TNT Express has chosen Jürgen Marx as its new director of human resources. The industrial administrator and economist is responsible for the following divisions: people and organisational development, human resources management and payroll, compensation and benefits, as well as labour law. Marx reports directly to Jürgen Seifert, managing director human resources and general services of TNT Express GmbH.
Read MoreUNI’s US Affiliate the NPMHU National President John Hegarty appeared before the US Congress Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, to provide the views of the NPMHU on the recently-issued USPS Network Realignment Plan. He told the committee that the union believed that the USPS recently made an ill-advised foray into subcontracting, which involves proposals to outsource work from the Bulk Mail Centers.
He said that for many years, the Mail Handlers Union has tried to work with the Postal Service towards a better, more efficient and more economical operation. However, we have problems with this latest proposal which want to give away mail volume to the private sector, when the nearby postal plants, as is well documented, are suffering from a major loss of mail volume themselves. John Hegarty also commented on the plan by the USPS to offer voluntary retirement to a number of permanent employees, he said, “NPHMU do not believe it makes business sense to ask employees to retire voluntarily while also proposing to outsource postal work to private contractors.”
Read MoreRoyal Mail blames falling mail volumes for a massive restructuring of sorting operations in the north-west of England that are likely to see the closure of mail centres in Liverpool, Stockport, Oldham and Bolton.
However, Hellmail has learned that plans had been in the pipeline for some ten years with a proposal to combine sorting operations on a new site at former air-base Burtonwood, close to both Manchester and Liverpool and the cessation of its use of the rail network by 2004, key to plans to make better use of the road network. A planning application for development on the Omega South site at Burtonwood had already been submitted.
Preliminary plans included transferring processing from three mail centres, five outward vouching offices and three centres for bulk mail handling to new mail centres and a new regional distribution centre. A new sorting and distribution centre at Warrington to replace Crewe and Liverpool mail centres, a new Chester mail centre replacing the current Chester mail centre were already penned. It also, at that time, included five outward vouching offices in the Wirral and north Wales, and a new Crewe regional distribution centre replacing Brunswick Dock, Westhoughton and Lostock bulk handling centres.
Putting more mail on to Britain’s roads rather with less reliance on the rail network has clearly altered the network structure as well as access and selecting logical sites for distribution, the subject of much controversy, are rapidly reaching the final decision stage.
Read MoreRed Parcel Post, the prospective German parcel market entrant, is all set to start work on its EUR 130 million hub in eastern Germany, according to media reports. The launch of the start-up parcels carrier has been repeatedly announced and then postponed in recent years.
Regional radio station MDR reported that the company will start construction of a large logistics centre on an 860,000 sqm area of land in Stegelitz, between Leipzig and Magdeburg, within the next six weeks. The company already gained building permission one year ago but construction was delayed due to complex technical preparations for the logistics centre, MDR reported.
Red Parcel owner Walter Hellmich told the radio station that the company would make the logistics centre into its hub for distribution across Germany and to neighbouring European markets. Operations would start in mid-2009, creating about 260 jobs, he said.
In the past, Hellmich, head of the Hellmich construction group, has said that the start-up B2B parcels company would build about four logistics centres, operate a fleet of up to 800 delivery vans and aimed to carry about 35 million parcels a year. The company originally planned to launch in 2007 but has repeatedly postponed its market entry, leaving observers sceptical about its plans.
Read MorePostcomm has agreed Royal Mail’s proposed changes to its retail compensation arrangements for lost, damaged and delayed mail.
The key changes, which come into effect from 1 August 2008, are:
1). For items posted with Royal Mail which have no intrinsic value (for example a 1st or 2nd class letter), or where a claimant cannot provide proof of posting, there will be compensation for loss, damage and delay of a minimum of six 1st class stamps (currently worth GBP 2.16).
2). For items that have an intrinsic value, with proof of posting with Royal Mail and proof of value (such as an invoice or receipt) customers will be entitled to a postage refund plus – compensation for actual loss up to the value of the item, or 100 1st class stamps (currently GBP 36), whichever is the lowest; compensation for delayed retail mail will become payable one day earlier than at present – three working days after the due delivery date instead of four.
3). GBP 5 and GBP 10 payments for delay and substantial delay will be discontinued, except for Special Delivery Next Day (not posted on account).
4). Redirected retail mail will now be eligible for compensation for delay; and users of the Articles for the Blind service will now be able to claim compensation for loss, damage and delay.
The new compensation arrangements simplify and align the processes for making a claim, the evidence required to support a claim, and the compensation payments themselves.
Royal Mail estimates that the new arrangements will result in a slight overall increase in the total compensation payable under the retail scheme.
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