Tag: Europe

Canada Post gets new marketing leader

Posted by | Jul 10, 2008 | |

Canada Post has appointed Stewart Bacon as its first chief sales and marketing officer.

The new role is a “statement about the importance of customers and serving customers” and was created to help ensure that customer relations are properly managed, said Bacon.

Canada Post employs approximately 70,000, 90 pct of which are involved in mail delivery, and “in the minds of many employees, the customer was not front and centre,” said Bacon, who adds that this is a problem Canada Post is attempting to rectify.

Bacon hopes to increase the relevance of “our postal business to both businesses and consumers,” and to make sure “people continue to think that getting mail delivered to you is the best way to get communications.”

Bacon will oversee approximately 1,400 employees in the customer service department, billing and accounts receivable, sales department and call centres in Winnipeg, Ottawa and Fredericton. He will report to Canada Post president and CEO, Moya Greene.

Bacon worked in sales and marketing at IBM and Philips Electronics in Montreal, before joining Canada Post as regional vice-president in 1994.

Last week, VANOC and Canada Post also announced that Canada Post has been named an official supplier for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

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FedEx Hybrid-Electric Fleet Passes Two Million Miles

Posted by | Jul 10, 2008 | |

FedEx Express, announced that its hybrid truck fleet has surpassed 3.2 million kilometers, or more than two million miles of revenue service.

On average, the FedEx Express hybrid vehicles improve fuel economy by 42 percent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30 percent and cut particulate pollution by 96 percent.

With 10 new hybrid vehicles to be introduced into its European operations in June, FedEx Express is making strategic investments in projects that will help drive the development of new innovative technologies for the industry.

FedEx is committed to effective environmental management through investment in new technology and making its infrastructure and operations more efficient.

The FedEx Express hybrid vehicles are part of a broader sustainable transportation strategy, which includes the use of cleaner-technology vehicles, efficient-sized vehicles, optimized route restructuring and new fuel-efficient aircraft. In addition, FedEx Express is a founding member of CAREX, an association which promotes the development of a high-speed freight rail network within Europe, using existing rail links to deliver express cargo to Europe’s major trade points, thus reducing noise and carbon emissions.

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An Post to seek EUR 30m in subsidies to meet cost of universal role

Posted by | Jul 10, 2008 | |

An Post will seek annual subsidies of some EUR 30 million to meet the cost of its universal service obligations (USOs) once the Irish postal market has been liberalised in 2011.

In its response to the “Public Consultation Process on the Decision to Fully Liberalise the Postal Sector EU-wide”, the postal provider argued that post-liberalisation, it will still be expected to carry out its universal role and should therefore receive subsidies in order to do so.

Otherwise, the postal provider will be at a disadvantage to competing new entrants who will be able to “cherry pick” the more lucrative parts of the postal service.

Although over 60 per cent of the Irish market is currently open to competition, the small letter market has not yet been liberalised, but is due to do so in accordance with EU law by 2011.

It is this section of the market in which An Post fulfils its USO by delivering post at a uniform tariff to every address in the State, regardless of whether it is economical or not.

The postal provider currently estimates that the cost of fulfilling this is between 0.3 per cent to 5.4 per cent of postal turnover, which would represent an annual cost of potentially in excess of EUR 30 million for An Post. In order to determine exactly what the rate should be, An Post has commissioned an independent study to determine the net benefit or cost of the USO, which is due to be published during the summer of 2008.

It is not yet clear how the cost of the USO will be funded. However, it may be that post-liberalisation, An Post will no longer have full responsibility for fulfilling USO, as in its submission to the consultation process, postal regulator ComReg said that the designation of a single universal service provider may not be appropriate.

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GLS Germany upgrades vehicles for more safety

Posted by | Jul 10, 2008 | |

GLS is equipping all its new lorries with special reflection markings for safety reasons in order to increase the visibility of vehicles in road traffic during night.

To minimize this risk, the company is pasting up the backside or long side of trailers and trunks with retro-reflecting stripes on purchase or varnish renewals. Up to now, the EU directive 2007/35/EG does only apply to newly produced vehicles in Germany. With effect from 2011, all vehicles over 7,5 tons will have to be equipped with reflecting markings. In some states of the EU like Italy and Poland, this is already obligatory for all heavy vehicles.

“As we purchased new transport vehicles in Germany last year, we equipped them with reflecting material straight away”, said Klaus Conrad, managing director of GLS Germany. “High quality of transport services should not negatively impact the road safety. With the retro-reflecting markings we increase the visibility and thus minimise the risk”, he added.

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Correos invests in new sorting equipment

Posted by | Jul 10, 2008 | |

Correos has invested EUR 4.7 million in acquiring 15,000 new sorting cages to be used for sortation, internal transportation and distribution of parcels between different postal divisions to improve the company’s delivery service. The cages will be equipped with RFID control tags.

The acquisition of this equipment is part of Correos’ modernisation programme aimed at simplifying the transportation of mail and parcels. It is integrated in the “Automation Plan” of the company drawn up to improve the distribution quality.

This investment in new transport and storage equipment is expected to make the distribution of parcels and freight in general more efficient and to simplify the working processes in the big logistics centres of the company. These include 17 automated sorting hubs, 38 postal handling centres and 57 mass volume injection points in addition to about 1,800 distribution units and 100 special services centres used for the delivery of express shipments.

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