Tag: International

U.S. Postal Service Ready for Busiest Mailing, Delivery Days of the Year

Posted by | Dec 17, 2007 | |

December 17th marks the busiest mailing day of the year for the Postal Service, with nearly 1 billion pieces of mail entering the system, up from an average day’s volume of 703 million pieces. Americans will entrust about 275 million cards and letters with the Postal Service today, more than three times the average daily volume of 82 million.

The National Operations Center (NOC) at headquarters has been tracking mail delivery, volume, air cargo routes and weather daily since Dec. 11 and will continue working round-the-clock until Christmas Day. NOC staff, charts, systems and graphs will be essential in making Wednesday, Dec. 19, successful when postmaster, letter carriers, processing and distribution center staff and retail clerks mark the busiest delivery day of the year.

With 37,000 Post Offices and stations, 55,000 places to purchase stamps and 251,038 delivery routes within its system, the Postal Service is equipped to handle the busiest days of the year, in addition to rain, sleet and snow.

With Christmas fast approaching, the following mailing deadlines are recommended in order for holiday cheer to reach its destination on time:

– First-Class Mail (with stamps) and Priority Mail: Dec. 20
– Express Mail: Dec. 22

The Postal Service is providing a money-back guarantee that all Express Mail sent by Dec. 22 will be delivered by Christmas Day. Gifts sent by Express Mail are automatically insured for USD 100. Express Mail packages and envelopes are available online at usps.com and in Post Office lobbies across the country.

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FedEx Express to build a regional headquarters operation in La Hulpe (Belgium)

Posted by | Dec 16, 2007 | |

headquarters facility in La Hulpe to serve markets in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa.

The company cited La Hulpe’s central location in Europe, the retention of its Belgian employees, access to international and public transportation connections, and a commercially zoned site set in natural surroundings as factors in the site location decision, said Robert W. Elliott, president of FedEx Express, Europe, Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Africa.

The move to La Hulpe will allow FedEx to consolidate its headquarters, which are currently split between three sites in Belgium. The company has operated in Belgium for nearly a quarter-century.

The planned relocation will involve about 600 personnel, encompassing office staff and the company’s senior management.

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Springer puts postal division up for sale (Germany)

Posted by | Dec 15, 2007 | |

Axel Springer put Pin Group, its domestic logistics subsidiary, for sale after the Berlin parliament passed a controversial minimum wage bill for the postal sector which the company claims will make it impossible to compete.

Springer, which publishes Germany’s leading tabloid newspaper Bild , said it was withholding additional funding to Pin and was prepared to sell its 64 per cent stake in the company, after the lower house of parliament adopted the minimum wage bill by an overwhelming majority of 84 per cent.

Springer said minimum wages made the cost of competing with Deutsche Post “too high”.

Pin said the company’s senior management led by Gunther Thiel, chief executive, was prepared to buy Springer’s stake and inject a high double-digit million euro figure into the business. Pin declined to comment on German press reports suggesting it had agreed to buy the stake for a symbolic EUR 1.

Springer this summer paid EUR 510m (EUR 735m) for a 48 per cent stake in Pin in anticipation of the German postal market’s full liberalisation on January 1 2008. It owns 64 per cent of Pin.

Pin, which employs more than 9,000 and pays staff between EUR 7.50 and EUR 8.20, said it would look at additional job cuts to the 1,000 announced two weeks ago.

A spokesman for Deutsche Post said the agreement “does not mark the end of competition in the German postal market. We still pay 80 per cent of our delivery staff an average hourly wage of EUR 16.63, significantly above the new minimum rate.”

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New depot gives transport firm a 'LIFT'

Posted by | Dec 14, 2007 | |

The success of Midlands transport company LIFT, which is part of the PalletFORCE palletised distribution network, has been underlined by a move to a new 2¼ acre site in Burton-on-Trent.
LIFT, also known as Lichfield International Freight Terminal, was previously based on farmland in the village of Alrewas but the company had outgrown the premises following a consistently strong performance.
The new site is located in an industrial estate in Burton, providing improved access and logistics links to major roads. The depot comprises a 35,000 sq ft warehouse and 2,500 sq ft of offices.
“The move has basically made our operation much easier,” confirms Ron Rowe of LIFT. “Greater yard space enables us to use more forklifts and therefore improved speed and efficiency.
“We feel that the Burton Depot is the ideal base from which to grow the business further,” he adds.
LIFT has been a Member Depot of PalletFORCE since the Network’s launch in 2001, and covers the DE and WS postcodes.

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Postcomm rejects Royal Mail's retail zonal pricing application (UK)

Posted by | Dec 14, 2007 | |

Postcomm has rejected Royal Mail’s application to charge large mailers – using products which are not part of the universal service – different prices depending on where in the UK their mail is delivered (Royal Mail calls this zonal pricing).

The reasons for this decision are broadly that Postcomm is not satisfied that the change would be introduced in a manner which avoids unreasonable changes to users, and because it involves discrimination.

Postcomm has made this brief announcement today to provide clarity to users of postal services and will publish full reasons for its decision in January 2008.

This decision does not mean that Postcomm is ruling out any future moves towards retail zonal pricing for products outside the universal service should Royal Mail propose an alternative approach that avoids the problems presented by the current application. Postcomm is generally supportive of pricing that is more reflective of costs.

Royal Mail’s ‘zonal pricing’ application did not include services paid for by stamps or those bulk mail products that are included within the definition of the universal service which must, under the Postal Services Act, remain priced at a uniform rate regardless of delivery zone across the country. It is open to Royal Mail to submit a new application if it can be framed to meet the relevant regulatory tests.

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