Tag: FedEx

Courier firms see ray of hope in postal bill

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

The controversial postal bill that will be introduced by the ministry of communications in the winter session of Parliament may not include an earlier proposal to restrict foreign direct investment (FDI) to 49 per cent in courier services.

At present, 100 per cent FDI is allowed in courier services.

“Internal work has been reinitiated on the draft Indian Post Office Amendment Bill of 2006. The department of post plans to place the bill for approval in the winter session of Parliament,” said officials.

However, the department still has to take a final call on limiting the FDI cap to 49 per cent, officials added.

Department officials feel it is not desirable to disturb a sector which has been attracting FDI in a big way. Foreign players such as Federal Express, TNT and DHL Express have a substantial interest in India. Temasek recently picked up a stake in First Flight, while DHL took over Blue Dart.

Other provisions in the proposed postal bill include prohibiting private courier companies from carrying any letter or parcel below 150 grams and creating a universal service obligation (USO) fund by making companies pay up 10 per cent of their turnover to cross-subsidise services to rural areas.

The bill will allow private courier companies to deliver letters below the stipulated slab of 150 grams but will stipulate that they should do so at five times the rate charged by India Post or 2.5 times that of the speed post.

Private courier companies have opposed these amendments to the bill, terming them “unfair”.

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UPS has moved way beyond boxes

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

UPS ranks among the top freight haulers at Miami International Airport, the busiest international cargo airport in the country.

The company’s sprawling warehouse in Miami also stores goods from China to be shipped out as needed to Central America and beyond.

Over the past decade, UPS has been on a buying binge to expand “end-to-end” services to clients in Latin America.

It bought Miami-based carrier Challenge Air Cargo, acquiring key flight routes to the region. It bought a customs brokerage to help ease the flow of goods across borders. Plus, it bought an information technology parts and service business that sends technicians to fix computers and critical equipment at banks and other businesses in Latin America, drawing on parts that UPS ships and stores.

UPS now employs more than 5,000 people in its Latin American regional operations, including hundreds in Miami.

One fast-growing business segment is running warehouses and distribution for clients, using its high-tech systems.

Services now run the gamut from dispatching some 400 field engineers to fixing computers to financing its customers.

Through UPS Capital, the company helps clients with billing and collections. It even offers loans for companies to expand and trade more through UPS.

Analysts say UPS distinguishes itself from fellow delivery giants FedEx and DHL by its attention to detail and well-engineered processes: Driver manuals provide routes with fewer left-hand turns to save time at intersections. It is the only one to offer financing. And it is by far the most profitable, said analyst Jindel.

For the future, opportunities still abound. UPS aims to expand business within countries overseas, such as trucking between Chinese cities.

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Logistics providers increase focus on Mexico

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

Logistics providers are expanding their services in Mexico, possibly anticipating a renewed interest in sourcing products from Mexico. Or it might just be that the existing process for getting products across the border from Mexico to the U.S. is so difficult, shippers need more 3PL-type services in the regions.

At the same time, some supply chain experts are hinting that in the wake of the China sourcing scares and increasing logistics costs, Mexican suppliers may be seeing more business in the near future.

In either case, logistics providers are making clear efforts to step up their offerings around the U.S.-Mexico border. In July DHL introduced a new cross-border service based out of Harlingen, Texas, capable of handling triple the volume of its previous offering as well as heavier palletized freight and non-conveyable material to meet the growing logistics needs in the Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico regions.

Con-way Freight in mid-July acquired truckload carrier CFI, saying “combining CFI’s network, experience and expertise with Con-way Freight’s Mexico network and Menlo’s in-country and border-based logistics operations significantly improves the combined company’s presence and capabilities in Mexico.”

On Monday, Averitt Express opened a new supply chain solutions facility in Pharr/McAllen, Texas only four miles from the U.S./Mexico border. Because the new facility is so close to the border, Averitt can begin processing their customers’ freight and transloading goods for nationwide distribution faster than ever before.

Most recently, FedEx has expanded its FedEx Transborder Distribution service for cross-border trade between Mexico and the U.S. by opening new facilities in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas to help facilitate the flow of goods.

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FedEx Ground Continues Its Contractor Battle

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

FedEx has lost another round in court in the latest chapter of a long-running dispute that is being closely watched for its potential influence on how companies outsource jobs to independent contractors.

FedEx Ground, a division of FedEx Corp., lost an appeal in California in August over whether a group of former route drivers whom the company considered independent contractors should actually have been treated as employees. FedEx Ground saves millions of dollars in costs, including payroll taxes and employee expenses, by categorizing some 15,000 drivers around the country as independent contractors.

But a three-judge California Court of Appeal panel held last month that the drivers who sued, despite owning their own trucks, were controlled by the company in much the same way as employees would be, and as a result they should have been compensated like employees.

Although the decision applies to just 200 drivers who worked for FedEx Ground in California, attorney Lynn Faris, who represented the drivers, said the decision sends a strong message to corporate America. FedEx can still appeal to the California Supreme Court, but Faris said the fact that a lower court and an appeals court have now ruled against FedEx should be a warning to other companies using or contemplating similar independent contractor arrangements.

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TNT share interest

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

Shares in Dutch mail company TNT rose 3.7 percent to 31.11 euros on Wednesday on renewed talk that the group may be a bid target, traders said.

They named TNT’s U.S. rivals UPS or Fedex as possible bidders.

A TNT spokesman declined to comment, saying the company never commented on market speculation.

An Amsterdam-based trader said: “There is talk of UPS or Fedex interest in TNT. It is an old rumor but UPS and Fedex both seem to be looking at Europe, which would make TNT an obvious candidate, especially as the shares have come off recently.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them buys it eventually,” the trader said.

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