Author: Archive

FedEx says landing rules cut its efficiency

Posted by | Apr 24, 2007 | |

New FAA landing rules imposed at Memphis International Airport last week reduce FedEx Express’ efficiency by more than 20 percent some days, quickly affecting its ability to deliver on its famous promise, the company says.

FedEx, surprised that the decision happened without warning, wrote a letter to Federal Aviation Administration administrator Marion Blakely last week, taking the agency to task for proceeding “without a formal review” and saying the impact “to our ‘absolutely, positively overnight’ service cannot be understated.”

The letter, signed by James Parker, senior vice president of air operations, says FedEx’s daytime landing efficiency will drop from 88 landings an hour to 68 landings when winds are out of the south.

The FAA starts its formal review at the airport today with agency officials from Washington, Atlanta and the Memphis air traffic control tower.

The goal, she said, is to see if the suspended procedure can be “mitigated” in a way that doesn’t affect safety “and has little impact on capacity.”

FedEx, which says it has never recorded a safety incident in the configuration, questions why the FAA would halt a long-used practice that the agency itself said was safe in 1999.

Since last week, controllers have been instructed to stagger landings on the runways when the wind is out of the south. The FAA said winds call for the landing configuration here 17 percent of the time.

National Weather Service records over 40 years show the wind blows out of the south in Memphis more than 42 percent of the year. In April, May, June and July, it is closer to 50 percent.

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Pakistan Post has excellent countrywide distribution network

Posted by | Apr 23, 2007 | |

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the Pakistan Post has an excellent countrywide distribution network that needs to be leveraged to cater to the rapidly changing requirements of the people. The Prime Minister said this while chairing a meeting here Mondayto review the performance of Pakistan Post Office. The Prime Minister said that the postal network which covers 90 percent of the people has over the year become underutilized in view of the drastic decline in the volume of mail which was the bulk of its operation in the past.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan Post should now focus on express delivery of mail, collection of utility bills and fast money transfer to stay relevant and become a profitable and a viable organization. The Prime Minister said Pakistan Post should be reorganized, restructured and repositioned in line with the best international practices in order to make it more autonomous and flexible in decision-making.

The Prime Minister said Ministry of Communications should set up a Task Force to do the need analysis, decide and recommend changes to revamp Pakistan Post to enable it cater to the needs of today and tomorrow and leverage its untapped potential . He said the Task Force should recommend steps to transform Pakistan Post into an efficient, customer friendly, modern and self-sustainable organization. The Director General, Post Offices Mr. Arshad Khan highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the departments and the opportunities and challenges faced by Pakistan Post.

He said that efforts are being made to revamp the Pakistan Post to enable it meet the challenges of 21st century and become a hub of commercial and social activities.

The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Communications and Pakistan Post to bring improvement in the working of Pakistan Post. The meeting was attended among others by Minister for Communication Mr. Shamim Siddiqui, Minister of State for Communication Eng. M. Shahid Jamil Qureshi and senior officials.

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The Changing Mailing Landscape: 2007 Postal Rate Case

Posted by | Apr 23, 2007 | |

Catalogers and multichannel retailers are facing a number of key issues in the marketplace. But the one issue that is currently on the minds of all who mail flats and catalogs is the huge postage increase scheduled to be implemented May 14. Unless the Postal Rate Commission reduces its proposed increase to flats mailers (which, if it occurs will most likely not happen until sometime after May 14), most flats mailers will see postage increases that will exceed 20%.

In addition to these documented increases, mailers will also face other hidden increases that will go into effect on Aug. 1, when new address standardization rules will have to be implemented. An example of this type of increase is that today, records that fall within valid street ranges but are not a valid delivery point are +4 coded. As of Aug. 1, these will no longer be +4 coded. This change will result in more records not receiving a +4 code, thus increasing postage while reducing delivery and correspondingly, response.

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USPS seeking mailer input on new law

Posted by | Apr 23, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service is asking mailers for input on the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

The act, enacted on Dec. 20, 2006, strengthens the authority of the renamed PRC and changes the form of regulatory oversight in many respects. In addition, it grants the USPS more autonomy in setting rates, particularly for its competitive products.

