Tag: Domestic

EMS Russian Post offers new delivery speed for express services

Posted by | Aug 3, 2007 | |

Beginning of 1st of August 2007 «EMS Russian Post», affiliated branch of FSUE Russian Post improves speed of express mails delivered within the territory of the Russian Federation. It became possible due to optimizing routes network, launching additional transport routes and opening regional sorting centers of EMS Russian Post this year numbered 19 units.

Reduction of delivery terms of EMS items touches the main routes within Russia, i.e. from Moscow to the major part of regional centers of the Central Federal District (Bryansk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Tambov, Ivanovo and other ones), Privolzhskiy Federal District (Samara, Perm, Ufa), Siberian Federal District (Novosibirsk, Omsk) and other interregional delivery routes. Now minimal delivery term of express-mail sent to other cities within the territory of the Russian federation is one day only.

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USPS’s workgroups to improve service

Posted by | Aug 3, 2007 | |

Three workgroups presented their plans at the Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee Meeting, each with its own purpose. All three shared a common goal: to improve service and measurement.

The first group’s task was to revise the strategic transformation plan. Linda Kingsley, USPS senior vice president of strategy and transition, said that the workgroup is in the midst of revision and that the actual document is not due for another year.

The USPS is supposed to put together five-year plans every three years. Now the group has a big challenge. It totally has to revise the plan give the new law, which went into effect in May.

The new law accelerates the need to measure service for all classes of mail using intelligent mail. In addition, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance is changing. Due to all of this the workgroup is resetting their priorities in the new plan.

The new plan is expected to be out in November of this year.

The next workgroup talked about how it is set to identify gaps and define solutions for adoption of PostalOne by lettershops and mail service providers. Mail preparers want to be able to track and trace their pallets having as little as 200 pieces or 50 lbs. of mail. He also mentioned that spoilage has to be accounted for. The group has made a software vendor capability matrix draft, and a final matrix is expected shortly.

The last group is responsible for advanced notification streamlined verification. Carla Siniscachi presented the group’s process. The workgroup’s aim is to define capabilities for streamlined notification and accessibility for First-Class Mail.

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Atias, Treasury spar over Postal Bank direction

Posted by | Aug 2, 2007 | |

“To claim that the Postal Bank will compete against Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi is a big mistake, and I won’t let it happen. Such a move would turn an angel into a demon, which instead of helping Israel Post Company Ltd., will harm it,” said Minister of Communications Ariel Atias in response to the decision to transfer supervision of the Postal Bank to the Bank of Israel Banking Supervision Department as part of the Postal Bank’s privatization.

The privatization of Israel Post, including the Postal Bank, should move forward quickly now that a new minister of finance and Government Companies Authority director general have been appointed, and the issue has been included in the 2008 economic arrangements bill. However, Atias opposes losing control of the Postal Bank on the grounds that Israel Post is not ready for the privatization. He claims that postal services would become secondary to banking services that the Postal Bank is due to provide in the future.

Atias said, “The Postal Bank is supposed to serve the poor and middle class, not provide credit to manufacturers and commercial companies. The Ministry of Finance wants to turn it into a large bank, which is a mistake.”

The Bank of Israel supports the Ministry of Finance, and believes that the Postal Bank should be turned into a regular banking corporation as part of the privatization of Israel Post. Supervisor of Banks Rony Hizkiyahu has made turning the Postal Bank into a commercial bank conditional on having a minimum shareholders’ equity of NIS 150 million and transferring supervision of the Postal Bank to the Bank of Israel.

The Government Companies Authority proposes privatizing Israel Post in two stages. In the first stage, 49 pct of the company will be sold in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) by May 31, 2008. Later, the rest of the company will be sold to a strategic investor.

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Catalogers turn to postcards

Posted by | Aug 2, 2007 | |

In the wake of the postal increases, catalog mailers are increasingly turning to creative solutions to keep the volume and integrity of their marketing messages intact, while keeping costs down.

One solution is postcards. Women’s clothing catalog Lady Venus went to Clearwater, FL firm PostcardMania in a bid to increase the number of its qualified leads, cost-effectively. The company wanted to get sales from the leads as well.

Many catalog mailers are now using postcards ahead of a full catalog mailing, inviting prospects to request a catalog.

“Mailing a catalog can be outrageously expensive,” said Karla Jo Helms, vice president of PR for PostCardMania. Sending a prospect a postcard costs much less money and if that person requests a catalog, they are much more likely to buy. For Lady Venus, the results were strong. “My ROI is very good,” said John Sauer, owner of the Lady Venus catalog. In fact, Sauer received immediate orders for the item advertised on his postcard.

“An important tip is getting a clear, defined list before you even start planning the postcard; analyze the database,” Helm said. “Pick one product that sells a lot and feature it with a clear headline so that when people see it, they are motivated to buy.”

In designing a postcard mailing, clear bold headlines, eye-catching color, clearly stated benefits from a product or service and an offer with a reason to “call now” should be clearly displayed.

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Post staff to end wildcat strike

Posted by | Aug 2, 2007 | |

The wildcat strike began at the Glasgow Mail Centre on last Tuesday 31st July before spreading to Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

More than 1,000 CWU members met in Glasgow on Thursday 2 August. Customers in central Scotland were advised not to post items unless they were urgent.

An official 24-hour walkout by members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) also began on Thursday morning.

The unofficial strike began at the Glasgow Mail Centre in Springburn on Tuesday before spreading throughout Greater Glasgow.

It then spread to Edinburgh, where about 100 postal workers called an unofficial strike at the city’s main sorting office at Sighthill on Wednesday 1st August.

They claimed four workers had been suspended for refusing to handle mail transferred from the strike-affected Glasgow sorting office.

Later, Royal Mail confirmed that a “small proportion” of workers at the Aberdeen Mail Centre had also walked out.

Jim McKetchnie from the Communication Workers Union said workers had voted 60 pct in favour of returning to work from the wildcat strike.

The wildcat strike was called against the backdrop of a nationwide dispute over pay, pensions and future industry changes that has seen the CWU call a series of official 24-hour strikes.

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