Country sheet: Spain – Main developments in the postal sector (2006-2008)
Country sheet: Spain – Main developments in the postal sector (2006-2008)
Read MoreTag: Spain
Correos – flexible working is raising quality (SPA)
Correos, the Spanish postal operator says that flexible working has seen an improvement of 7.85 points on its quality of service for delivery times from the end of 2006, the date at which it began to apply its new revenue model. Based on stable employment and quality, the postal operator delivered 64 pct of ordinary mail by the following day compared to 56 pct in 2006.
Flexibility including a mix of permanent and semi-permanent staff which allows staff to transfer to other departments or take time out, has enabled Correos to raise staff levels during busy periods. Over the summer, Correos employed 1,700 staff on a fixed-discontinuous basis to help on foot and motorcycle deliveries and as a result made Correos far more efficient. Correos is one of the biggest employers in Spain with more than 63,000 employees
Correos favours a decentralized, agile and more dynamic management of human resources and says it can pay off for staff too who join on this basis, enabling the postal operator to evaluate new recruits as well as new employees getting a feel for the job. According to Correos, those entering the service in a fixed-discontinuous role, then have opportunities to move to a permanent contract or transfer. Around half of those starting at Correos do just that and the arrangement allows Correos to make the best use of it’s workforce.
Read MoreFedEx Express to deliver broadest next-business-day service from Europe to the Eastern United States
FedEx Express has upgraded its next-business-day delivery service FedEx International Priority from Europe to major U.S. East Coast cities. Customers who had two-business-day service can now reach more than 3,500 zip codes in key markets along the U.S. East Coast overnight. Customers already enjoying next-business-day delivery service to this region benefit from later pick-up times of up to six hours.
To support the service upgrade, FedEx will launch a new westbound trans-Atlantic flight and fly a wide-body MD-11 freighter daily, Tuesday through Friday, between Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport and Newark, N.J. The Europe-to-U.S. flight segment comprises part of the FedEx westbound ‘around-the-world’ flight, which enables FedEx to provide customers with access to key markets around the world with highly competitive transit times. The company will also introduce two new Airbus A310 flights, including flights originating from Barcelona and Budapest-Vienna, to offer customers in these areas later pick-up times for enhanced next-business-day service to the U.S.
Read MoreCorreos invests 6.4m Euros in fleet vehicles
Correos is investing 6.4m Euros in its postal delivery fleet by buying French vehicles.
Correos said that 3.57m Euros will go towards the purchase of 325 Renault Kangoo models, replacing around 20pct of its current light delivery vehicles. In addition a further 160 Citroen Jumpy vehicles are also being purchased. The new vehicles have smaller fuel consumption and produce fewer emissions.
The Citroen Jumpy will be introduced in two versions to suit the needs of transporting personnel and mail delivery.
Correos currently has around 13,500 vehicles and the replacements will form part of a long-term plan to upgrade the entire fleet. The new models will improve reliability and reduce maintenance costs as well as increasing lifting capacity by more than 90,000 kilos. The move has been promoted by a need to optimise and reinforce the quality and accessibility of the Spanish postal service.
Read MoreSpanish Postal Service to invest EUR 11 million in PDAs
Correos is planning to invest EUR 11 million in PDAs for delivery workers in Spain this year. It now plans to buy a further 7,000 in line with technical improvements to Spain’s postal network (with a budget of EUR 8.9 million).
Correos said it would enable mail workers across Spain’s rural and urban areas to provide a modern and up-to-date service and improve the quality of mail delivery including registered mail.
PDAs are similar to hand-held digital scanners but provide unique facilities such as digital signatures, which means the sender can know that an item has been delivered, and when. The addition of communication between postal workers and delivery offices will also improve the quality of Spanish postal services.
Royal Mail in the UK is also rolling out the use of PDA units to its entire delivery network as part of its modernisation plans. Similar equipment has already been installed in many Royal Mail vehicles.
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