United Pallet Network returns record profits
United Pallet Network returns record profits
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La Poste to invest EUR 300 million euros over the next four years
France’s La Poste is set to invest in educating 100,000 postal delivery workers to improve their prospects within the company.
The organisation is investing EUR 300 million euros over the next four years.
La Poste has signed agreements with five postal unions and says the professional training initiative will lead to increased promotions this year with a substantial rise by the end of 2010.
La poste hope to modernise the role of delivery workers in the organisation, improving working conditions, employee health, the integration of disabled employees, training for newly-created posts and gender equality.
Read MoreUPS extends NASCAR sponsorship
UPS announced it had signed a new five-year agreement with NASCAR to continue as the official express delivery company of the sport through the 2011 racing season.
The exclusive “Official Delivery Company” partnership extends a highly successful union dating back to UPS’s initial entry into the sport in 2000. As part of the deal, UPS will continue providing its popular Trackside Services to the industry at all NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races as well as logistics, freight and supply chain services.
Today, UPS serves as the delivery company to approximately 99 percent of the more than 1,000 NASCAR family businesses, race teams, race tracks, NASCAR business units, other NASCAR sponsors and suppliers. That represents a 55% increase in racing customers since UPS entered the sport.
UPS’s decision to extend its relationship with NASCAR follows the company’s decision in 2006 to move its team sponsorship with Dale Jarrett to the new #44 Toyota Camry, which debuts at the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.
UPS maintains six individual track sponsorships, including Bristol Motor Speedway, California Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond International Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.
Strike looms over Royal Mail UK pensions move
The Royal Mail’s decision to close its final salary pension scheme to new entrants has drawn a furious reponse from unions and raised the spectre of strike action to oppose the move.
The London Divisional Committee of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) called on the CWU’s Postal Executive to “mobilise the union’s membership to oppose these plans and to build a campaign to ballot the membership of the whole of Royal Mail Group for industrial action.”
It also blasted a proposed share scheme for Royal Mail’s 190,000 employees, worth up to 5,300 stg per worker over five years, as a “backdoor route to privatisation.”
CWU divisional representative Martin Walsh said: “Our members will not tolerate the closing down of the pension scheme and/or the reduction of benefits to any current or future members, and unless Royal Mail group withdraws from its position on pensions or the Phantom share scheme, industrial action looks inevitable.”
Fellow CWU official Mark Palfrey added: “It is our view that the Labour Government has masterminded the unnecessary imposition of competition, backdoor privatisation and the undermining of all Postal services.”
Read MoreBlue Dart plans Rs 22 cr expansion
Blue Dart Express Ltd has planned an investment of Rs 22 crore during the current year to expand its facilities network in the country.
The Rs 487-crore company, of which 80 per cent is owned by DHL Limited, is also betting big on the import-express business it launched a month ago.
Blue Dart’s senior vice-president for western region Anil Khanna told the media on Wednesday that the company would complete the expansion by the end of 2007, when it will have created a network of 20 new facilities including 12 warehouses across the country.
Of the proposed investment, Rs 8 crore would be in the western region that accounts for about a third of the company’s business. Four of the proposed facilities will be in the western region, he said. The company opened two new warehouses in Pune on Wednesday.
Read MoreFedEx Canada launches cross-border advisory services
FedEx Express Canada will begin offering support and advice to businesses seeking certification or approval in various cross-border security programs, such as Free and Secure Trade (FAST), Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), Partners in Protection (PIP), and Customs Self Assessment (CSA).
The FedEx Global Trade Advisory service will help businesses navigate through the application process by examining their facilities, procedures, and suppliers, making recommendations to address the differences between the client’s existing procedures and what is required for certification requirements.
Regulatory experts will assist companies in:
Conducting examinations of their facilities and business procedures; help secure their supply chain and achieve customs compliance; and make recommendations to address identified gaps.
FedEx will also assist with the application process for cross-border security programs and perform on-going account maintenance and security audits.
Read MoreStandard class mail becomes trackable from desktop
Mailers rejoice as the Mailex Corporation releases an affordable real-time mail tracking system. Web-based tracking data is generated from an initial scan of a mailing upon induction into the USPS system. From the initial scan, the entire lifecycle of the mailing can be tracked by state, zip code and individual piece. As the mail is routed nationally, subsequent scanning takes place every step of the way. Each scan event is transmitted to a mail-tracking server and available for viewing.
Embracing this new, low cost technology, Mailex offers this tracking service to every mailer by incorporating the existing automated barcode with the tracking code. Taking the guesswork out of the estimated 7-10 day delivery time for Standard Class mail answers the top question all marketing executives need to know — Did the mailing hit yet? Gone are the days of waiting and wondering if your message was delivered.
Changes in DHL Express (Czech Republic)
A new division – Express Business Unit – was established within DHL Express (Czech Republic), market leader in express and logistics services, due to restructuring changes, as of 1st of January, 2007. Mr Ludek Drnec was appointed as the new director of the division; he has previously worked as a Marketing Director of DHL Express (Czech Republic).
The new division Express Business Unit took over most of the activities of the former department of Marketing & Sales (with the exception of the departments of Customer Service, Key Account and of Marketing Communication). Express Business Unit is in charge of steady growth and meeting the turnover and profit targets related to the express products of DHL Express, with the exception of parcel products provided by the company PPL. Product management with direct responsibility for turnover and profit for the particular type of express products in air freight, overland and special transport has recently been included.
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