Tag: North America

UPS wants credit card company CFO on board

Posted by | Feb 14, 2007 | |

United Parcel Service Inc.’s board has nominated American Express Co. Chief Financial Officer Gary L. Crittenden to serve as a director, as UPS’ most senior board member prepares to retire.
Crittenden will stand for election at the UPS annual shareholders meeting on May 10.
Crittenden became American Express CFO in June 2000. Prior, he was the CFO of Monsanto Co. and Sears Roebuck Co. He began his career in consulting with Bain & Co., where he worked on a range of strategic projects in the United States and Germany. He currently serves on Staples Inc.’s board of directors.
Atlanta-based UPS also reported long-time independent director Gary MacDougal will not stand for re-election due to the company’s age guidelines for board members. MacDougal joined the UPS board in 1973 and is now the senior member of the board.
MacDougal served as the chairman and CEO of Mark Controls from 1969 to 1987. Prior, he was a partner at McKinsey & Co., an international management consulting firm. In 1989, MacDougal was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as a delegate and alternate representative in the U.S. delegation to the United Nations.

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US lawmaker to introduce ‘anti-junk mail’ bill

Posted by | Feb 14, 2007 | |

US lawmakers will consider a bill aimed at putting an end to unwanted junk mail.

Representative Sara Gagliardi is expected to introduce a bill that would create a “no junk mail list.”

She talked about her proposal Sunday afternoon on the steps of the Capitol. Under the measure, consumers could opt out of receiving junk mail.

If companies send mail to a person on the list, they would be fined.

Supporters say a junk mail ban would cut down on identity theft, possible fraud and help the environment.

“Junk mail makes it easy for criminals to steal our identity, money and our most private information,” said Gagliardi (D)-Arvada. “Most of all, junk mail is annoying.”

Others are worried about the economic impact.

“We have thousands of organizations in Colorado that effectively use the mail to advertise to their constituents, to their customers to promote and make their business viable,” said Al DeSarro, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.

DeSarro says 50 percent of the mail they handle is direct marketing mail. If that is cut in half, the 11,000 postal employees in Colorado would be affected.

“This would be a devastating bill for the Postal Service,” said DeSarro.

If the measure passes, companies that violate the “no junk mail list” would face a USD500 fine per offense – similar to the penalty for those who violate the “no call list.”

Colorado is one of six states considering similar anti-junk mail proposals.

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USPS launches intelligent mail

Posted by | Feb 14, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service launched a new, proprietary service that will allow businesses to track mail and speed service to customers. Called “Intelligent Mail,” it’s like having a global positioning system (GPS) for mail, says Postmaster General John Potter, noting that the technology’s centerpiece is a standardized barcode for use on letters and large envelopes as well as each mail container.

Intelligent Mail is being tested by three companies and is expected to be fully operational by 2009. One large mailer improved its “scan rate” (automated reading) to 99%, ensuring 140,000 pieces a day were processed by postal equipment instead of manually.

The agency said the system also provides real-time data to improve service measurement, enabling the Postal Service to pinpoint problems immediately. The USPS won a 2004 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award for its barcode-scanning Confirm Service, a mail-tracking program that has allowed many printers offering fulfillment to quantify proof of mailing. www.usps.com, www.gain.net

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Take Canada Post private

Posted by | Feb 13, 2007 | |

The federal government should end Canada Post’s monopoly on the postal market and follow the leads of Germany and the Netherlands in introducing competition to the sector, says the C.D. Howe Institute.
“We believe the case for demonopolizing the Canadian postal sector and moving to some substantial degree of private ownership is compelling and consistent with developments in jurisdictions beyond Canada,” the think-tank said yesterday in a report. “Failure to rethink the role and mandate of Canada Post, given the dramatic technological transformation that is occurring in the communications sector, would be to acquiesce in a slow-motion train wreck.”
Canada Post has a monopoly over the domestic letter mail market, and is obligated to provide service at uniform rates across the country. For the 2005 fiscal year — the last for which numbers are available — the Crown corporation posted profit of $199-million on revenue of $6.9-billion. Canada Post has earned a profit in each of the past 11 years.
Despite this streak, the C.D. Howe study said the Crown corporation faces major structural challenges. Mail volumes are decreasing even though the number of addresses continues to grow, by roughly 250,000 a year. This is due in large part to business and residential customers favouring electronic forms of communication.
Moreover, Canada Post faces increased competition in international shipping and delivery.

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Postal Service seeks Bank of America NSA

Posted by | Feb 13, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service has filed a negotiated service agreement request for Bank of America with the Postal Regulatory Commission, the first NSA request based purely on cost savings rather than requiring a volume threshold for the incentives. NSAs are special service and rate arrangements between the USPS and a mailer or group of mailers. Proponents say NSAs encourage greater volume by rewarding postal customers with discounts and premium services.

“We intend for this NSA to produce cost savings for both the postal service and Bank of America,” said Mike Plunkett, USPS acting vice president for pricing and classification.

The Feb. 7 filing said this NSA aims to provide incentives that will encourage an individual mailer to engage in voluntary changes in mail preparation that will reduce the costs to the postal service of handling the mailer’s mail.

The NSA would encourage Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, to undertake certain activities to reduce the cost to the USPS of processing its First Class and Standard mail, including mail that is entered into the mail stream by or on behalf of a Bank of America subsidiary or affiliate.

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