However, the USPS’s ability to increase rates for market-dominant products is limited by changes in the Consumer Price Index. Moreover, the legislation streamlines the USPS’s ability to introduce new postal products. The Act, the provisions of which must take effect by June 2008, also provides for predictable annual price changes.

The USPS said it is currently working with the PRC on the best time to implement these price changes, and is it is seeking feedback from the mailing community on the subject.

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TNT wins UK mail delivery contract with Yell

Posted by | Apr 23, 2007 | |

TNT has won a contract with international directories business Yell to handle internal mail deliveries.

TNT’s mailroom arm won the three-year contract for the daily collection and delivery of all internal mail to almost 50 Yell business locations throughout the UK.

In addition to mail, TNT will also deliver stationery, consumables and even coffee supplies for Yell’s 3,750 UK employees.

In addition to collecting the internal mail, TNT will collect external second class mail for Yell from all locations, consolidating it and delivering to sister TNT company – TNT Post – the main rival to the Royal Mail in the UK.

All second class tariff mail will be sorted at a TNT Post facility in Wellingborough and then passed on to Royal Mail for “final mile” delivery. Yell’s first class mail continues to be sent through Royal Mail.

The Yell contract went live at the end of March 2007.

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Correos sponsoring the Direct Marketing Forum

Posted by | Apr 23, 2007 | |

Correos will be present at the 27th Annual Marketing Forum, IMAN 07, which will be held from 24 to 27 April in the Municipal Exhibitions Hall (Campo de las Naciones) in Madrid. The Forum is organised by the Federación de Comercio Electrónico y Marketing Directo (Electronic Commerce and Direct Marketing Federation, FECEM).

As in previous years, IMAN 07 includes a series of Conferences, the Marketing Trade Fair and the prize giving ceremony for the IMAN prizes, which are awarded to recognise the growing creativity of Spanish advertising agencies.

This year IMAN has been divided into three different areas: Direct Marketing, Digital Marketing and Integrated Marketing. The objective of IMAN is to define a sector that every year sees increased presence of on-line resources in marketing strategy, though without ignoring that direct marketing and relational marketing in advertising and communication activities continue to play an important role.

Correos is both a participant and a sponsor of IMAN 07. It will use the event to display its products and services to its clients and society in general , as well as its commitment in the area of ICTs, which it has incorporated into its products and services.

The post office is also taking part in the preparation of the official direct marketing book, which is being prepared by AGENDI for the Forum. Furthermore, as in previous years, Correos will be presenting the IMAN 07 prize to the best logistics company. In addition, it will present its “Tu Sello” product to the approximately 5,000 professional visitors at the Fair.

Since it was launched at the beginning of the year, bringing together philately and technology, the “Tu Sello” service has become one of the post office’s star products. The service consists of providing personalised stamps, which are prepared on-line using the images and designs chosen by the user.

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Mail remains safest way to communicate and share information

Posted by | Apr 23, 2007 | |

Mail remains the safest way to communicate and share information, and represents the smallest threat to identity theft.

“The President’s Identity Theft Task Force,” released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is a strategic plan for government agencies to follow in efforts to combat identity theft. The FTC reports that less than 4 percent of all identity theft can be traced to the mail. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service served on the task force.

The Postal Service already has in place the top four recommendations included in the report:
Replaced Social Security Numbers with unique Employee Identification Numbers. Social Security Numbers are the most valuable commodity for an identity thief.
Developed systems to quickly alert private sector companies and consumer information should a security breach occur. The Task Force recommends that national standards be established for private sector entities as well.
Sponsored an awareness campaign for consumers, partners, companies and employees to warn against identity theft; and
Establish a National Identity Theft Law Enforcement Center, similar to one created by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, that coordinates efforts and information efficiently.

Two years ago, the Postal Inspection Service created the Intelligence Sharing Initiative, a website that allows inspectors and fraud investigators representing retail and financial institutions, as well as major mailers, to share information relating to identity theft, as well as financial crimes investigations and prevention methods. This effort came more than 15 years after the Inspection Service began a Credit Card Mail Security Initiative to work more effectively with the credit card industry to reduce fraud losses.

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