Unbroken potential for growth – New study of the Chiness Express Market
Unbroken potential for growth – New study of the Chiness Express Market
Read MoreTag: Courier/Express/Parcels
France's Mondial Relay joins Hermes' European parcel network
German parcels company, Hermes Logistik, has further strengthened its growing European network by forming a partnership with France’s Mondial Relay for deliveries and collections in France, Germany and Austria.
Home delivery specialist Mondial, like Hermes a subsidiary of Europe’s largest mail-order business, the Otto Group, says it will also be expanding its consumer service through Relai pick-up points in four new countries – Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain – and hopes to have opened over 20,000 such points in the seven countries (including France) by the end of this year.
The expansion will see Mondial’s parcels volumes grow by about 20% in two years from the 34 million handled in 2006, the company said in a release.
According to an article in the Handelsblatt newspaper this week, Otto is working towards a single brand European B2C parcels network led by Hermes, with the aim of boosting the German subsidiary’s turnover to between EUR 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion from the current EUR 1 billion.
The network is designed to cash in on the Internet home delivery boom in major markets such as Germany, France and the UK. Parcelnet, the UK home delivery company owned by the Otto Group, announced two months ago that it also was expanding by buying the Redcats courier network in the UK.
Hermes, which grew by 11.5% in 2006, is moving into the Austrian market this summer. It now has 13,500 distribution points in Germany and a further 1,200 lined up for Austria.
Read MoreLa Poste in agreement over night shift pay dispute
France’s La Poste has come to a EUR 3 million agreement with unions over a night shift pay dispute that saw sorting centres disrupted earlier this year.
The national postal operator has hammered out a nationwide deal with five trade unions to provide EUR 2.2 million in extra pay for the night services (from midnight till 6 am) and EUR 800,000 in local supplements.
The French group has also begun training its post drivers to cut down CO2 emissions by 10,000 tonnes per year.
Ten trainers are travelling France to teach the 10,000 postmen and women how to cut down emissions by simple driving techniques, helped by electronic boxes that can now monitor economic petrol consumption in towns and rural areas
Read MoreHermes Logistik – Mondial Relay partnership
German parcels company, Hermes Logistik, has further strengthened its growing European network by forming a partnership with France’s Mondial Relay for deliveries and collections in France, Germany and Austria.
Home delivery specialist Mondial says it will also be expanding its consumer service through Relai pick-up points in four new countries – Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain – and hopes to have opened over 20,000 such points in the seven countries (including France) by the end of this year.
The expansion will see Mondial’s parcels volumes grow by about 20% in two years from the 34 million handled in 2006, the company said in a release.
The network is designed to cash in on the Internet home delivery boom in major markets such as Germany, France and the UK. Parcelnet, the UK home delivery company owned by the Otto Group, announced two months ago that it also was expanding by buying the Redcats courier network in the UK.
Hermes, which grew by 11.5% in 2006, is moving into the Austrian market this summer. It now has 13,500 distribution points in Germany and a further 1,200 lined up for Austria.
Read MoreUSPS begins slim jim catalog testing
The U.S. Postal Service last month began testing to develop better standards for letter-size booklets, also known as “slim jim” catalogs, simultaneously cautioning catalogers who may be considering switching to this format that the mailing standards for these pieces are likely to change.
As more catalogers may switch to the lower-priced format in light of the current rate increase, the agency is concerned that printers will need more precise mailing standards to avoid fabricating slim jims that would jam the agency’s delivery bar code sorters.
Slim jims measure up to 6.125 inches by 11.5 inches. The USPS considers them folded self-mailers and booklets. If they weigh 3 ounces or less and are tabbed, they are the largest size qualifying for letter-rate postage, which is significantly lower than the recently increased Standard Mail flats postage.
The USPS has said there are not many slim jims in the system now and that, when they do appear in USPS facilities, postal employees frequently put them through the more robust AFSM-100 flats sorter as opposed to the delivery bar code sorters, which handle letter mail. However, to get the lower rates, they will have to be able to go through the delivery bar code sorter machine.
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