Tag: Mail Services

Postbank to put property portfolio up for sale

Posted by | May 15, 2008 | |

Deutsche Postbank is putting up for sale a majority of its property portfolio, a spokesman for Germany’s biggest retail bank said on Tuesday.

He said the bank was evaluating the disposal of a packet called of 25 of its office buildings, confirming a story released by the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper on Tuesday ahead of publication on Wednesday.

The reason for the sale is that real estate management is not a core business for the bank, the spokesman said. A decision about the sale should come in the second half of the year.

The newspaper reported the buildings owned by Postbank were worth between 700 and 800 million euros (USD 1.1-USD 1.2 billion).

Postbank has hired Morgan Stanley, which has previously managed a real-estate sale for parent Deutsche Post, to handle the transaction, according to the report.

In April, Deutsche Post sold property worth a billion euros to U.S. Investor Lone Star LS.N.

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Canada Post undertakes rural mailbox review

Posted by | May 15, 2008 | |

Over the next several years, Canada Post is proposing to review the physical location of more than 840,000 rural mailboxes across Canada.

The move comes on the heels of nearly 2,000 safety complaints against the federal agency since 2004.

Communications officer Mario Circelli appeared before council Tuesday afternoon to talk about a new program being undertaken by Canada Post.

“Over the next number of years Canada Post will be reviewing the physical location of 843,000 rural mailboxes,” Circelli said. “Our rural country roads aren’t so quiet anymore.”

Circelli said that Bill C-45 places the onus on employee safety squarely on the shoulders of the employer. “That’s not just Canada Post, that is every business, and we have decided to take a moral responsibility.”

Circelli said the Traffic Safety Assessment Tool (TSAT) was the result of a growing problem across Canada with the delivery of mail to rural mailboxes.

Looking at a number of factors from legal restrictions to the number of lanes, shoulder width, centre line markings, traffic volume and sight distance, TSAT is a mathematical equation that can be applied across Canada to any rural mailbox to determine the suitability of its location.

According to Circelli, with TSAT there are only three possible outcomes: 1) Rural mailboxes meet the safety criteria and the customer is notified in writing, 2) Rural mailboxes fail to meet the criteria and the customer has the opportunity to move it, or 3) If the customer cannot relocate the mailbox a community mailbox or post office box may be required.

Circelli stressed that Canada Post will not cut off mail delivery to any home throughout the process.

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TNT builds up its Green Fleet Worldwide

Posted by | May 15, 2008 | |

TNT is doubling its effort to cut carbon emissions of its road fleet with the introduction of over 100 electric trucks in the UK, China, and Australia.

TNT Express and Smith Electric Vehicles last Monday launched in London the world’s largest fleet of zero emission electric vehicles. TNT’s new 100-strong fleet of battery-powered ‘Newton’ delivery trucks will replace diesel equivalents over the next 18 months. The 7.5 ton lorries will prevent the release of up to 1,299,000 kilograms of CO2 into the atmosphere of towns and cities in the UK each year. The first tranche of 50 trucks will operate from TNT locations in London, Basildon, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Durham, Edinburgh, Enfield, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Luton, Northampton, Oxford, Paisley, Preston, and Wolverhampton. The partnership with Smith – the world’s largest manufacturer of road-going commercial electric vehicles – follows an 18-months trial in London. TNT is looking into piloting electric vehicles in all major European cities.

Last week, TNT and Dong Feng Motor Co., China’s largest automaker and manufacturer of electric vehicles, began a trial of two battery-electric delivery vans in the city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. The trial involves two light electric vans designed, manufactured and assembled in Wuhan by Dong Feng Motor Co. It is TNT’s first zero-emissions test outside of Europe. The vans have a top speed of 80 kph (50 mph), a range of 160-200 km (100-124 miles) and can carry a one ton load.

At the end of April, TNT Express Australia introduced 10 Hino hybrid trucks, becoming the first business in Australia to start operating a fleet of diesel-electric hybrid as replacements for conventionally powered vehicles. The new trucks will reduce TNT’s greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,600 kilograms of CO2 a year per vehicle. They emit 14 percent less CO2 and 50 percent less nitrous oxides than a conventional diesel truck of equivalent size.

“Greening our road fleet is a must to achieve TNT’s quest to become the first zero emissions express and mail company,” says TNT CEO Peter Bakker. “TNT is renewing its operations to reduce their environmental impact. Examples range from greener offices and depots to electricity sourcing and innovative electric vehicles.”

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