Tag: TNT

There should be an investigation into the legality of the TNT

Posted by | Mar 12, 2008 | |

UNI’s German affiliate, Ver.di, has called for a proper investigation into the set up of the “ghost” union in TNT Germany, GNBZ. There are real doubts as to the validity of this union which TNT now claims to have a collective agreement with and which is being used in recent court cases as a reason to refuse to pay the minimum wage for postal services as determined by the German Government.

The Public Prosecutors office is now investigating whether this union, which is neither a registered trade union or society, has a proper legal basis. It appears that its expenses are financed by others and not by the “members” and that indeed there is real concern that this union has real members and a democratically elected executive body. Further investigations are now under way.

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TNT opens scheduled road connection to Ukraine

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

TNT Express becomes the first express integrator to open an international road connection to Ukraine to handle growing shipping volumes to and from one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies.

Connecting TNT’s industry leading Express Road Network in Europe and Ukraine’s largest overnight network, the new route will link Ukraine’s major economic centres, such as Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk and Odessa, to Europe and the rest of the world via Kiev and TNT’s road hub in Warsaw, Poland. With this move, more businesses can benefit from TNT’s market-leading Economy Express service. This on demand, day-definite door to door service with full track-and-trace functionality is particularly interesting for exporters and importers who require an economical, secure and sufficiently fast express service for parcel and freight shipments weighing up to 1,000 kg (palletised).

“This extension is part of TNT’s strategy to strengthen our number one position in the international intra-European express market (B2B), where we have a 26 percent market share, and to capture growth from emerging markets, such as Eastern Europe”, says Jan Willem Breen, Marketing & Sales Director of TNT Express.

Ukraine has achieved a 7.4 percent annual economic growth during 2000-06*, fuelled by increased international trade, strong investment growth, and booming private consumption. It is a market of 48 million people with rising incomes and in close proximity to the European Union. The country was invited to join the World Trade Organization on 5th February 2008. The majority of Ukrainian exports are marketed to the European Union and CIS.

*OECD, Economic Assessment of Ukraine, 2007, 4 September 2007

Built up over 35 years, TNT’s Express Road Network (ERN) connects 16 road hubs and 415 depots in 34 European countries. Every week, 750 trucks move about 640,000 documents, parcels and pieces of freight, driving the equivalent of 56 times around the world. The ERN’s main international road hub is located in the Dutch town of Duiven.

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Express couriers launch fresh online services

Posted by | Mar 10, 2008 | |

Several leading global and national express companies operating in Asian markets have begun 2008 by introducing new electronic/online service enhancements for customers. On the international front, that group includes TNT, FedEx and DHL, while at a national level, one recent example of such a development involves Indian operator Elbee Express.
Netherlands-based TNT last month announced its intention to offer secured electronic invoices with digital signature in over 30 countries, including several key Asian markets, by the end of March.

TNT explained that the new service, called Express Invoicing, was due to be made available to customers in most European countries, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, adding that the web-based e-invoicing solution would be free of charge.

TNT said it already offered e-invoices in 37 countries around the world, with another 10 countries preparing to introduce the paperless invoice this year. The company estimated it could eventually eliminate up to one million paper invoices per month.

For customers, claimed TNT, the e-invoicing service reduced paper processing costs and improved the accounts payable management process.

The latest electronic enhancement announced by US-based FedEx, also in February, involves providing users of e-mail application Microsoft Office Outlook with the ability to connect directly to FedEx shipping services.

This year has also seen DHL Express, part of German group Deutsche Post World Net, unveil DHL Ship Now, an online programme offering “a fast and seamless method for sending parcels to any destination inside or outside the country”. DHL said that facility enabled shipments to be booked directly over the internet without a DHL account number.

Meanwhile, Elbee Express claims to have become the first Indian express delivery company to offer customers the facility to access business information relating to their consignments and the ability to generate reports based on that data customised to their own needs.

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Post-Switch Urges Bulk Mailers to Consider Alternatives to Royal Mail

Posted by | Mar 10, 2008 | |

Independent postal broking agency, Post-Switch is urging high volume mailers to reduce postage costs by switching from Royal Mail before it puts up its prices.

On April 2nd 2007, Royal Mail raised first class postage by 2p and second class by 1p and its commercial service ‘MailSort’ increased tariff prices by 1 pct – 3.8 pct. As part of its pricing agreement up to 2010, Royal Mail is proposing a further price hike in April 2008 of 6p.

Post-Switch is an impartial postal broker, providing expert advice on matching direct mail to the most suitable supplier at the optimum tariff. Set up in 2006, Post-Switch is part of integrated communications group, Kingfisher. It understands where savings can be made on postage and will negotiate with up to 20 rival postal providers including DHL, UPS, and TNT to achieve the best price and the best delivery date.

Post-Switch already handles over one million items of mail each month and is working with high volume mailers like Marie Curie Cancer Care and NSPCC as well as commercial operator, Network Rail. The service offered by Post-Switch delivers direct mail campaigns in 48 hours and can secure savings of up to 22.5 pct against MailSort charges.

To incentivise companies to switch from Royal Mail to another provider, Post-Switch is offering those who sign up before 2nd April a postal price freeze until the end of 2007. This means that mailings will only cost the same unit rate for the rest of the year. So, if the rival operators to Royal Mail also raise their prices, Post-Switch clients will not be affected by the increase.

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