Pallet Track has taken a five year lease, with the option of a further five years, on Titan 10, a new 267,290 sq ft warehouse on Millfields Road in Bilston. The agreed rent is in excess of £1 million a year exclusive of rates. King Sturge and Colliers CRE represented landlords Threadneedle Investment Managers and Zurich Assurance.
Read MoreRoissy Cargo Rail Express Association and European Intermodal Association (EIA) have signed a “Memorandum of Interest” in Brussels in preparation for the launch of the rail express network “ Eurocarex” which would have clear environmental benefits, the French newspaper Le Lloyd reported.
The project is aimed at creating a European high-speed rail network to transport express and cargo shipments from 31 March 2012 onwards. The plan is to run trains between a new express freight station at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport and other airports such as Lyon, Lille, Liege, Amsterdam, Cologne and London, with other airports being added later. The key project members include French railway operator SNCF, Air France Cargo, FedEx, La Poste and TNT.
According to Yanick Paternotte, the president of Carex Cargo Rail Express, Eurocarex will initially employ 8 high speed trains specially designed for air cargo with a capacity to transport up to 100 tons of express shipments per train every night to corresponding terminals in Lyon, Lille, Liege, Amsterdam, Cologne and London. Perfectly adapted to the loading of air containers, the trains can be reloaded in less than 45 minutes each.
In spite of the initial investment of estimated EUR 600 million in the special trains and EUR 300 in terminals, Paternotte is convinced that the project will pay off.
The express market will make up the core business of Eurocarex, complemented through air cargo. Public authorities are tempted by the positive environmental impact striving to limit the noise pollution caused by night flights, Le Lloyd further reported.
According to a study conducted by EIA, the transportation via high speed trains would reduce CO2 emissions up to 98 pct compared to air transport.
The Eurocarex network is planned to be extended to cities Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Marseille and Francfort with 20-23 trains in service until 2015.
Read MoreThe Isle of Man’s distribution company, Manxx Independent Carriers, is rolling out an innovative system for tracking parcels and freight using a new international ‘databank’ called PODXchange. Developed by NetDespatch, PODXchange is a web portal for proof of delivery (POD).
Manx drivers are being equipped with special mobile devices incorporating barcode scanners and a touchsceen. When deliveries are made and signed for, details of the shipment held in the barcode can be transmitted live to the web portal along with the captured electronic signature. Scan and POD data as well as signatures is then transformed into the appropriate carrier format and transmitted to Manx’s customers that include most major UK parcel carriers.
The portal accepts data from any POD system – for any parcel – and then makes it available via the Internet to any carrier. Manx is already delivering on behalf of all the major parcel carriers including Fedex, UPS, DPD, Citylink, Parcelnet and Amtrak. Using one device, Manx can now provide a live signature POD to any of these companies. The intelligent system recognises the carrier from the barcode on the parcel ensuring that each carrier only retrieves data on their own parcels.
First used in the Highlands of Scotland for parcel deliveries handled by AJG, the system is being implemented by Manx so that is can be used for all types of deliveries. “We travelled to Inverness to see the first PODXchange implementation in action with courier firm AJG parcels. It was immediately evident that it had real potential and we realised we could develop the first true multi-service POD solution giving our customers live updates on anything we delivered whether a parcel, pallet, an item of plant or a fresh food delivery,” says Coleman.
Read MoreArmenian government has announced its plans to reach an agreement about prolonging HayPost trust management term for another five years.
HayPost CJSC is the national postal operator of the Republic of Armenia. The company’s staff is 4,000 people. Under an agreement signed on November 30, 2006, HayPost was transferred in trust management of the Dutch HayPost Trust Management Company for five years, with a right to prolong the contract for another five years.
The government also decided to shift the company’s reporting schedule – annual reports instead the quarterly ones will be required. Besides, the trust management services will be paid in AMD instead of EUR. The trust management has wider authorities now – it can choose an auditor, open HayPost branches and offices, and approve their regulations.
Read Moreeutsche Post is in no rush to sell its 50 percent plus one share stake in Deutsche Postbank, Post’s finance chief was quoted on Saturday as saying.
“If the management board would reach the conclusion that the time to sell is bad then we are under no pressure to sell,” Chief Financial Officer John Allen told German financial daily Boersen-Zeitung.
Post was still in talks with a small number of prospective buyers but it was impossible to say when or whether a sale of Postbank would happen, he told the newspaper.
According to sources familiar with the matter, prospective buyers of Germany’s biggest retail bank with nearly 15 million customers could include Deutsche Bank, Banco Santander of Spain and Dutch ING Group NV.
The recent fall in share prices of financial companies around the world — Postbank has lost a quarter of its market value since early June — has led analysts to doubt whether Post can obtain the kind of price it wants for its Postbank stake.
Read More
Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.
