Tag: North America

Postal Service CTO to retire

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

Robert Otto, the U.S. Postal Service’s chief technology officer and a vice president, will retire Oct. 1.

Otto sent a memo July 12 to all USPS information technology employees that announced his plans to step down.

Otto is responsible for information technology support to 325,000 USPS employees in addition to hundreds of national applications critical to daily operations, including the payroll for more than 700,000 USPS employees and millions of payments to contractors. He is also responsible for the world’s largest intranet, which connects 38,000 post offices through out the country.

Since January 2003, Otto has held the position of CTO while maintaining the responsibilities of chief information officer, a position he has held since 2001. He began his career with USPS in 1980 as the person in charge of nationwide computer security.

Neither a permanent nor acting replacement has been appointed, said a USPS spokeswoman. It has also not been decided whether one or two people will be hired to cover Otto’s myriad responsibilities related to the CTO and CIO positions, she added.

Otto has won numerous awards for his IT management, including two Vice President’s Awards, an Inspector General’s Award and a Board of Governors Award.

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UPS has moved way beyond boxes

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

UPS ranks among the top freight haulers at Miami International Airport, the busiest international cargo airport in the country.

The company’s sprawling warehouse in Miami also stores goods from China to be shipped out as needed to Central America and beyond.

Over the past decade, UPS has been on a buying binge to expand “end-to-end” services to clients in Latin America.

It bought Miami-based carrier Challenge Air Cargo, acquiring key flight routes to the region. It bought a customs brokerage to help ease the flow of goods across borders. Plus, it bought an information technology parts and service business that sends technicians to fix computers and critical equipment at banks and other businesses in Latin America, drawing on parts that UPS ships and stores.

UPS now employs more than 5,000 people in its Latin American regional operations, including hundreds in Miami.

One fast-growing business segment is running warehouses and distribution for clients, using its high-tech systems.

Services now run the gamut from dispatching some 400 field engineers to fixing computers to financing its customers.

Through UPS Capital, the company helps clients with billing and collections. It even offers loans for companies to expand and trade more through UPS.

Analysts say UPS distinguishes itself from fellow delivery giants FedEx and DHL by its attention to detail and well-engineered processes: Driver manuals provide routes with fewer left-hand turns to save time at intersections. It is the only one to offer financing. And it is by far the most profitable, said analyst Jindel.

For the future, opportunities still abound. UPS aims to expand business within countries overseas, such as trucking between Chinese cities.

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Logistics providers increase focus on Mexico

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

Logistics providers are expanding their services in Mexico, possibly anticipating a renewed interest in sourcing products from Mexico. Or it might just be that the existing process for getting products across the border from Mexico to the U.S. is so difficult, shippers need more 3PL-type services in the regions.

At the same time, some supply chain experts are hinting that in the wake of the China sourcing scares and increasing logistics costs, Mexican suppliers may be seeing more business in the near future.

In either case, logistics providers are making clear efforts to step up their offerings around the U.S.-Mexico border. In July DHL introduced a new cross-border service based out of Harlingen, Texas, capable of handling triple the volume of its previous offering as well as heavier palletized freight and non-conveyable material to meet the growing logistics needs in the Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico regions.

Con-way Freight in mid-July acquired truckload carrier CFI, saying “combining CFI’s network, experience and expertise with Con-way Freight’s Mexico network and Menlo’s in-country and border-based logistics operations significantly improves the combined company’s presence and capabilities in Mexico.”

On Monday, Averitt Express opened a new supply chain solutions facility in Pharr/McAllen, Texas only four miles from the U.S./Mexico border. Because the new facility is so close to the border, Averitt can begin processing their customers’ freight and transloading goods for nationwide distribution faster than ever before.

Most recently, FedEx has expanded its FedEx Transborder Distribution service for cross-border trade between Mexico and the U.S. by opening new facilities in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas to help facilitate the flow of goods.

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FedEx Ground Continues Its Contractor Battle

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

FedEx has lost another round in court in the latest chapter of a long-running dispute that is being closely watched for its potential influence on how companies outsource jobs to independent contractors.

FedEx Ground, a division of FedEx Corp., lost an appeal in California in August over whether a group of former route drivers whom the company considered independent contractors should actually have been treated as employees. FedEx Ground saves millions of dollars in costs, including payroll taxes and employee expenses, by categorizing some 15,000 drivers around the country as independent contractors.

But a three-judge California Court of Appeal panel held last month that the drivers who sued, despite owning their own trucks, were controlled by the company in much the same way as employees would be, and as a result they should have been compensated like employees.

Although the decision applies to just 200 drivers who worked for FedEx Ground in California, attorney Lynn Faris, who represented the drivers, said the decision sends a strong message to corporate America. FedEx can still appeal to the California Supreme Court, but Faris said the fact that a lower court and an appeals court have now ruled against FedEx should be a warning to other companies using or contemplating similar independent contractor arrangements.

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FedEx Expands Cross-Border Solutions to Facilitate Trade along Mexico-U.S. Border

Posted by | Aug 22, 2007 | |

FedEx Corporation announced today the expansion of the FedEx Transborder Distribution service for cross-border trade between Mexico and the U.S.

The enhanced solution provides importers and exporters with a portfolio of FedEx services designed to simplify cross-border trade and help their businesses flourish.

This expansion includes the recent opening of two border facilities ” one in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the other in El Paso, Texas ” to help facilitate the flow of goods.

With this expanded cross-border solution, FedEx looks to simplify the supply chain process by managing the transportation, brokerage and distribution of shipments that cross the Mexico-U.S. border on a regular basis, said Ed Clark, chief executive officer and president of FedEx Trade Networks. The vision is to create a single point of contact to facilitate the efficiency of the entire process.

This expanded solution will also help FedEx work hand-in-hand with maquilas and companies utilizing maquilas (or other duty-deferral programs) as part of their supply chain, so they can benefit from a simplified shipping and customs clearance process managed entirely by FedEx.

The FedEx companies have significant expertise with maquila operations and the procedures to remain in compliance with Customs regulations in the U.S. and Mexico.

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