Tag: International

CPL – B2C will drive European express growth

Posted by | Oct 1, 2008 | |

B2C deliveries will be the major growth market for the European express and parcels industry in the next few years along with international deferred shipments as customers downtrade from premium express to slower but cheaper products, the Courier and Parcel Logistics conference in London was told.

Home deliveries will grow strongly as consumers increasingly shop on the internet instead of in the high street, but issues surrounding “final mile“ deliveries will continue to pose operational challenges, senior industry managers said on the event’s opening day.

Speakers agreed that the B2C market would move towards segmentation between premium deliveries of higher-value goods and standard delivery of lower-value items. However, there was little customer take-up of parcel collection and drop-off points so far, they commented.

Addressing market trends, speakers said that the world economic slowdown and recent financial markets turbulence would impact on business. The express industry would see fewer shipments and more bundling of volumes from financial customers, while customer relationships were being shaken up by the rapid changes in the financial sector. More generally, operators needed to right-size their networks, remove excess capacity but not endanger their customer service levels.

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Itella Logistics expands its consumer parcel operations in Estonia

Posted by | Sep 30, 2008 | |

Itella Logistics uses SmartPost’s parcel automates as drop off points for consumers in Estonia

Itella has signed an agreement with SmartPost to use their automated parcel terminal network of 20 machines in Estonia as drop-off points to consumer parcels. Itella will be responsible for parcel handling, sorting and transportation to machines by using its own couriers. Co-operation starts in November with selected distance selling customers.

– Our automated parcel terminals provide convenient and fast way for consumers to pick-up their parcels. SmartPost has established its delivery network and we are ready to provide this service for Itella, says Indrek Oolup, Managing Director of SmartPost Ou.

– For Itella as service logistics provider it is important that we are able to provide alternatives for consumers. We achieved excellent results from our automated parcel terminal trial held in Tallinn and Helsinki. Based on that we believe that this new way of delivering parcels is interesting for our corporate clients and improves the service for Estonian consumers, says Aku Happo, Itella Express and Parcel Business Director.

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CEO Fred Smith promises bright future for FedEx, Memphis

Posted by | Sep 30, 2008 | |

FedEx Chief Executive Frederick W. Smith exuded optimism Monday in his USD 40 billion company’s future and Memphis’ place at its epicenter.

The Chairman, President and CEO said it would be hard for FedEx not to double in size as the company strengthens connections to emerging economies from Asia to Brazil.

Smith spoke after an annual meeting at The Peabody in which shareholders torpedoed proposals that would have split his duties and required nonbinding referendums on executive pay.

The proposals advocated by International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Fund and spokesman Louis Malizia won slightly more votes than last year, but failed by a 2-1 margin. Results were announced to an audience of about 150.

The votes came after Smith reaffirmed the company’s position that FedEx Ground drivers are independent contractors, not employees, as Teamsters assert. A class-action lawsuit is pending.

With 33,000 employees in the Memphis area, FedEx is the city and Tennessee’s largest private employer. Its superhub makes Memphis International Airport the world’s largest volume cargo airport.

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DHL Express Austria expands its air network

Posted by | Sep 29, 2008 | |

DHL Express Austria has doubled the number of its flights from and to Blue Danube Airport in Linz, Nothern Austria, with 5 weekly return flights on the Leipzig-Linz-Ljubljana route.

With the introduction of the new flights, the Blue Danube Airport Linz is further expanding its infrastructure as well as international marketing activities due to the increasing demand for air transportation.

Currently, around 450,000 kgs of air freight are handled at Linz Airport annually with an expected growth rate of 5-10 pct next year.

In June 2007, DHL Express Austria became a new customer of the airport. Since then, DHL has been operating the Linz – Leipzig – Linz route. In addition, shipments from Salzburg, Carinthia, Styria and parts of Lower Austria have been shipped via Linz to Leipzig since April 2008.

DHL Express has a total of 15 sites in Austria and employs about 870 people.

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German publisher Holtzbrink buys twelve units of insolvent PIN Group

Posted by | Sep 29, 2008 | |

Georg von Holtzbrinck has bought major parts of the insolvent mail company PIN Group in a deal making it one of Deutsche Post’s biggest competitors, according to various media reports.

The insolvency administrator of PIN Holding, Bruno M. Kübler, said that the sale to Holtzbrinck will help preserve a considerable part of PIN’s network but did not reveal any financial details. The transaction is pending regulatory approval by the Federal Cartel Office (FCO), which is considered rather a formality.

In total, Holtzbrink has taken over twelve units of the troubled PIN Group with a 100 pct stake in six PIN companies and a major stake in the remaining six. It acquired PIN Mail in Berlin, eight PIN units in Brandenburg, Freiburg-based Arriva as well as Main-Post Logistik and Main-Sorter-Service in Wuerzburg. These units are located in the metropolitan area of Berlin, in the five states in the former German Democratic Republic, in Lower Franconia which is one of Bavaria’s administrative regions, and the metropolitan area of Freiburg.

The acquired companies employ a total of 2,500 workers. In the meantime, Kuebler is reportedly in negotiations with potential investors to buy the remaining 20 units, which count 1,200 workers.

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