Year: 2007

Shared savings plan could help Postal Service save energy

Posted by | Jan 26, 2007 | |

Postal Service facilities in the United States will be able to purchase energy-saving equipment through a series of new contracts that let utility providers help fund upgrades.
The contracts invite energy auditors to assess facilities and determine where savings can be found through upgrades or new equipment. Agency officials then will have the option of paying for improvements through the regular budget process or through financing offered by the energy company and paid off through later cost savings.
Julie Rios, executive director of energy initiatives for the Postal Service, said the arrangement would help the agency meet new energy efficiency goals announced by President Bush on Wednesday. It will also help to reduce recurring energy costs, she said.
Improvements under the program could vary widely based on the results of the facility energy audits, Rios said. The agency has dedicated funds for the replacement of chillers that rely on ozone-damaging chemicals, and audits could turn up other options like upgrading heating and air conditioning equipment, improving building insulation or changing lighting systems. Another possibility is improving the efficiency of the compressed air systems upon which mail processing facilities rely.
The Postal Service also is looking at making more use of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. “You’re going to evaluate these technologies where there are the right physical conditions, and in general you do need the right support” from economic incentives from states and utilities, Rios said.

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UPS starts celebration of 100th birthday in New Orleans

Posted by | Jan 26, 2007 | |

Mike Eskew (Chairman and CEO of UPS) offered public as well as private thanks to employees for embodying the spirit of the company’s founder in quickly restoring service after Hurricane Katrina.
Eskew met with several hundred employees as well as customers and dignitaries here today at the site of UPS’s newly rebuilt New Orleans package hub. The company reinvested USD7.6 million in the facility after it was completely flooded when the levees broke. All told, some 20 package hubs and centers throughout the region suffered damage during Katrina and had to be repaired at a total cost of USD8.3 million.
UPS is celebrating its 100th birthday throughout 2007, primarily through employee events around the world. The celebration in more than 55 U.S. cities will revolve around the arrival of a mobile Centennial exhibit, built inside large tractor-trailers. In New Orleans, Eskew opened the exhibit for the first time and guided employees and customers through the displays.
UPS was founded in Seattle as a messenger service in 1907 by a 19-year-old teenager who borrowed USD100. Over the subsequent 100 years, much of it guided by founder Jim Casey, UPS transformed itself into a department store delivery service; a common carrier offering package delivery service throughout the United States; an international package delivery service with its own airline and now, a trusted business partner that literally enables commerce for its customers by synchronizing the flow of goods, information and money.
Today, UPS employs more than 427,000 people; operates the world’s largest package delivery network; operates the planet’s eighth-largest airline; utilizes almost 92,000 vehicles, and offers an ever-expanding array of supply chain services.

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DHL launches domestic airfreight service in China

Posted by | Jan 26, 2007 | |

DHL announced the launch of the DHL Domestic Airfreight service in China. To date, DHL Global Forwarding, one of DHL’s business units providing air and ocean freight services, is the first international forwarder to obtain the CATA (China Air Transport Association) domestic airfreight license, allowing them to operate within 17 Chinese cities. This is certainly a key milestone for both the company and the domestic logistics market, previously served only by Chinese state-owned and local companies. DHL Global Forwarding Domestic Airfreight is part of DHL Global Forwarding’s earlier announcement on the USD20 million investment plan to further enhance the company’s network infrastructure, human resources development, as well as products and services to meet anticipated business growth in China. With this launch and its First in China strategy, DHL is the only international logistics company offering both Domestic Express and Domestic Airfreight services.

The Chinese logistics market consists of various segments: international airfreight, and ocean freight, domestic airfreight, international and domestic roads, international and domestic rail and inland waterway and warehousing. According to the latest Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast, the domestic airfreight market has grown at over 20% every year since 1990, and is expected to double its current size and reach a ca. EUR 2.6 billion in 2010. China’s domestic air cargo market has become the second largest in the world with an annual growth rate forecast of 10.8% over the next 2 decades.

