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Dutch minister rejects tighter post oversight

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

A Dutch minister rejected calls on Thursday for tighter supervision of dominant Dutch mail company TNT NV when the post market is fully opened to competition next year.

Frank Heemskerk, responsible within the government for postal liberalisation, acknowledged that supervision was necessary to ensure that all post companies had a fair chance to compete, but said the new law would provide regulators with adequate powers.
Politicians both from the left and the right had questioned whether OPTA and anti-trust authority NMa had sufficient means to deal with complaints after TNT loses its monopoly on letters of up to 50 grammes, almost half of the 2-billion-euro Dutch mail market.
Heemskerk said the agencies’ staffing would be reviewed as part of the budget process later this year.
He added that the ministry would fine-tune the postal law to avoid TNT granting its budget unit, Netwerk VSP, better terms than competitors in giving access to its network. TNT’s Dutch mail business is one the country’s biggest employers with about 59,000 people, but its competitors, privately held Sandd and Deutsche Post’s Selekt Mail, work with few permanent staff and pay carriers by the number of items delivered.
Heemskerk said the requirement of a labour agreement could pose a barrier to entry, and he noted that Dutch labour laws already offered people who worked on the basis of assignments to sue if they believed that they should have a proper contract.

Heemskerk said he expected to stick to Jan. 1, 2008, as the date for TNT to lose its remaining monopoly even though the law would provide an “emergency break” if for example Germany did not open its market at the same time.

Parliament will vote on the new postal law as early as next week.

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Protest against liberalisation of post

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

Postal workers gathered in The Hague on Wednesday to protest unfair competition on the postal market. The unions want to prevent developments that could lead to postal workers being paid per item delivered rather than an hourly wage.

TNT Post recently announced that thousands at the company would be made redundant because of the pressure from the competition with new postal companies.

State secretary for economic affairs Frans Heemskerk wants to leave it to the unions to agree on labour conditions with the new postal companies. A majority in Parliament supports this.

Labour party PvdA, Socialist party SP and Green-left GroenLinks support the demands from the unions.

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Towards liberalisation of the postal industry

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

Immediately after Mallam Mori Baba took over the mantle of leadership in NIPOST, reports had it that the first thing he did was set up a committee to study and recommend the best way to consolidate the gains recorded in the establishment, within the confines of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) standard as regards the best practice in the postal services globally.

This group swung into action and identified among other things, that for NIPOST to consolidate successfully, functions efficiently and effectively, it must conform with the UPU’s standard; and having closely studied postal outfits in countries, like the United States of America (USA), Britain, Canada, South Africa, Ghana, and Uganda just to mention but few, the group discovered that the postal establishments as the national carriers in these countries, compete with private courier service providers, in the spirit of free market economy.

The study group discovered that as a result of NIPOST not functioning in accordance with UPU’s standard, it has not been able to reap the benefit of operating under a regulatory body or commission.

The committee noted that the dual mandate (operator and regulator roles) of NIPOST has placed a burden on its operation as a player in the industry, as it is saddled with additional responsibilities of acting as a regulatory body, in the process, slowing down its speed of operation and effectiveness.

The study group then recommended that the management of NIPOST should take steps to push for the establishment of a regulatory body for courier services in Nigeria as with the case in those countries earlier mentioned; which is the standard practices worldwide as duly recommended by the UPU.

It is expected that the Commission, when fully operational, will provide a level playing ground for the National Carrier (NIPOST) and other private courier services in the country. The Commission will then focus on bring out policies for all players in the industry as a whole. It is also expected that when the Commission comes on stream, the postal industry will be better sanitized for overall efficiency and effectiveness.

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TNT promises there will be no UK redundancies

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

TNT has moved quickly to reassure employees that it has no plans for redundancies in the UK after revealing heavy cutbacks in the Netherlands.

TNT Post in The Hague said last week that competition and declining volumes in the Dutch postal market mean it is forced to cut up to 7,000 jobs and freeze wages in an effort to lower costs.

It says the measures will not affect operations in the UK.

TNT Post employs 58,000 people in the Netherlands and processes 16,000 postal items each day, but it is losing mail to competitors and as a result of the switch to online services, including banking and electronic tax-filing.

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Quintiq part of the new DHL Innovation Center

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

Quintiq announced its engagement in the DHL Innovation Center in
Troisdorf near Bonn, Germany. This engagement is a major achievement for
Quintiq as it highlights the company’s success in its quest for innovation.

The Quintiq solutions are part of the Innovation Center’s showroom
section entitled “the last mile,” which comprises the steps between parcel
pick-up at the hub and delivery to the customer. The solutions will support
DHL in reducing the pick-up and delivery cost base by increasing the
productivity of dispatchers and increasing the productivity of tours through
real-time dispatch. Furthermore, the planning and scheduling solution will
improve service quality by allowing the automated allocation of bookings to
tours and workload exception handling.

