Deutsche Post World Net AG’s unit DHL said it is investing 65 mln usd in the development of two new logistics centres in the US west coast.
It said the two new centres will be in Riverside and in San Jose, both in California.
Read MoreDHL Japan Inc. will build a 5,000-square-meter-plus warehousing and sorting facility at Central Japan International Airport, set to open next February, as part of a plan to increase its Japanese bases, the company said Friday.
The unit of Germany’s DHL International Ltd. also said it will set up 12 new service centers by next May in the Hokuriku region of central Japan, the Shikoku region of southern Japan and other areas where there are no DHL operational bases.
Total investment costs are estimated at 4 billion yen.
Read MoreDHL, the logistics subsidiary of German postal service operator Deutsche Post, has won a contract to carry out logistics services for the teleshopping channel Home Shopping Europe (HSE24). It will take responsibility for all logistics activities for the teleshopping provider with effect from 2006, and is investing 35m euros in a new logistics centre, which will create 250 new jobs. Management estimates turnover of an eight-figure sum. The number of parcels which will be forwarded under the contract is estimated at up to 40,000 daily, or six million each year.
Rival teleshopping channel QVC, for which DHL had provided a similar service, recently switched to Hermes Logistik, a subsidiary of mail order group Otto, as a logistics service provider. Hermes Logistik estimates that it will forward 10 million parcels annually for QVC.
Read MoreAt 1.30am on Wednesday, managers at FedEx’s main US package handling facility at Memphis airport faced a difficult decision in the middle of their busiest week of the year. Parcel sorting was supposed to finish for the night at 2.07am, leaving enough time to get items to their final destination anywhere in North America before lunchtime. But two inbound FedEx aircraft from California were running late, meaning their cargoes risked being stranded in Tennessee.
“We have to weigh up the cost of leaving those packages behind against the cost of holding up the whole operation to wait for them,” said Marla Waldheim, a systems administrator. “If the outbound aircraft are held back too long, some might miss their landing slots and then the delays start rippling through the system.”
Read MoreFedEx, the package delivery giant, painted a rosy picture of the world economy yesterday when it announced a four-fold increase in second quarter net profits and increased its earnings guidance for the year.
Fred Smith, chairman and chief executive, reported “very strong momentum” across the company and said global and US economic conditions remained “favourable” as businesses replenished inventories and invested at a “healthy pace”.
Mr Smith said the Christmas retail season was looking strong with FedEx having handled 8.1m packages on its busiest day of the year last Monday – 1m more than last year and ahead of its 7.7m target. Rapid growth in e-commerce was among the factors behind FedEx’s strong performance as more people had goods delivered to their homes after ordering on the internet.
Read MoreJamaica Post (the Post & Telecommunications Department and the PostalCorporation of Jamaica) has introduced Express Mail Service (EMS), a totally new international courier service in collaboration with postal administrations in other countries. This service is the answer to the need for individuals and organisations to send packages overseas via a cost-effective, safe, reliable delivery service.
Countries Available
The initial service will be confined to the Caribbean (Antigua, Barbados, Grand Cayman, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia), Canada, thes United States (Miami, New York) and the United Kingdom. Successful negotiations with these postal administrations have resulted in specific arrangements for all Express Mail Service items to be expeditiously processed, as the Jamaican postal administration has established bilateral contracts that ensure the speedy processing of all items that enter the designated countries.
Read MoreAdam Crozier, chief executive of Royal Mail, says: “The first thing I do every day is check how we performed last night. Any mail centre that failed to meet quality of service targets is on a conference call with me to explain what happened and whether they have a plan to put it right.”
The introduction of private sector disciplines was one of Mr Crozier’s first actions on being appointed to run the UK’s state-owned postal company just before Christmas two years ago. Then, Royal Mail was losing Pounds 1m a day. Now, it is making a profit of Pounds 1m a day.
As Royal Mail tackles its busiest time of the year, with households sending sacks of cards and presents, there is optimism that it is starting to show signs of a turnround.
Read MoreRoyal Mail has pledged to pay nearly GBP60m in compensation to businesses as a result of the disruption to mail services caused by last year’s unofficial industrial action. The company, which has already paid out more GBP50m, will return an extra GBP7m. The move comes as the postal operator claims UK firms have escaped the latest round of price hikes, with the freezing of rates for bulk business mail services Mailsort 2 and 3. First-class stamps will rise by 2p to 30p in April. But Postwatch chairman Peter Carr has poured scorn on the claims: “Once again, Royal Mail is increasing revenues by asking small businesses to pay more for stamps. These are the customers least likely to be offered a competitive alternative. Meanwhile, those most likely to be offered a competitive alternative will see price decreases.”
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