Tag: France

Japan and France to jointly offer logistics services

Posted by | Jul 30, 2008 | |

Japan Post Service Co., a mail delivery unit of Japan Post Holdings Co., said it will collaborate with French postal service operator La Poste in strengthening its international logistics businesses.

Starting in October, the two will offer distribution services between Japan and Europe using the networks of their respective logistics units.

Japan Post Service Chairman Norio Kitamura and La Poste Chairman Jean-Paul Bailly reached an agreement on the three-year tie-up, which is effective until 2011, at their meeting in Paris last Tuesday 29th July.

The two companies have so far exchanged information on postal services and personnel. It is the first time for the two to work together.

Japan Post Sankyu Global Logistics Co., a joint venture between Japan Post Service and major logistics service provider Sankyu Inc. and GeoPost, affiliated with La Poste, will take charge of the joint services of large-lot transportation of small cargo shipments between businesses and inventory control for corporate customers.

Express Mail Service from France to Japan, which has been suspended since 1991, will be resumed next year to boost transactions between the two countries.

The Japanese and French postal service operators will also jointly study ways to effectively use electric vehicles in their operations.

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Postal Operators – Fuel prices hitting profits

Posted by | Jul 24, 2008 | |

Higher fuel prices are having an impact on operating profit for all postal operators, and with many European countries already investing in alternative fuel sources, the U.S. Postal Service is now looking for ways to reduce it’s annual fuel bill, expected to increase by USD 600m this year.

The U.S. Postal Service has around 195,000 local delivery trucks and is already testing alternative transport powered by hydrogen, ethanol, lpg, and electricity.

French postal operator La Poste has a long-term plan to replace as much of its fleet as possible with electrically powered cars and is already using the battery-powered CleaNova, produced by Société de Véhicules Electriques (SVE), a joint venture between Dassault and Heuliez. Italian postal operator, Poste Italiane, has continued to replace many of its vehicles with gas-powered versions and has carried out several trials on alternative fuel vehicles, with special interest on serial-hybrid vans.

Royal mail aims to reduce its fleet fossil fuel usage by 14 pct by 2010 and has already bought Smith Edison and Newton higher function delivery vehicles which have a top speed of up to 50mph and can cover up to 150 miles on one battery charge. Royal Mail recently launched a company wide awareness programme to help its 180,000 people switch to greener driving, whether for social or work driving. And almost 1,000 Royal Mail drivers have received in-depth classroom training to help them adopt more environmentally-friendly motoring practices with plans to train a further 2,000 in the coming months.

With petrol and diesel prices expected to stay high this year, alternative fuels are likely to play a greater part in the selection of replacement vehicles for most postal operators.

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Signature of public service agreement 2008-2012 between French state and La Poste

Posted by | Jul 22, 2008 | |

La Poste has signed a public service contract with the French government for the time period 2008-2012 confirming the company’s commitment towards four basic service areas and preparing it for total postal liberalisation in 2011.

The contract, signed by La Poste President Jean-Paul Bailly and the Minister for Economic Affairs Christine Lagarde among others, follows the announcement of possible future partial privatisation of La Poste in 2009 with the government remaining the majority shareholder of the company.

With the new agreement, the public postal operator expects to calm the French unions regarding the modification of the company’s legal structure as they have always strongly opposed opening up La Poste to private investors.

The four main service areas stipulated in the agreement include postal services, transportation and distribution of press, accessibility of banking services for as many clients as possible and nationwide coverage of postal service points.

The postal services mentioned in the contract comprise distribution and delivery of mail 6 days a week with the same tariffs all over France. In addition, the new deal defines some targets for the group such as distributing 83 pct all letters the next-day in 2008. The quantity should rise to 84 pct in 2009 and 85 pct in 2010.

The accessibility of banking services means that every customer has the right to open an account at the postal bank of the company, disregarding the financial resources of the customer.

Nationwide coverage of postal service points guarantees the accessibility of La Poste service points all over France, even in the remotest regions of the country maintaining 17.000 service points nationwide. According to the corresponding law, La Poste has to guarantee that no more than 10 pct of the population in any French department will be more than 5 km away, or at more than 20 minutes distance by car, from a post office.

French trade unions are already preoccupied with the uncertainty around the financing of the plan since neither the cost of the postal distribution service nor the method of financing has been outlined in the contract.

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Eurocarex to provide express transportation by rail in Europe

Posted by | Jul 21, 2008 | |

Roissy 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.

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eBay and La Poste France offer e-postage

Posted by | Jul 18, 2008 | |

La Poste and eBay have signed a partnership that will enable French Internet vendors to purchase their postage online. The new service, in the pipeline since December 2007, allows eBay users to print out their own postage labels for letters and parcels direct from the auction site. The sender simply enters the weight, the destination and the required service (standard or registered post). Once payment has been received via PayPal, the label is simply printed out and attached to the packet to be sent.

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