplace, offers more choices, includes incentives, reduces undeliverable-as-addressed mail and better reflects shape effects.

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Pitney Bowes’ Group 1 Software Receives USPS® PAVE™ Certification

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

Group 1 Software, Inc., a Pitney Bowes Company, today announced that the latest release of its MailStream Plus® mail preparation and presort software has received U.S. Postal Service® PAVE certification for PAVE Cycle I.

MailStream Plus was among the first mail preparation and presort software solutions to receive certification for PAVE Cycle I, which took effect on May 14, 2007.

MailStream Plus sorts mailing lists according to USPS standards for every class (First-Class Mail®, Periodicals, Standard and Package Services) and type of mail (letters, flats and parcels) at all allowable levels. MailStream Plus also incorporates comprehensive documentation that speeds mail preparation and USPS acceptance, facilitating prompt and accurate delivery. Options include palletization, support for drop shipping, Mail.dat Viewer, Mail.dat, Confirm®, POSTALOne®!, PLANET Code®, and manifest reporting.

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EU delays postal service shakeup

Posted by | Jun 13, 2007 | |

The result is more important than the speed of the liberalisation, the German EU presidency has said, signalling that some EU member states will get more time to open up the postal services market than the 2009 deadline proposed by the European Commission.

Berlin had aimed to wrap up the talks on the postal plan by July, when Portugal takes over the EU’s chair, but the meeting of transport and telecommunication ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday (7 June) highlighted severe opposition in around 10 countries, such as France and Poland.

The new emerging timetable looks likely to list different dates for different countries, with the latest deadlines mooted between 2012 and 2013, according to observers.

Speaking to journalists after the debate, the German minister for economy, Michael Glos, tried to play down the differences, pointing out “There is some tension but I get the impression that there’s awareness that it [liberalisation] will be in favour of competition and European consumers.”

But it was precisely the potential consequences of competition for both postal workers and consumers in remote areas that the opponents of the 2009 plan cited as their main reason for rejecting it.

Mr Glos maintained that no country wanted to “derail the process” but he suggested that the compromise plan to be worked out by the German presidency and taken up by Portugal will propose that countries can “proceed at different speed.”

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