The Innovation Center will be used by Deutsche Post World Net’s business
units from around the world to exchange information about and work on
technological innovations. In addition to international researchers and
logistics specialists, the center will also welcome business customers,
partners and guests. In guided tours through 1,200 m2 of exhibition space,
visitors can interactively experience all elements of the logistic value
added chain: from ordering and warehousing through to delivery and billing.

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Federal Network Agency dismisses allegations directed at downstream access

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

Following a review lasting several months, the Federal Network Agency has declared the existing agreements between Deutsche Post In Haus GmbH and various ministries of the state of Bavaria for provision of downstream postal access as legal and not objectionable. In response to complaints of Deutsche Post competitors in the spring of 2006, the authorities had initiated an abuse proceedings against Deutsche Post and its subsidiary, Deutsche Post In Haus Service GmbH. Competitors had accused Deutsche Post of itself engaging in activities through its subsidiary in the so-called shipment consolidation area and of not covering costs in its pricing, thereby obstructing the development of competitors.

After the authorities did a check of the necessary calculation documents, the accusation of offering dumping prices was revealed as unfounded. The same was true for the argument that the subsidiary makes use of the infrastructure and sales organization of Deutsche Post. Here, upon carrying out local inspections at four DP In Haus Service GmbH service centers, the Federal Network Agency was unable to find any evidence. Not only does the company have its own infrastructure and automation, but it draws upon its own sales organization as well.

This marks the failure of yet another attempt by Deutsche Post competitors to use the Federal Network Agency as a competitive tool against the leading provider of postal services in Germany. Not too long ago, in November 2006, a parcel service likewise failed in its effort to lodge complaints with the Federal Network Agency accusing Deutsche Post of anti-competitive behavior in adjusting its parcel prices.

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Emirates Post's daily average mail volumes cross 1 million this month

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

Emirates Post’s Ramoul Sorting Centre handled an average of over 1 million pieces of lettermail per day in the first week of April, against the normal average of between 500,000 and 800,000 pieces.

The increasing mail volumes have prompted Emirates Post to increase the sorting capacity by acquiring more advanced sorting machines, which are due to be installed at Ramoul at the end of 2007, with a capacity of 3 million pieces of mail per day.

‘The rising mail volumes are a reflection of accelerated business activity and booming national economy. These volumes endorse UAE’s position as a major business and tourism hub and demonstrate Emirates Post’s ability to handle such huge volumes,’ said Mr. Abdulla Al Daboos, Director General, Emirates Post.

Incoming mail is sorted at the Ramoul Sorting Centre and dispatched to the respective main and sub post offices within 24 hours, to be deposited in P.O. Boxes before 10 am. The outgoing international mail is sent to the Mail Transit Hub at Dubai airport before 2 a.m., processed using state of the art systems and dispatched by regular flights.

As part of the expansion, Emirates Post is building a new postal operations hub adjacent to the existing sorting centre. The three-storey building will house a highly advanced mail sorting facility as well as offices of Electronic Document Centre (EDC), Emirates Marketing & Promotions (EMP) and Training & Development Centre.

The new machines will increase mail sorting capacity by 10 times. The new mail sorting centre will have the ability to automate registered mail processing, automatically redirect mail, handle large-size envelops and heavier mail, read addresses more rapidly and categorise mail as per P.O. Box numbers.

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UPS and Shanghai Announce first-ever U.S. Air Hub in China

Posted by | Apr 12, 2007 | |

UPS and the Shanghai Airport Authority conducted a formal signing ceremony in another step toward construction of the UPS International Air Hub at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai. Presiding over the ceremony were U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Vice Mayor of Shanghai Yang Xiong.

The UPS International Air Hub, scheduled to open next year, will be the first constructed by a U.S. carrier and will link all of China via Shanghai to UPS’s international network with direct service to the Americas, Europe and Asia. It also will connect points served in China by UPS through a dedicated service provided by Yangtze River Express, a Chinese all-cargo airline.

The establishment of the UPS International Air Hub is a significant step in making the Shanghai Airport an international cargo hub, promoting the development of the Shanghai transportation center and upgrading the service functions of the city of Shanghai. Under the 2004 Air Services agreement, UPS will find it easier to expand its international and Chinese networks in the future while immediately gaining new flexibility in the way it schedules its flights now.

The hub project is the latest in a series of strategic initiatives to expand UPS’s operations and brand presence in China. In 2005, the company took direct control of its operations, serving more than 330 cities in China representing 85 percent of the country’s international trade activity. UPS also expanded its air operations in China throughout 2006 and now flies to more points in China than any other U.S. airline, freight or passenger. The company has grown its China workforce to more than 4,500 employees while also constructing a large logistics infrastructure that includes more than 60 distribution centers.

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