The challenges for India Post
James Thornton
World Mail Review May 2007
Author: Archive
New Zealand Post looks forward to continued success
John Allen, CEO, New Zealand Post
World Mail Review May 2007
Tourline Express expects revenues over EUR 150 million in 2007
Tourline Express, the Spanish courier owned by Portugal’s public postal operator Correios, announced revenues up by 31.5% to EUR 130 million – and expects growth of at least 15% this year.
Tourline said in a release that it will open more than 30 new branches in Spain this year – taking it to 340 – and expects to bring in over EUR 150 million in 2007. Last year, the group opened 58 new branches and has over 2,000 staff and 1,800 vehicles.
Tourline has particularly grown in the Canary Islands, where it registered a 93% growth in business compared to 2005, Mallorca and Minorca (+86%), the east coast (+42%) and Galicia and Asturias (+30%).
Read MoreTNT Hungary bucks local trend to increase sales by more than 61%
TNT Express Worldwide Hungary Kft increased its turnover in 2006 by 61.2% over the previous year, well beyond the average for its sector.
“Part of this sales jump is linked to one limited project ending this year; however, even excluding this item, we are clearly above both the industrial average growth rate in Hungary and the average growth rate of 12% within TNT Express,” said managing director Márton Járosi Jr.
TNT Hungary attributes its success to the fact that it has improved the quality, broadened its range of its services and increased its client base among small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Express delivery companies on the Hungarian market were generally affected by the government’s deficit-cutting program causing a slowing-down of Hungarian economy in the second half of the year.
Some Ft369m (USD 1.9m) was invested in the Hungarian business in 2006. The biggest single amount was spent on the development of the logistics and sorting center in Ecseri út, Budapest, which increased from 1,300 to 1,950sqm. The vehicle park grew by 8% in 2006 and further investments were made in IT.
The postponement of the development of the Budapest Ferihegy airport has proved a problem for TNT Hungary.
A short-term minor investment was therefore made to increase its existing operational area in the airport. Ft673m (USD 3.6m) has been earmarked for developments this year, of which Ft290m (USD 1.5m) is slated to be used for the establishment of the new TNT center in Ferihegy airport, although it says that remains dependent on the plans of the new owner of the airport.
Read MoreDutch postal liberalisation law likely to pass in June
The Dutch parliament will likely pass a law fully liberalising the domestic postal market in June after compromising with the cabinet on the sticking point of labour provisions, the parliament’s official website confirms.
The legislation will open the market for letters under 50 grams next year to TNT NV competitors Sandd and Selekt Mail, a Deutsche Post subsidiary that counts Dutch publisher Wegener NV as a stakeholder.
In a final debate on the subject with Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Frank Heemskerk yesterday, a parliamentary majority came out in favour of liberalisation after a cabinet amendment was incorporated requiring postal companies like Sandd and Direkt Mail to make labour agreements with unions or face government intervention.
Unlike TNT, which has a collective labour agreement, Sandd and Selekt Mail use alternative payment schemes for employees including performance-based salaries measured by total deliveries.
Unions had warned that such schemes could allow companies to pay less than minimum wage and create unfair competition and political objectors had demanded that minimum labour regulations be included in the liberalisation law.
Parliament is expected to vote on the law on June 5.
Read MoreU.S. Postal Service, MBDC announce “Cradle to Cradle” SM Certification
Consumers now can send a very “green” message across town or around the world when sending Priority Mail and Express Mail packages and envelopes.
The U.S. Postal Service is the only mailing or shipping company in the nation to achieve “Cradle to Cradle” SM Certification at the Silver level from MBDC (McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry) for human and environmental health. Postal Service mailing and shipping supplies already had exceeded government requirements, including recycled content standards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Going beyond existing federal and state agency requirements was a goal in seeking certification.
Cradle to Cradle Certification is a scientifically based process that reviews specific criteria to assess the environmental attributes of materials used in products. MBDC examined 60 packaging items, breaking those items down to 250 component materials and then further analyzing 1,400 individual ingredients in those component materials before awarding the certification.
Read MoreFedEx and The Salvation Army stand ready to weather 2007 hurricane season
FedEx Corp. made a “just in time” delivery to The Salvation Army today in advance of the 2007 hurricane season.
The charitable donation included the largest Mobile Feeding Unit in The Salvation Army’s fleet of mobile canteen vehicles plus four others in cities across the country. In addition to the canteen units and emergency supplies, FedEx contributed a grant to train Salvation Army emergency response personnel in countries around the world.
The five mobile canteens will be based in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Each vehicle is co-branded with the FedEx and Salvation Army logos and is equipped with the latest equipment and technology to assist disaster response personnel in reacting to emergencies that could include hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires or other scenarios.
The canteens can feed between 1,000 and 2,500 people per day and are outfitted with new GPS tracking devices that let commanders know their exact location at any given time. As part of the gift, FedEx also contributed 1,800 disaster clean-up kits that include mops, brooms, sponges, gloves and cleaning solution.
With a busy hurricane season predicted for south Florida in 2007, the Miami-based canteen will be particularly critical. More than twice the size of the other vehicles in use, this mobile canteen is now the largest in the Salvation Army’s fleet. It measures 30 feet by 8 feet and can carry a payload of 7,000 pounds.
Read MoreDHL prepares for 2007 hurricane season
DHL’s Disaster Response Team (DRT) Americas, Introduced in 2006, is Mobilized to Provide Emergency Relief Logistics Support to Communities Affected by Natural Disasters This Hurricane Season
With early predictions of an intense Atlantic hurricane season with a possible 10 hurricanes forecasted for this year by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, DHL Americas’ Disaster Response Team (DRT) has mobilized its resources and is prepared to provide emergency relief logistics support in the event of any natural disaster as needed throughout the region.
The DRT Americas is comprised of about 80 DHL employees stationed throughout the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean and stands ready to be deployed on an as-needed basis to support relief activities when called upon to almost anywhere in the Americas region.
In addition to performing their daily job functions, they have voluntarily committed themselves to being part of a global team, along with DRT units in Singapore and Dubai, that enables DHL to form a strategic partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the area of disaster management.
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