Tag: North America

Canada Post due for big changes: C.D. Howe Institute Study

Posted by | Feb 12, 2007 | |

As change sweeps the postal sector, major reforms are due at Canada Post, according to a C.D. Howe Institute study released today. In Rerouting the Mail: Why Canada Post is Due for Reform, authors Edward M. Iacobucci and Michael J. Trebilcock, Professors in the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and Tracey D. Epps, Lecturer in Law, University of Otago, recommend that Canada Post, the government-owned monopoly, should ultimately be privatized, with an eye to improving postal performance.

The authors say Canada’s current postal system is anachronistic and incapable of responding to new challenges, such as the ubiquity of Internet communication, advances in retail services and logistics, and increasing competition from domestic and foreign competitors in numerous market segments.

The authors recommend a measured transition for Canada Post, with the federal government introducing competitive deregulation on a gradual basis to allow Canada Post and its workforce to make the required transition. Ottawa should also establish a regulator to oversee the system, a complaints bureau for citizens and consider subsidies, if required, to maintain universal postal service. Without reform, the postal service risks costly decline.

Many countries have undertaken postal sector reform with success, they note. In numerous European Union countries, there have been major improvements in on-time or next-day delivery and other measures of service quality. And in New Zealand, where economic liberalization has been most sweeping, the proportion of letters delivered next day increased from 88 percent in 1988 to 97 percent currently.

In the authors’ view, privatizing Canada Post would improve governance of the business, and introducing competition would provide a form of economic discipline that does not at present exist.

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USPS to introduce shape-based pricing

Posted by | Feb 12, 2007 | |

As part of its proposed May 2007 rate change, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will introduce Shape-Based Pricing, one of the most dramatic postage structure changes in years. The initiative is being implemented as a way for the USPS to better align postage rates with its mail processing costs, and its implications for mailers are expected to be two-fold. First, there will be a significant increase in postage costs for various types of mail pieces – in some cases 30% to 90%; and secondly, it could significantly change how a company processes its mail. In addition to the Shape-based Pricing initiative, traditional first class postage is expected to increase nearly 8 1/2% – to USD 0.42 up from USD 0.39.

When Shape-Based Pricing goes into effect, there is the potential for organizations unprepared for the new processing requirements to experience frustration and increased costs as they become accustomed to the numerous changes being introduced.

Currently, the USPS primarily uses a weight-based method to determine postage costs for letters, flats and parcels. With mail processing costs rising, and with the need to encourage customers to prepare mail in ways that increase efficiency for USPS processing methods, the Shape-Based Pricing initiative moves from a pure weight determination factor for postage costs to one that combines size, thickness and weight. Because of their shape differences, letters, flats and parcels will now all be priced differently, since each is handled and processed differently. Simply put, an item that is easier for the USPS to process will cost less than an item that is not.

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San Francisco and Los Angeles International Service Centers to be awarded

Posted by | Feb 12, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service’s San Francisco and Los Angeles International Service Centers (ISC) are being recognized for achieving the highest international standards of excellence in mail processing.

Each center will receive a Certificate of Excellence from the International Post Corporation (IPC), a cooperative association of 23 national postal administrations and operators from North America, Europe and the Pacific. The Certificate of Excellence is awarded only to international mail facilities that demonstrate top levels of quality, efficiency and teamwork while meeting customer needs.

Achieving certification is a year-long process including on-site reviews by the IPC to verify compliance with more than 140 items. Certification is awarded for a three-year period, with continual IPC validation that performance levels are maintained.

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First Canadian appointed to lead UPS Canada

Posted by | Feb 7, 2007 | |

UPS has announced the appointment of Mike Tierney as president of UPS Canada. As the first Canadian to be appointed to the position, Tierney will draw on his experience and knowledge of global commerce to drive performance and growth in the country.

Prior to his new position, Tierney led operations in a US district covering Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee. He previously worked his way up through various management positions within UPS Canada.

Tierney replaces Glenn Rice, who has taken responsibility for UPS package operations in eight US states encompassing New York, New Jersey and New England, with over 44,000 employees.

Referring to his strategy for UPS Canada, Tieney said he aimed to help Canadian businesses to reach new markets and succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy. “Companies need to take advantage of the growing opportunities available through global trade,” he said. “By the year 2015, some 30% of global GDP is expected to be cross-border international trade. Yet a recent report from Industry Canada indicates only 1.4% of small businesses are currently targeting cross-border markets for growth.”

UPS Canada, with more than 8,000 employees, a fleet of 2,500 delivery vehicles and more than 1,000 service points, serves every address in the country and delivers Canadian packages to over 200 countries and territories.

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USPS awards multi year contract to Innovations Group

Posted by | Feb 6, 2007 | |

Innovations Group Inc. (IGI) today announced that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has awarded the company a contract to provide Mailing Systems to thousands of Contact Postal Units nationwide. The system will provide operators a Point of Sale functionality to sell postal products and services to consumers.
The contract includes application software development, system integration, human factors engineering, software certification, program management, training and documentation, deployment services, help desk services, software maintenance and systems lifecycle support.
Contract postal units (CPUs) allow the Postal Service to reach customers at times when a trip to a Post Office is not possible or convenient. Typical CPU host locations are drug stores and supermarkets, many feature evening, weekend, and holiday hours. The convenience store industry is the fastest growing segment of the CPU program.
IGI has teamed with Hewlett Packard (HP), Escher Group and CODEplus. “The IGI team’s Retail and Postal experience will ensure that the USPS will get the best of class products and services,” said Omar Dajani, president and CEO of IGI. The IGI team’s experience has been proven in both the retail and postal industries worldwide.

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