Tag: North America

Senator urges FedEx to choose Plattsburgh International Airport as new hub

Posted by | Jul 16, 2007 | |

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has urged FedEx to consider Plattsburgh International Airport as a potential hub for processing and shipping trans-border transactions. Schumer stressed that the Plattsburgh Airport, which is already equipped with state of the art facilities, is strategically positioned along the Canadian border and the Greater Montreal area, making it an ideal site to integrate existing overland trucking services with new transborder air service.

In a letter to FedEx, the senator wrote in support of Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute’s application for the donation of a used FedEx Boeing 727-200 Aircraft, arguing that the aircraft is vital to the Institute’s mission to provide students with the technical training necessary to help them succeed in the aviation industry. FedEx has a long history of donating retired cargo planes to airports, educational institutions and local governments so they can be used to train mechanics, cargo operators and other aeronautic professionals.

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For now, Postal Service scraps plans for private carriers in urban areas

Posted by | Jul 14, 2007 | |

For now, Postal Service scraps plans for private carriers in urban areas The U.S. Postal Service has agreed not to assign new urban mail routes, including deliveries to a recently constructed Perth Amboy building, to private companies for at least the next six months.

The agreement reached during ongoing contract negotiations this week is a victory for members of the national letter carriers union, which has opposed the Postal Service’s increased use of part-time, non-union employees to deliver mail.

The contract reached between the Postal Service and the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers not only imposes a six-month moratorium, but also establishes a committee to examine future use of private contractors. The committee is expected to be made up of representatives from both the union and the Postal Service, said George Flood, a Postal Service spokesman.

The Postal Service has long employed private contractors throughout the country to serve rural routes where houses are too spread out to make the employment of a full-time letter carrier cost-effective. But this year, private contracting began to surface in more cities, including in a new building in the Bronx.

Letter carriers opposed the move and argued that putting more deliveries in private hands will lead to security concerns and a less reliable postal system. Private carriers are paid less money than unionized employees, receive no benefits, wear no uniforms and use their own vehicles.

Private contracting had become a major sticking point in the union’s contract negotiations. Letter carriers had been working under a contract that expired in November, and national representatives had said they wanted some guarantee from the Postal Service that jobs would not eventually be contracted out to private companies.

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Canada Post reviewing roadside delivery

Posted by | Jul 13, 2007 | |

Canada Post is conducting a review of the country’s 843,000 roadside mailboxes to determine whether using them to deliver mail to rural areas is safe.

The cross-country review began in Stratford, P.E.I., this week. The review comes after hundreds of concerns were raised about the safety of rural mail drivers. In the past two years, there have been 34 accidents involving rural mail carriers.

Canada Post says it is still committed to rural mail delivery, but it also owes a duty of care to its drivers.

Population growth, leading to increased traffic, is making some areas that were once safe no longer safe, says Canada Post. Sufficient sightlines for a driver to react to a mail carrier pulling back on to the road are also necessary.

Changing a customer’s mode of delivery, says Canada Post, is something considered only as a last resort.

A separate review has already been conducted along a small route in Cornwall, P.E.I., prompted by a complaint from the mail carrier.

The 10 customers on that route will hear next week if delivery to the end of their driveways will continue.

Canada Post says it is still committed to rural mail delivery, but it also owes a duty of care to its drivers.

The full national review is expected to take about 2.5 years.

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Postal Service won't add more private mail carriers

Posted by | Jul 13, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal service has agreed not to hand over any of the country’s new urban mail routes to private companies, at least for the next six months. All plans to contract out new mail deliveries, including a proposal for building in Perth Amboy, have been withdrawn.

The agreement is a victory for members of the national letter carriers’ union, who have been concerned with the postal service’s increased use of part-time, non-union employees to deliver mail. Now, according to a contract tentatively agreed on last night, a committee will be formed to look at the issue of privatization.

In New Jersey, the postal service has also reversed its recent decision to privatize routes in Little Falls, West Paterson and West Orange. And in Perth Amboy, the building that the postal service had planned to assign to a private contractor is now part of a city carrier’s route.

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ACMA In defense of the catalog

Posted by | Jul 13, 2007 | |

Catalog mailing costs are hitting new highs, especially for the business-to-business mailers who lack the criteria necessary for the best discounts.

Panelist C. Hamilton Davison, executive director of the American Catalog Mailers Association, explored how we got here and what we need to do to promote a favorable change.

The United States Postal Service handles 98 billion pieces of First Class Mail a year, accounting for USD 5 billion for last year; 103 billion pieces of Standard Mail accounting for USD 20 billion; .9 billion pieces of priority mail, accounting for USD 5 billion; 9 billion periodicals, accounting for USD 2 billion; 1.2 billion pieces of package services, accounting for USD 2.3 billion; and 2 billion other pieces accounting for 2.5 billion.

Overall the USPS handled 53.2 billion pieces of mail last year, accounting for USD 16.7 billion.

Standard Mail has seen a great increase and mail volume and delivery points are also increasing.

The growth of the US economy and mail volume coincides and mail is not going away, because it helps consumers thrive. It connects consumers to the market.

Most catalogers spend less than 10 percent of their time worrying about postal issues. This is ironic considering the USPS controls access to the consumer.

He talked about how catalogers are good for the USPS and for consumers.

Converting customers, for example, is good for the USPS as well because it results in multiple mail pieces.

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