Tag: North America

USPS to deliver 20 billion pieces of mail

Posted by | Nov 20, 2007 | |

In two short days, the U.S. Postal Service begins to deliver 20 billion pieces of mail across the country and around the world, a task that requires more than 200,000 trucks, a 30 percent increase in air cargo transport, 37,000 Post Offices and 700,000 employees.

All to make sure that holiday cheer arrives on time.

The Postal Service expects to deliver 20 billion pieces of mail between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, with the busiest mailing day set for Monday, Dec. 17. More than 275 million cards and letters should be mailed that day, more than three times the average daily volume of 82 million. Total mail volume (cards, letters, catalogs, packages, magazines) for the busiest day should approach 1 billion, up from an average daily volume of 703 million pieces.

The busiest delivery day will be Wednesday, Dec. 19. Staff at the National Operations Center report for “24-7 duty” on Dec. 1 to help navigate, literally, mail movement around the world.

In addition to the logistics of moving and delivering all this mail, the Postal Service will have extended hours at more than 7,000 Post Offices. Customers will be able to purchase stamps online or at more than 55,000 alternate access points, including banks, grocery stores, drug stores and Automated Postal Centers (APCs).

APCs handle 80 percent of the same transactions customers can conduct in a Post Office and are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for added customer convenience. Packages can be mailed regardless of Post Office hours using these self-service kiosks, located in thousands of Post Office lobbies across the country. APCs are as easy to use as an ATM, but without the fees. Many APCs let customers conduct business in Spanish.

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UPS employees approve National Master contract

Posted by | Nov 20, 2007 | |

UPS employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have voted to approve a new contract negotiated earlier this fall.

The UPS National Master Agreement was approved by 65 pct of the voting employees. The union today also informed the company that there were five local supplemental or rider agreements that did not receive a majority vote.

The Master contract, which covers approximately 240,000 full- and part-time package workers in the United States, was negotiated nearly a year in advance of the current contract’s expiration on July 31, 2008, and will extend contract coverage to July 31, 2013.

“We are gratified to hear that our Teamster-represented employees have approved the new National Master Agreement,” said Mike Eskew, UPS’s chairman and CEO. “Both sides now are committed to addressing any local issues as necessary. This is part of the normal process.”

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DHL ramps up for the 2007 holiday shipping season

Posted by | Nov 20, 2007 | |

DHL is ramping up its facilities and workforce across the country and around the world in anticipation of the high volume of packages moving through its global network during peak season – the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Beginning the week of Thanksgiving, DHL expects U.S. shipment volumes to grow, peaking on Monday, December 17, 2007 – its busiest shipping day of the year – when it expects a 50 percent increase over average daily volume for the first three quarters of 2007. DHL estimates average daily shipment volume in the U.S. during the month of December will be 25 percent higher than average daily volume for the first three quarters of the year.

In time for the holidays, DHL recently introduced the industry’s first prepaid, all-inclusive flat-rate box, designed to minimize time, paperwork and expense for customers shipping in the U.S. The new ShipReady(TM) box provides 2nd day delivery service, without any weight restrictions, for one inclusive fee to and from all points within the 48 contiguous states.

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One year old and here to stay – The PERMANENT Stamp

Posted by | Nov 20, 2007 | |

A year ago, Canada Post introduced the PERMANENT™ stamp, a domestic-rate stamp which is always worth the going rate, regardless of when it is purchased.

The PERMANENT stamp has been a big hit by Canadians. Since its introduction, Canada Post has sold some 764 million individual stamps. In fact, in the first three months, the PERMANENT stamp achieved all-time record sales. Things evened out throughout the year, but sales still surpassed the previous year’s “total” by more than 85 million stamps. Ms. Elise Beaudette, controller at Mercedes Benz Laval, a major user of PERMANENT stamps, says she loves the new product. “For us, the permanent stamp is a fantastic tool. Not only is it always worth the going rate, but it also avoids us having to purchase 1-cent stamps when there is a rate increase. We really appreciate this Canada Post initiative as it allows us to save time and money.”

“The PERMANENT stamp was created to simplify those transactions and take away the worry of having to affix extra postage.” In fact, in 2007 Canada Post only printed 20 per cent of the previous year’s print run of the penny-stamp. This decrease has reduced inventory operations at Canada Post. It also eliminated the need for consumers to stand in line to purchase penny stamps, said Robert Waite, senior vice-president, Stakeholder Relations and Brand.

The recently issued stamps for Christmas included two PERMANENT stamps and, due to its unprecedented success, two additional PERMANENT stamps will be issued in 2008: the Celebration stamp and the Christmas stamp. The United States Postal Service followed Canada Post’s lead in issuing their “Forever” stamp on April 12th of this year.

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Microcom, IBM to automate license-plate renewals in Canada

Posted by | Nov 20, 2007 | |

Microcom Corp. and IBM have announced plans to let drivers renew their license-plate registrations at self-service kiosks throughout the province of Ontario, Canada.

James Larson, president and chief executive of Microcom, says the project will put drivers in the fast lane.

“The kiosks streamline the renewal process and help drivers avoid the agony of standing in long, slow-moving lines,” he said.

IBM sought Microcom’s help to engineer a solution that helps them automatically validate and issue serial-numbered registration stickers at ServiceOntario kiosks. The machines, deployed in about 70 locations throughout the province, are touted for being part of the largest self-service kiosk network of its kind in North America.

Microcom designed and manufactured a media printer/dispenser equipped with a laser barcode scanner for the terminals. Once a customer enters required information, the barcode-reader authenticates a registration sticker and dispenses it to the user.

The Ministry of Transportation is looking to leverage self-service technology in response to growth.

“They simply are looking to find smart and efficient ways to help tackle the increase in customer volume, while at the same time decrease costs,” Larson said.

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