Tag: North America

Mexican express market hit by weaker demand

Posted by | Jun 27, 2008 | |

The Mexican express market is starting to experience the impact of falling US demand and rising prices driven by higher fuel surcharges, according to a recent newspaper report. DHL is meanwhile pledging further investment in Argentina.

In Mexico, which has strong trade links with the USA, air cargo volumes dropped by 12.9 pct in the first quarter of 2008, the Reforma newspaper reported. Mexican airlines saw a 33.8 pct fall in their domestic volumes, although their international shipments rose by 18.4 pct, it said, citing figures from the Mexican civil aviation authority.

International airlines, including FedEx and UPS, suffered a combined 15.4 pct declines in volumes, it added. FedEx suffered a 73 pct decline in Mexico volumes while UPS had a 9.1 pct drop, according to official figures.

Customers started to switch business away from air transport rather than pay higher prices resulting from the rapid increase in fuel surcharges, the newspaper said. It cited UPS manager Miguel Trejo as saying that the situation was “stable” until now. But he added: “There are certain reductions in the growth expectations, however, and we are staying alert to market behaviour.”

In Argentina, in contrast, DHL Express has announced that it is maintaining its leadership of the international express market, with market shares of about 50 pct for express exports and 30 pct for imports.

Roger Crook, CEO DHL Express, International Americas, said on a recent visit to Buenos Aires that DHL would continue to invest in the market to offer customers the best possible service and a wide range of products. DHL Argentina has six operational centres linking the major cities, and operates with 90 vehicles, which it described as 30 pct more than the combined vehicle fleets of other international express operators.

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DHL begins ABX cutbacks

Posted by | Jun 27, 2008 | |

DHL notified ABX Air this week it will cut its use of the carrier’s DC-9 freighters by 23 aircraft starting next week, starting the DHL restructuring in the United States that will move the express operator’s volume over to UPS.

The cutback will reduce ABX revenue by approximately USD 3 million, the airline said. It is not yet known how many employees will be affected.

On May 27, DHL informed ABX Air that, starting in the third quarter, it intends, as a part of phase one of its cost-reduction programs, to remove from service over the next 12 to 18 months, 39 of 55 DC-9 aircraft that ABX Air has dedicated to DHL’s U.S. network.

“This reduction is in line with what we have planned for, and we are taking the steps necessary to accommodate these changes,” said Joe Hete, president and CEO of parent company Air Transport Services Group. Hete emphasized that his company will continue to perform under the current ACMI agreement and to pursue efforts to present DHL with a flexible plan to maintain a dedicated, efficient, and customized air network in the United States. The ACMI agreement with DHL includes a put provision that gives ABX Air the option to retain or to sell back to DHL the aircraft removed from the DHL network.

ABX has lately been aggressively expanding business with other customers. That effort will also continue, said Hete.

ABX Air has been DHL’s principal business partner in the United States since August 2003, when it became an independent publicly held company as its former parent, Airborne Express, was acquired by DHL.

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Canada Post Responds to Cost Pressures with 2009 Pricing Strategy

Posted by | Jun 26, 2008 | |

In response to rising cost pressures, Canada Post is proposing an amendment to the Letter Mail Regulations to establish the rates of postage for domestic Lettermail for the next three years. The domestic Lettermail rate would increase from 52 to 54 cents in January 2009. The rate would rise by two cents per year in the following two years. Even after these rate increases, Canada will continue to enjoy the 3rd lowest rate of postage in the developed world.

Under the current Letter Mail Regulations, increases in the domestic basic letter rate have been restricted by a price-cap formula that limits increases to two-thirds the rate of inflation as reflected by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI has increased 14.5 per cent since 2002, while the price of a basic stamp has gone up only 8.3 per cent or 4 cents. This does not adequately reflect Canada Post’s costs in operating the postal service – in particular rising costs for labour, fuel and transportation.
Other rate adjustments for regulated products announced in the Canada Gazette include a 2-cent increase to 98 cents for letters, cards and postcards up to 30g destined for the USA; and a 5-cent increase to CAD 1.65 for letters, cards and postcards up to 30g to foreign destinations.

Price adjustments will also be applied to non-regulated products. Publications Mail rates will increase by an overall weighted average of 3.1 CAD along with the introduction of a distance-based Letter Carrier Pre-sort price structure. Canada Post will also introduce a new formula to calculate the existing Parcel Fuel Surcharge.

1 CAD = 0.991926 USD

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New Palletways Hub

Posted by | Jun 26, 2008 | |

Palletways has opened a new 50,000ft2 Scottish hub in Livinston, West Lothian. The Lord Provost, Tom Kerr, Palletways member companies and customers celebrated the opening at a specially organised launch.

The new hub in Livingston replaces a smaller site in Broxburn and provides customers with Scottish, UK-wide and pan-European express delivery services for small consignments of palletised freight. The size of the old site was restricting growth, and new premises were required to take the Palletways operation in Scotland to the next level. The new site is 50 pct larger with a total area of 50,000 sq ft.

Recently appointed Depot Manager, Jon Fullarton, comments: “The location is ideal as it lies to the south of both the M8 Motorway, the major route from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and the M9 that runs up to Stirling and beyond.

All goods bound within Scotland will be delivered via the new Livingston hub, whilst nationwide and pan-European orders will also be fulfilled via a hub facility in Lichfield, West Midlands.

A key feature of the new location is that the hub will be complemented by Palletways’ unique palletised consignment stockholding solution, giving quick and easy access to customers’ stored goods on site in Livingston to the Palletways national and international networks.

Customers who use Palletways in Scotland include Simpson Strong-Tie, a major timber-to-timber and timber-to-masonry connector company that supplies builders merchants and DIY outlets, Mizuno Golf, manufacturer of high quality golf clubs, bags, clothing and accessories and Wallace Cameron, who supply first aid products and services to a number of retailers such as Boots, Marks & Spencer and Halfords.

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FedEx Trade Networks Opens New West Coast Gateways to Support Ocean-Ground Distribution Service

Posted by | Jun 25, 2008 | |

FedEx Trade Networks has opened two new gateways to support the FedEx Trade Networks Ocean-Ground Distribution service. The new West Coast gateways are located in Seattle, Wash., and Oakland, Calif., and will offer customers flexible options when shipping goods from Asia to multiple destinations in the U.S. The gateways will service the Seattle/Tacoma and Oakland/San Francisco ports.
FedEx Trade Networks Ocean-Ground Distribution is an alternative shipping method enabling customers to move cargo from Asia to multiple U.S. destinations in one seamless process. The innovative service combines FedEx Trade Networks ocean freight forwarding and customs brokerage services with the U.S. transportation and delivery services of FedEx Freight, FedEx National LTL, FedEx Ground, or FedEx Express. By managing the logistics, FedEx Trade Networks helps customers eliminate hand-offs and unnecessary steps to reduce cycle times and warehouse handling costs. FedEx Trade Networks Ocean-Ground Distribution customers benefit from the simplicity of working with one FedEx point of contact.
Seattle/Tacoma and Oakland/San Francisco will complement the existing Los Angeles and Chicago gateways and offer customers more options when importing from Asia, with three West Coast gateways.
FedEx Trade Networks operates offices and distribution centers in both the Seattle/Tacoma and Oakland /San Francisco locations with the capabilities to facilitate additional Ocean-Ground Distribution business.

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