Tag: Mail Services

Postal union's plea to businesses (UK)

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Postal workers have sent letters to firms asking for support over the proposed closure of a sorting and delivery office.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) sent letters to about 350 firms in Stoke-on-Trent over the closure of the Royal Mail office in Leek Road.

It says closing the depot will delay post and be bad for the local economy.

Royal Mail says it is looking for a new office to improve service to customers as well as staff working conditions.

Andy Plant, of the CWU, said it had already received about 60 responses from firms.

“Every single one registered their concern over the removal of services from Stoke-on-Trent,” he said.

Mr Plant said the closure would cause delays to postal deliveries.

“There will be delays in the pipeline – in orders, cheques – which will have an impact on these local economies, ” he said.

‘Downturn in quality’

The union says the move would mean all of Stoke-on-Trent’s post being sorted in Wolverhampton.

Mr Plant said about 70% of Stoke-on-Trent’s post was now sorted in Wolverhampton which had led to “downturn in the quality of service over the last 10 years”.

Royal Mail says the move would mean mail being processed in Wolverhampton but that a suitable site for a delivery office had not been identified but was “likely to be within the Stoke/Hanley” area.

Royal Mail’s Area General Manager Tom Willis said: “The additional space will also allow us to make our delivery operation run as smoothly as possible with the end result of improving the service we provide to our customers across the region.”

Royal Mail also says there would be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the move.

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US Postal Service can't account for millions

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

The U.S. Postal Service can’t account for at least USD 33.4 million in facilities-repair and vehicle expenses last year because of weak controls and lax oversight, two reports from the agency’s inspector general’s office said.

The Postal Service couldn’t assure that any of the USD 27.6 million in maintenance and repair expenses at facilities examined by auditors were used for that purpose, according to one of the reports posted on the agency’s Web site.

Some supervisors weren’t aware that they were responsible for overseeing expenses, that audit found. Other employees with limited knowledge of the repairs certified that they were properly done by contractors.

Without standard procedures, “the safety, security and serviceability of Postal Service facilities, employees and customers are at increased risk,” the March 3 report said. And without established controls over contractors, “there is an increased risk of fraud and abuse,” it said.

The audit covered facilities in all or part of 33 states, including Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Postal Service spokesman David Partenheimer said.

Another audit found that postal vehicles on some city routes in 15 states had more than USD 5.8 million in questionable costs. Some vehicles were logged in as having traveled millions of miles in a single accounting period, while others were recorded as having gone a negative number of miles, the March 4 report said.

The findings come as the Postal Service, a government agency required by law to set rates to cover costs, tries to cope with a possible USD 2 billion loss this year after a USD 5.1 billion deficit last year. Postmaster General Chief Executive John Potter said this month that he’s seeking ways to cut costs. First-class stamps will rise a penny to 42 cents on May 12.

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La Poste serious about environment

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Venturi Automobiles and PSA Peugeot Citroën have joined forces to supply Citroën Berlingo First or Peugeot Partner Origin-type electric vans in response to a tender from the French Post Office, La Poste.

Issued in April 2007, the international tender initially involves the supply of a small number of test vehicles. Following a six-month trial period, during which the vehicles with be thoroughly tested, La Poste will select the supplier of 500 mail delivery vans.

As Venturi Automobiles’ partner, PSA Peugeot Citroën feels that this phase of real-world testing represents a valuable opportunity to fine-tune the technological solutions equipping these delivery vans, to align them seamlessly with La Poste’s expectations.

The Citroën Berlingo / Peugeot Partners will be tested with an entirely new powertrain proposed by Venturi. This extremely compact technology makes it possible to fit the electric motor, battery and other EV components inside the van’s engine compartment, in lieu of the internal combustion engine. This offers the major advantage of ensuring the same load volume and payload as in a conventional version.

The electric Berlingo / Partners will have a range of up to 100 kilometers, which is amply sufficient to cover their mail delivery routes.

PSA Peugeot Citroën will contribute its automotive expertise and experience, particularly in electric vehicles.

Venturi will provide a particularly compact and innovative powertrain solution, as well as its short-run production capabilities

The partnership will enable PSA Peugeot Citroën to relaunch its EV business, where it was a pioneer and European market leader, with nearly 10,000 vehicles sold. The Group believes that in the future, electric vehicles will play an important role in reducing automotive emissions, with sales being driven primarily by city delivery vans.

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Local airlines and USPS plan for Aloha Airline shutdown

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Local airlines and the U.S. Postal Service are making contingency plans in case Aloha Airlines shuts down next week.

Aloha Airlines’ cash plan runs for just 5 more days. They’ll let the bankruptcy court know Monday whether they’ve found a buyer or a loan to continue business.

Others are getting ready in case Aloha can’t go on.

Two additional Go! airplanes have shown up at Honolulu International Airport.

Hawaiian Airlines employees have been told it could be all hands on deck next week.

It’s all part of the back-up plan in case Aloha Airlines stops flying.

“There’s nobody that can fill the gap right away. I’ll tell you that right now,” said Randall Cummings, an Aloha Airlines pilot. “There’s nobody who can fill the gap right away if aloha goes out of business. It will be a crisis.”

A crisis starting with passengers. Hawaiian is already planning to add more flights to move more people if necessary.

“The expanded flight schedules are simply part of a larger contingency plan as a result of Aloha Airlines’ recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” said Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines.

Hawaiian could also make use of 1 spare 717. Their larger 767s are currently assigned to transpacific routes.

The 2 additional Go! planes on the ground now carry 50 people each, but Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Go!’s parent company, said, “We are monitoring situation closely and we will respond to the market demand.”

As for Aloha’s 3,500 employees, the unions are coaching members about how to cope with possible job loss — including help with bill payment, unemployment filing, and even getting enough food for the family.

“We’re all trying to be positive,” said Ed Paulo of the machinists union. “We went through this once and hopefully we can pull this out again.”

Besides passengers and employees, other sectors of the economy are working on contingency plans, too.

Aloha is the state’s largest air cargo carrier — including items for FedEx and UPS. It’s one of only 2 carriers handling interisland deliveries for the U.S. mail.

The postal service has seen similar disruptions elsewhere, and its Hawaii spokesperson Duke Gonzales said: “We have been able to overcome those challenges in the past and are confident that we’ll be able to continue to serve our customers.”

The postal service is exploring short-term emergency contracts.

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Swiss Post simplifies its brand structure

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

Swiss Post will reinforce its core brand appearance in future. The PostMail and PostLogistics flagship brands and most brands of the Swiss and international subsidiaries are to be grouped under the core brand. The PostFinance and PostBus flagship brands – which have been in place for a number of years – will continue to exist alongside the core brand.

Swiss Post is beefing up its brand and gearing its brand structure more closely to customers’ needs. In future it wants to offer services increasingly from a single source under the Swiss Post core brand and make it easier for customers to obtain information about the various services available from the Group. The brands of most subsidiaries in Switzerland and abroad and the PostMail and PostLogistics flagship brands will be transferred to the core brand, which will benefit from their dynamic, innovative image. The national flagship brands PostFinance and PostBus and a few subsidiaries will continue to exist, for strategic and in some cases legal reasons. Swiss Post is thus bundling its forces, improving the effectiveness of communication and reducing the need for coordination. This will improve its chances of being perceived in a fiercely competitive market – on the international level too – and will also help to cut costs.

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