Tag: Courier/Express/Parcels

DHL expands global network and operations with new state-of-the-art European air hub

Posted by | May 26, 2008 | |

DHL has officially opened its new European air freight hub at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany. The hub, one of Europe’s largest construction sites, expands DHL’s international network, providing greater connectivity to global growth markets and enabling DHL to improve its overall customer service.

Approximately 300 million Euros has been invested by Deutsche Post World Net in the construction of the DHL air freight hub Leipzig/Halle which enhances DHL’s speed, connectivity and reach in a number of ways. It is situated at a crossroads to provide direct North-South and East-West access to Europe, and connects both established and emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia.

The decisive criteria for the choice of location were the position of the airport, its proximity to growth markets in Eastern Europe, the long-term planning security with comprehensive authorization for night-time flights, the wealth of motivated and highly qualified locally-based personnel, and impressive infrastructure which allows for a future-oriented combination of the carriers air, road and rail.

The hub comprises of a distribution center, an aircraft hangar, apron, tank station and administration building. The amount of freight transshipped every working day is currently around 1,500 tons per night but by 2012 this figure is set to rise to 2,000 tons.

Leipzig is the first DHL facility able to meet its needs for electricity, heating and cooling energy, to a large extent self-sufficiently. This is ensured by a cogeneration unit for combined heat and power generation, together with 1,000 square meters of solar cells on the roof of the hangar workshop for the generation of electricity from solar energy. In addition, two underground cisterns, with a capacity of 300 cubic meters each collecting around 3,000 cubic meters of rain water each year, will be used instead of drinking water to wash the aircraft.

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Franchisees: UPS needs a better return policy

Posted by | May 26, 2008 | |

For many small business owners, franchising sounds like the perfect option–it allows you to own and operate a business while having the support of a well-established brand behind you. Yet, there is a darker side to franchising, one that often gets lost in years of court appeals and settlements. If you are looking to franchise, it’s important to pay attention to the fine print.

A David and Goliath battle between United Parcel Service and its franchisees recently turned into a win for the small business owners. In a case that has been going on since 2002, the former franchisees of Mail Boxes Etc. are suing UPS for contract and franchise agreement violations; saying the shipping giant failed them when it forced them to convert to UPS stores or to go private.

UPS bought Mail Boxes Etc., then a chain of 4,300 packing and shipping centers, in 2001 in an all-cash transaction for USD 191.0 million. Its previous owner, U.S. Office Products, had declared bankruptcy.

The California Appellate Court said on Friday that it would reverse the previous decision that was in UPS’s favor. The decision requires that the two parties now face each other in front of a jury.

“The Court of Appeals gave us a total victory. The court reversed every single claim that UPS/MBE made, and awarded costs on appeal to the plaintiffs. This is a complete repudiation of UPS’ and MBE’s position and was the last major hurdle for us,” said Howard Spanier, a former franchisee of Mail Boxes Etc. “UPS blocked my renewal as an Mail Boxes Etc. despite my franchise agreement allowing me to do so. They would only allow me to renew as a UPS Store. I considered that option to be financial suicide, since under the UPS Store business model profit is totally controlled by UPS.”

UPS’s annual revenues went from USD 29.7 billion in 2000, just prior to the acquisition of Mail Boxes Etc., to USD 49.7 billion in 2007. There are currently 4,647 UPS Stores worldwide and 1,306 Mail Boxes Etc. stores.

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Swiss Post launches parcel pickup service

Posted by | May 26, 2008 | |

Swiss Post Swiss Post has launched a fee-based service for the pickup of inland addressed parcels of private customers and small businesses.

The new pickup service can be ordered online via the internet and includes collection of a maximum of five parcels per day from an address which does not necessarily need to be the same as the sender’s address.

The service fee depends on the amount of parcels. Swiss Post is offering introductory prices until the end of the year: collection of one parcel costs euro 2,80 instead of euro 3,-, collection of two parcels cost euro 3,70 and collection of three to five parcels cost euro 5,55 instead of euro 6,20.

The new service complements the internet solution named WebStamp introduced by Swiss Post two years ago. With WebStamp, customers can stamp and personalise their shipments via the internet. The parcel pickup service enables private and business customers to handle all their shipments from home or the office.

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DPD to hike prices for parcel deliveries instead of parcel shops expansion

Posted by | May 23, 2008 | |

DPD has stopped the expansion of its parcel shops in Germany and is instead planning to increase prices for parcel deliveries to cope with the rising fuel costs, DPD CEO Arnold Schroven told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview this week.

In the beginning of April, the company had announced that it would continue its strategic growth by opening another 1,500 parcel shops in Germany by the end of 2008 in addition to its existing 3,000 retail outlets. Meanwhile, DPD has surprisingly changed its strategy and is now planning to invest in the development of a new express delivery service and to concentrate on its international parcels business. In both segments, the company generates considerably higher profits than in the domestic parcels business, Arnold Schroven further explained. He added that the company was under pressure as it couldn’t fully implement the price increase of 4 pct for parcel deliveries planned for this year.

In view of the rising transport costs, further increases in parcel deliveries between business clients – the company’s core service – are unavoidable from 2009, Schroven said.

From October this year, the company plans to increase the prices for a single parcel by 3 cents due to the government plans to hike truck toll fees. As a result of the price increase, Schroven expects an annual revenue growth of 50 pct in the express sector. Currently, DPD’s express division accounts only for 5 pct of the total group revenues.

Last year, the company’s sales grew more than 5 pct, exceeding EUR 1 billion revenues for the first time.

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Chronopost extends geographical coverage of delivery service (FRA)

Posted by | May 23, 2008 | |

Chronopost has extended the geographical coverage of its next-day delivery service “Chrono 10” providing next-day delivery before 10 a.m now covering all important cities and regions in France.

More than 1000 new French “communes” will be accessible with this service offered to contract customers and customers of the Chronopost online shop.

“Chrono 10” delivers parcels to all destinations nationwide from Monday to Saturday and covers 6000 communes from a total of 36000 French communes representing the last subdivision of 100 départments and 26 regions in France. The new cities covered by the extended service include Le Havre, Perpignan, Nancy, Monaco, Angers and Lorient.

“The optimisation of the coverage will strengthen our next-morning delivery service. Thus we are responding to our customers’ demands for parcel delivery in the service and industry sectors. For certain types of shipments, it is essential that the parcel arrives in the beginning of the working day”, said Chronopost CEO Christian Emery.

Founded in 1985, Chronopost is specialized in express delivery of parcels up to 30 kg to companies and private customers worldwide. In 2007, the company generated revenues of EUR 587 million. It has a nationwide network of 76 operational sites including 6 hubs and employs 3500 people.

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