Tag: North America

Tiny gadget delivers a letter’s route (U.S)

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

The U.S. Postal Service commissioned Burlingame-based TrackingTheWorld to create the world’s first letter-tracking GPS device that will ensure letters never again are lost in the postal Bermuda Triangle. Dubbed the Letter Logger, the device stores GPS coordinates throughout its journey and stores information on its micro-SD flash memory card so the post office can keep tabs on the letter’s location.

The Letter Logger weighs just two ounces and is 3.9-by-1.5 inches. It is placed inside a regular No. 10 envelope and can operate for two weeks. The recipient of the chip can then upload the GPS data onto their computer and see the envelope’s route on Google Earth.

The gadget was released in February, when it was named gadget of the month by Popular Science magazine. The product is only a quarter-inch thick and costs USD 6.75 apiece.

The USPS does employ a variety of tracking devices to its letters and packages and uses GPS to track vehicles, but it does not have a GPS system to track individual letters, spokesman James Wigdel said.

In addition to avoiding lost mail, the device will help the postal service, and delivery companies such as UPS and DHL, minimize the amount of time a letter is being sent, Daggett said.

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Battle of the Brands: UPS vs. FedEx

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

The largest player in the U.S. overnight package delivery business is attempting to increase its market share in the fast-delivery business next month. USPS is barely holding on to its 32 pct market share in the business, as FedEx and UPS continue to push the envelope at 31pct and 25pct market share, respectively. For the first time, shippers using Express Mail, Priority Mail, and several other parcel services will be able to get lower rates for large- and medium-volume contracts, according to the agency. Will UPS and FedEx need to cut their prices further to compete with the USPS?
Large Rate Increases For 2008
This year, FedEx and UPS announced that rates for ground packages would increase an average of 4.9pct on the ground and 6.9pct in the air (minus a 2pct cut in fuel surcharges, creating a 4.9pct increase in the air as well). So what does this mean for you? The key term we need to acknowledge is averages. Rates for certain packages will increase more than 4.9pct, while other shipments will increase less than 4.9pct , all depending on the characteristics of the package, the distance traveling as well as the service you use (ground or air).
Fuel Surcharges
If you’ve studied the fine print of the pricing that both FedEx and UPS use, the key is in the fuel surcharges. Don’t let the 2pct cut in air fuel surcharges trick you into thinking you’re saving, because you’re not. In a nutshell, carriers tack on a 0.5pct surcharge for every four cents of an increase in jet fuel prices — starting at the base price of $1.14 a gallon. With jet fuel prices up nearly 70pct since April of last year, you’re going to be paying more to for air delivery regardless of which company you use. For every eight cent increase in standard fuel prices, there is a 0.25pct jump in the fuel surcharge — starting at the base price of USD 1.50 a gallon. The price of gas has jumped nearly 50 cents over the past year, so going ground will also hurt your wallet.
The data clearly shows a significant increase from last year’s rates. But what really grinds my gears is that both FedEx and UPS have exactly the same rates for four out of six delivery services. So where can you find a cheaper overnight service?
A Possible Alternative
The fourth-largest overnight service is DHL, owned by Deutsche Post World Net AG, and holds a 9pct market share in the United States. In the same 2008 study, DHL’s prices to Huntington Beach were slightly cheaper than UPS and FedEx. Earlier this year, however, there were reports that DHL might leave the US shipping market due to considerable losses since 2004. One industry expert believes the U.S. shipping industry needs DHL to stay; fearing competitor prices would rise with DHL out of the picture.
The Bottom Line
With pricing so similar, choosing a delivery service really depends on who you can trust getting your product where it needs to be on time.

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DHL wins exclusive U.S. and international express shipping contract with Lord and Taylor

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

DHL announced that it has been chosen as the exclusive U.S. and international express shipping provider for Lord and Taylor, one of the nation’s leading department stores. Lord and Taylor chose DHL in order to improve distribution for its retail store network throughout the U.S., enhance merchandising capabilities for its new Internet presence, and support its on-going brand campaign that spotlights the company’s reputation for quality, customer care and style.

