Tag: Brazil

Brazilian Postal Workers on Strike over Danger Allowance

Posted by | Jul 2, 2008 | |

Postal workers of a Brazilian state-owned company have gone on strike in a dispute over the payment of a danger allowance.

There is confusion over exactly how many postmen have joined the industrial action, with their union claiming 80 percent and employer Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telegrafos (ECT) saying it was just 30 percent.

The dispute centers on the state-owned company’s refusal to fulfill an agreement to pay postmen a danger allowance of 30 percent of their wages, signed in Nov. 2007.

The workers’ union claims the terms of the agreement, which was ratified this year by Helio Costa, Brazil’s minister of communications, has not been honored.

However, ECT says it cannot “legally” pay postmen a danger allowance, as the occupation is not entitled to such payments under Brazilian work regulations.

Under pressure, though, ECT has created a special external activities allowance and Monday paid 260 reais (about 162.5 U.S. dollars) to each employee. The union, however, demands that the company stick to the terms of the original agreement.

As a result of the strike, mail delivery is “the most affected sector” of the company, union representative Jose Goncalves de Almeida said. He added that 80 percent of workers from 22 of the country’s 26 states have downed tools.

But ECT claimed that only services offering guaranteed on-time delivery have been “suspended as a precaution.”

The striking workers also demanded a revision of the company’s career and profit sharing plans. They complained that the union has been left out of negotiations on the current plans, which are “not favorable” to them.

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TNT introduces new brand in Brazil: “TNT Mercurio”

Posted by | May 8, 2008 | |

TNT introduces a new brand for its express delivery services in Brazil: “Mercurio” becomes “TNT Mercurio”. Combining two well-established names, the new brand embodies the successful transformation of Mercurio, the Brazilian express leader TNT acquired in January 2007, as well as TNT’s commitment to Brazil.
TNT Mercurio is the leader of the Brazilian domestic express market with a market share of 15 pct. Its operations cover more than 4,000 cities across Brazil. TNT Mercurio serves 35,000 customers and employs 7,000 employees spread over 130 branches and franchises. It provides both domestic and cross-border road delivery services, using its own fleet of 1,500 vehicles and 2,000 sub-contracted ones.
All 1,500 vehicles will be rebranded by the end of 2009. The new brand means a lot to the Brazilian express market.
TNT Mercurio wants to strengthen its leadership position by investing in new vehicles, depots and infrastructure, including a state-of-the-art call center in São Paulo.
Besides growing in the Brazilian domestic market, TNT Mercurio is seeking to connect other South American countries by road.
Furthermore, TNT is looking into ways to strengthen its air connectivity between Brazil and Europe, linking its South American road infrastructure to international air routes.

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DHL inaugurates the industry's largest Hub in Central America

Posted by | May 7, 2008 | |

DHL inaugurated the largest Hub in Central America. With this new center, DHL has increased its capacity to sort up to 5,000 packages per hour, representing a 250pct jump from its previous shipping handling capacity.

Strategically located at Tocumen International Airport in Panama, a country that connects the main poles in the Latin America, the new DHL hub boasts the infrastructure and capacity needed to efficiently respond to the accelerated rise in international trade, particularly between the United States and Central America, which stems from the recent free trade agreements.

The USD 4.5 million hub was designed to optimize space allowing for greater operational and storage areas which results in increased shipment capacity and improvements in aircraft departure time by 10pct . The new 83,000 square-foot center- three times larger than the previous facility- considers various innovations and technology systems including a cold room for storing packages that require temperature control, material handling system and a re-packaging area.

In Mexico, the expansion of DHL Mexico City’s main hub resulted in increasing the company’s operating capacity by 20pct. The expansion is part of a five-year investment plan of over USD 112 million.

In Brazil, DHL opened recently four points-of-sales centers in the country’s major cities strategically located in high-traffic areas that facilitate access to small- and medium-size companies.

In Jamaica, a new Gateway was built and recently inaugurated to speed customs clearance.

In Argentina, the company invested USD 1 M to open a customer service center with state-of-the art technology which doubled the capacity.

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TNT and DHL expand in Brazil

Posted by | Apr 25, 2008 | |

TNT CEO Peter Bakker told the business newspaper Valor Economico that the Dutch group planned to invest EUR 100 million in Brazil over the next 5-10 years to extend its market leadership. Following the acquisition of the domestic express market leader Mercurio in January 2007, he did not exclude further acquisitions.

Investment will be made in new vehicles, storage and distribution centres, enhanced call centre technology and an intra-regional road network, he said. Mercurio’s fleet will be increased from 1,500 vehicles to about 1,900.

Roberto Rodrigues, head of TNT Brazil and Mercurio, said the company’s volumes, including European traffic, were growing so fast that TNT was considering operating exclusive cargo flights between Brazil and Europe. A possible re-branding of Mercuro to TNT will be decided on in mid-2008.

Meanwhile, DHL is launching two new time-definite services for international deliveries from Brazil to the US and other Latin America countries, the Gazeta Mercantil reported. Until now, DHL Express has offered its DHL Express Worldwide, with delivery by the end of the next working day, to customers in Brazil.

The new DHL Express 10:30 service provides next-day delivery to US destinations by 10:30 backed by money-back guarantees. The DHL Express 12:00 service offers next-day delivery by 12:00 to eight Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile and Mexico, the newspaper reported.

Juliana Vasconcelos, marketing director of DHL Express in Latin America, said that by delivering documents or goods on a time-definite basis, DHL customers or their clients would be able to speed up their decision-making to the same working day.

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FedEx optimises call centre in Brazil

Posted by | Apr 17, 2008 | |

FedEx Express announces the successful outcome of the implementation of a new system in its call centre in Brazil. The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) was implemented in September of last year, with the objective of proving to customers 24/7 customer service of pick-up scheduling, tracking and packaging request. The initial goal was to support 15 pct of the customer calls, but since its implementation, the response has been over 20 pct.
FedEx Express Latin America and Caribbean services more than 50 countries and territories and employs more than 3,400 people committed to total customer satisfaction. FedEx Express LAC has acted as a pillar of growth for the region and continues its commitment through the FedEx PyMEx Membership program, the first initiative to partner with small and medium exporters by offering innovative ways to access the global marketplace.

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