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FedEx Express to acquire express business of Chinese

Posted by | Jan 25, 2007 | |

FedEx Corporation announced today that its FedEx Express unit had signed an agreement with Tianjin Datian W. Group Co., Ltd. (“DTW Group”) to acquire DTW Group’s 50 percent share of the FedEx-DTW International Priority express joint venture and DTW Group’s domestic express network in China for USD400 million.

FedEx and DTW Group entered into a joint venture agreement in 1999. JPMorgan acted as exclusive financial advisor to FedEx. PricewaterhouseCoopers acted as exclusive financial advisor to DTW Group. The acquisition will include:

• DTW Group’s 50 percent share in the International Priority express joint venture, converting the joint venture into a wholly FedEx-owned company;

• The DTW Group assets used to perform International Priority services; and

• DTW Group domestic express assets from 89 DTW Group locations.

Upon closing, FedEx will employ more than 6,000 people in China. The transaction is subject to customary conditions, including government approvals and licensing.

DTW Group will continue to operate international freight forwarding, general cargo transport and merchandise distribution businesses.

The U.S.-China Business Council reported that a majority of China-based companies said gaps in China’s transportation networks diminished their competitiveness. Earlier this month, China reported that exports in 2005 reached a record USD762 billion, a year-over-year increase of 28 percent. Imports rose to USD660 billion, an increase of nearly 18 percent over the previous year. Total foreign trade in 2005 exceeded USD1.4 trillion, making China the world’s third largest foreign trading power.

It is the second largest domestic air cargo market in the world and is expected to be the fastest-growing market for air cargo, averaging more than 10 percent growth per year between 2003 and 2023.

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DHL announce shipping system enhancements

Posted by | Jan 25, 2007 | |

DHL today announced enhancements to its DHL EasyShip family of PC-based shipping solutions. The new upgrades provide customers with a number of value-added features and enhancements, including access to more DHL services, faster installation and setup, and improved rate visibility.
The new upgrades include:

– Improved rate visibility for shipment processing
– Simplified import/export to more easily upload large data files for mass shipping distributions
– Enhancements to increase speed and ease of EasyShip Professional installation
– Option to request DHL signature delivery service
– Addition of expedited DHL@home business-to-residential delivery service

DHL offers several shipping software platforms, including EasyShip Connect, a software solution for smaller-volume shipping customers to use on their own PC; EasyShip Professional, a stand-alone shipping application for a customers’ PC, designed for medium-volume shippers who prefer to process shipments without a constant internet connection; EasyShip Professional Plus, a fully functional PC shipping station provided by DHL for low- to medium-volume customers; and EasyShip Enterprise, a high-performance, server-based shipping system that supports multiple shipping stations.

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TNT plans UK expansion

Posted by | Jan 25, 2007 | |

TNT NV said it is considering plans to intensify its challenge to the UK”s state-owned postal group Royal Mail as it declined to comment on speculation that it is planning a bid for Deutsche Post AG.

Chief Executive Peter Bakker said TNT is conducting pilot schemes in a number of UK cities to assess the financial viability of setting up “end-to-end” mail networks, which would enable TNT to deliver mail as well as collect and sort it.
Bakker told AFX News in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that TNT is conducting experiments in Manchester and Glasgow to assess whether it can generate sufficient mail volumes to make end-to-end networks viable.
Meanwhile, the company refused to comment on speculation that it is interested in German logistics giant Deutsche Post AG.

Shares in the latter outperformed the market on Jan 18 amid the rumours, although one Frankfurt-based trader said he thinks the rumours are unrealistic because TNT is much smaller than Deutsche Post.
Bakker said, meanwhile, that TNT is undertaking a number of initiatives to try to reduce carbon emissions from its planes and trucks.

It is experimenting with biofuel-powered lorries in Amsterdam and with zero-emission electric trucks in the UK.

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