DHL will handle all U.S. and international package shipments for Lord and Taylor, including shipments to and from Lord and Taylor’s distribution center in Pennsylvania and 47 retail stores in nine states throughout the U.S. Through the new agreement, Lord and Taylor can also offer store customers the added convenience of delivery of in-store items purchased at any Lord and Taylor store. DHL will deliver these items upon request by customers to a business or residence.

Last fall, Lord and Taylor launched its new Internet storefront as part of an ongoing brand campaign, featuring the company’s high-quality merchandise, apparel and accessories. DHL integrated its shipping systems with Lord and Taylor’s consumer ordering processes, providing a seamless order management system for Internet orders. With the DHL shipping systems, consumer purchases at lordandtaylor.com automatically generate inventory order requests to a nearby Lord and Taylor retail store, fulfillment house or its distribution center. DHL provides pickup service from any one of these sites, with consumer orders delivered by as early as the next morning, depending on the service requested.

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Royal Mail to Explain Why Quality of Service Dropped

Posted by | May 2, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has been requested by Postcomm to demonstrate that industrial action last year, which saw mail pile up in delivery and sorting offices, was wholly the result of transformation plans, and that the industrial action only had caused a drop in quality of service. Royal Mail will present its case at an open meeting on May 14th.

Major stakeholders in the postal market have been invited to this event and given the opportunity to ask any questions they have about Royal Mail’s application; this will help ensure Postcomm has appropriately considered the views of all interested parties before it makes its decision.

In June 2007, Postcomm agreed Royal Mail’s request to suspend – until the end of the financial year – the payment of compensation to bulk mail customers, and to earn revenue that it would not otherwise be permitted to do (due to the ‘C factor’), where industrial action has taken place and quality of service figures have dropped.

Postcomm agreed to the request because it wished to ensure that Royal Mail was not discouraged from taking the steps needed to modernise its business – such modernisation would be to the benefit of all mail users.

Postcomm decided that prior to making any decision it would convene an open meeting at which Royal Mail would present the main points in its application. For it to be satisfied, Postcomm expects

Royal Mail has recently asked Postcomm to suspend the Bulk Mail Compensation Scheme and adjust the value of the C factor in the event of industrial action related to transformation activities in 2008/09.

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Mailers lax on Intelligent Mail barcode compliance

Posted by | May 2, 2008 | |

Despite efforts by the US Postal Service as well as some direct mail service companies such as Pitney Bowes, news about the Intelligent Mail barcode (IMB) may not be reaching the majority of mailers.

The IMB, developed by the USPS to encode routing and tracking information on mail, will eventually replace Postnet barcodes, which only contain the routing code. Postnet barcodes will be accepted on automation letters and flats until May of 2010, a full year after the standards relating to IMB go into effect; however, the barcode is going to require invest­ment and data cleansing that not every mailer is prepared for.

In addition, Pitney Bowes also launched a resource area on its postal information site, www.pbpostalinfo.com. Pitney Bowes — which refers to the barcode as among the “most significant postal changes in decades” on its site — has also hosted a series of webinars on the topic.

In preparation for the pending implemen­tation of the barcode, Lockard has been encouraging her customers to clean up their data. If data are not clean by the time the Intelligent Mail barcode is fully imple­mented, then there will be a real financial impact on businesses if their mail no longer qualifies for automation rates, she said.

In the short term, the Intelligent Mail barcode will be an expense, but in the long run, it will save mailers money and eliminate a lot of the waste that is going on with undeliverable mail. However, despite the barcode’s benefits, Lockard anticipated that “most people are going to wait until they absolutely have to do it.”

Only about one in 10 MCS customers understand the possibilities that the Intel­ligent Mail barcode can offer them, said Glenn Toole, VP of sales and marketing for MCS Inc., a manufacturer and seller of inkjet printer and other prepress hardware and software products. “It hasn’t been on the radar screen,” he said.

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