Tag: North America

Analysts hand DHL bad new year's forecast (U.S.)

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Worldwide shipper DHL is doomed to fail in the United States unless it radically shifts its business model, two well-regarded investment firms say.

Now, Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns separately contend that DHL could eventually contract out operations to competitors, abandon its domestic delivery routes or sell off its U.S. operations entirely.

Facing U.S. operations that lost USD 900 million last year, the company’s new chief financial officer has “indicated the group needs to have a structural solution to U.S. losses” by March 6, according to the Morgan Stanley report.

“While we can’t respond to speculative reports, we have made a commitment to the U.S. market because of its importance to our overall global (DHL) Express strategy,” spokesman Richard Gibbs said in an e-mailed statement.

DHL, owned by German-based Deutsche Post, has spent billions of dollars to build up its domestic presence.

Nonetheless, U.S. operations lost USD 900 million last year and analysts don’t foresee a profit this year.

Morgan Stanley foresees three possible solutions:

Deutsche Post should try to sell all of DHL Express or at least the U.S. operations to UPS, FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service

DHL could fly parcels in but contract delivery to FedEx, UPS or the U.S. Postal Service

It could reduce its footprint to metropolitan areas and either contract pickup and delivery in the rest of the U.S. to the three carriers or offer only international delivery.

The first two options are less likely, according to Morgan Stanley.

In a November Goldman Sachs report, the firm said it was unlikely that DHL’s U.S. operation was on track to perform well.

Beh of Bear Sterns said any DHL decision to quit domestic operations would be difficult.

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AT&T announces USD 20 million for nationwide software for USPS

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

AT&T Inc. announced that the AT&T Government Solutions business unit was awarded a task order worth up to USD 20 million to provide Software Engineering services for software verification and validation of United States Postal Service (USPS) automated mail-processing and sorting systems.
AT&T software engineering expert teams will test USPS systems nationwide that help process billions of mail pieces every year. AT&T will assist the USPS to drive continued implementation of standardized software development life-cycle processes and procedures across the USPS Engineering organization.
Under the terms of the contract, AT&T will use its Software Engineering services and IT expertise to provide software and documentation Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V), software-configuration management (SCM) and other required services to the USPS Engineering Software Process Management (SPM) group.
The SPM group supports the USPS and Engineering by focusing on continuously providing the necessary high-quality and reliable software required by USPS automated mail-processing and sorting systems.
AT&T’s Software Engineering services that it will execute for the USPS automated mail-processing and sorting systems recently received the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Maturity Level 3 rating in all 21 process areas. The CMMI rating covered AT&T’s systems and software development, integrated process and product development, and supplier sourcing.
The task order is up to two years, with three one-year options. The task order was awarded under the Integrated Business System Solutions Ordering Agreement (IBSS OA) contract.

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DHL to pay Contractors USD 25M (US)

Posted by | Jan 16, 2008 | |

DHL will pay USD 25 million to settle a national class-action suit by some 1,400 contractors stemming from payment disputes dating back to 1994, according to company officials and one of the lawyers representing one of the contractors.

The contractors alleged that glitches in the DHL computer system – a legacy from Airborne Express, which DHL bought in 2003 — prevented certain types of shipments from being processed correctly, said R. Anthony Rupp III, a lawyer with the Buffalo firm of Rupp Baase who represented contractors involved in the case.

While linking data from shipments from across the country with confirmation information, the DHL system also mistakenly prevented any payment for those jobs, the lawsuit alleged.

DHL denies any such glitches in its computer system. “There are none,” said Josh Frank, DHL vice president of legal.

The company agreed to the settlement, Frank said, because such class action lawsuits can be distracting an expensive.

In an internal memo to DHL managers obtained by Traffic World, the company said it had settled “to avoid prolonged and expensive litigation” with a one-time payout that it hopes “as many contractors as possible” will pursue.

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ABB Robotics selected as pre-qualified integrator for USPS

Posted by | Jan 16, 2008 | |

ABB Robotics has been selected by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a pre-qualified integrator for general material handling systems, expanding the company’s scope of supply beyond robotic containerization systems (RCS), which ABB has been providing to the USPS since 1999.

ABB has provided 167 robotic containerization systems to USPS facilities throughout the U.S. Through the RCS program, ABB has delivered other robot automation and control systems utilizing ABB controls and drives products. The success of this program led ABB to an extensive bidding and qualifying process for general material handling systems.

As a pre-qualified integrator, ABB, along with a select number of other suppliers, has been awarded with an ordering agreement extending for three years, placing ABB on the pre-qualified bid list for general mail handling automation.

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FedEx Significantly Improves Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) Services

Posted by | Jan 16, 2008 | |

FedEx Freight has improved its service in key U.S. markets and FedEx National LTL now provides long-haul shippers with improved on-time service reliability after re-engineering its network, FedEx Freight, an operating company of FedEx Corp. announced today.

FedEx Freight is a provider of regional next-day, second-day and extended LTL freight services, and has cut transit times in half ” from two days to next day ” from the Las Vegas area to Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, Bakersfield and other large cities in Central California, and from Vancouver, British Columbia into the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

FedEx Freight has accelerated delivery from three days to two days in many other cities. Overall, FedEx Freight has helped its customers who depend on fast-cycle logistics by improving service standards in more than 1,000 U.S. lanes in the past year.

FedEx National LTL, provider of long-haul LTL services, has adopted a strictly scheduled line-haul operation to enhance reliability. Like FedEx Freight, FedEx National LTL employs advanced information systems that support internal planning and provide shipment visibility to customers. These improvements benefit customers with planned inventory replenishment. FedEx National LTL was created in September 2006 when FedEx acquired the business assets of the former Watkins Motor Lines.

In addition to expanding its domestic portfolio through FedEx National LTL, FedEx Freight is enhancing its Canadian service offerings with FedEx Freight Canada.

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