Tag: North America

Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Unveils Free Online Service

Posted by | Jan 8, 2008 | |

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today announced plans to enhance DMAChoice, with the latest evolution of DMA’s Mail Preference Service (MPS), and remove the USD 1 verification fee online, to help consumers decide what catalogs they receive in their mailbox. The USD 1 charge had been an integral part of the MPS validation process.

For the first time, DMA will allow consumers to opt out of mailing
lists by individual brands for free online through DMAChoice, accessible to
consumers at http://www.dmachoice.org. In addition, consumers will be able to
select the catalogs they do wish to receive. DMAChoice has been enhanced to
provide consumers greater choice and will assure the catalog community with
the most reliability, security, authenticity, and control.

The service will allow consumers to choose individual brands and
catalogs they no longer want to receive through the website, an extension
of the service already available to consumers via mail.

DMAChoice is part of DMA’s broader initiative to meet consumer concerns over volume and choice in the receipt of mail. DMA recently announced its new Commitment to Consumer Choice (http://www.dmaccc.org/Home.aspx), a set of guidelines that apply to all DMA members using mail to communicate with consumers. The DMA Board also adopted the Green 15 (http://www.the-dma.org/Green15Toolkit/), a resolution calling all members to implement 15 business practices to deliver environmental benefits.

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Polar Air Cargo hires Thomas Betenia as Vice-President Sales and Marketing, Americas

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. announced that Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc. (Polar) has hired Thomas Betenia as Vice President Sales and Marketing, Americas, effective January 7, 2008. Mr. Betenia, who will be based in Purchase, NY, comes to Polar from Lufthansa Cargo AG, most recently as Director of Sales and Handling for the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

At Polar, Mr. Betenia will oversee all sales and marketing activities in the Americas. This will include building on Polar’s existing business with its scheduled-service customers while leveraging the Company’s added express capabilities on behalf of current and prospective customers. As part of its commercial agreement with DHL Express, Polar will begin offering express service for DHL in October, 2008, requiring close network and geographic integration.

Mr. Betenia, 47, joined Lufthansa Cargo AG in 1980. During his first 15 years there, he held positions of increasing responsibility in areas as diverse as accounting, flight operations, network planning, and sales and marketing.

Randy Clark, Chief Operating Officer, Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc., said, “Our operations in the Americas get a huge lift from the addition of Tom to Polar. We have planned for scheduling and staffing to accommodate the high-quality, high-reliability service required in the express business. At the same time, we will continue to serve our freight-forwarder customers with convenient schedules on existing routes. Tom’s experience will benefit both our express and scheduled service operations.”

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FedEx to meet with IRS

Posted by | Jan 5, 2008 | |

FedEx will meet with the Internal Revenue Service audit team in the spring to discuss a tax assessment regarding the classification of owner-operators at FedEx Ground.

On Dec. 20, the IRS tentatively concluded that FedEx Ground’s pick-up-and-delivery owner-operators should be reclassified as employees for federal employment tax purposes. The IRS indicated that it anticipates assessing tax and penalties of USD 319 million plus interest for 2002. Similar issues are under audit by the IRS for calendar years 2004 through 2006.

FedEx said Dec. 21 that it would vigorously defend its position that the drivers are independent contractors. On Jan. 3, the carrier said it is preparing an initial response for a meeting with the audit team. The company said it expects final resolution to take a long time.

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Canada Post: Judge OKs class action suit over postal charges

Posted by | Jan 5, 2008 | |

Canada Post could be required to return tens of millions of dollars in shipping charges to thousands of businesses as a result of a recent Ontario court ruling.

Superior Court Justice Joan Lax certified a class-action proceeding initiated by Ottawa-based Lee Valley Tools Ltd., which has been embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Crown corporation about its charges for shipping parcels to customers.

The ruling noted there are more than 57,000 commercial clients that could have a claim against Canada Post, if its billing practices for parcels are found to violate the federal Weights and Measures Act.

For the past seven years, Canada Post has charged customers to ship parcels based on the greater charge of the actual weight or the “volumetric weight” of an item. This is so that the charges on lightweight yet bulky items cover the cost of transportation.

Since 2003, the Crown corporation has used a device known as a “cubiscan,” which Lee Valley has alleged can overstate the volume of objects, especially irregularly shaped parcels, by as much as 20 per cent.

Commercial clients are required to pre-pay and weigh their products and if Canada Post determines that the total was underestimated, it levies an addition charge. Until January 2007, it did not refund any overpayments to customers.

John Caines, a spokesman for Canada Post, described the class-action certification as a “procedural” ruling. “We deal with all of our customers fairly and in the same way,” Mr. Caines said. “This is the way the industry measures parcels.” He added that Canada Post is the only company now issuing credits for overpayments.

Enforcement of the Weights and Measures Act is the responsibility of Measurement Canada, part of Industry Canada. Alan Johnston, president of Measurement Canada, responded in December 2005 that the relevant section of the Act did not define a “proscribed limit of error” for shipping charges, so it could not be enforced.

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PRC seeks comment on USPS annual compliance report

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

The US Postal Service filed its annual compliance report for the fiscal year 2007 with the Postal Regulatory Commission.

The PRC is seeking feedback on the report in order to determine if it complies with Title 39 of the United States Code. The report includes detailed costs, revenues and volumes for all classes and types of mail. It also provides service measurement and customer satisfaction data. Comments are due by January 30, while reply comments are due on February 13.

For interested parties, the PRC will be holding two informal technical conferences on January 11 and January 23 at its hearing room in Washington. USPS analysts will be on hand to answer questions about the report, as well as concerns about the periodicals cost model.

This is the first compliance report that the USPS has filed since the passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 by Congress. However, because fiscal year 2007 was a transition period, postal rates and fees during this year were governed by provisions of the former Postal Reorganization Act, rather than the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

In the report, the USPS noted that it plans to file its comprehensive statement for fiscal year 2007 with the PRC in early or mid-January.

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