Tag: TNT

Germany inches towards postal sector minimum wage

Posted by | Nov 29, 2007 | |

German services union Verdi and the postal employers’ association have agreed on a new formula for their wage contract which could open the way to a deal on a minimum wage in the sector, the union said on Thursday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD), who rule in an uneasy coalition, have been arguing about the possible introduction of a legally binding minimum wage for the sector for months.

A spokeswoman for Verdi said the new version of the wage contract would apply to companies that “predominantly” transport letters.

The formulation is a response to worries from Merkel’s conservatives that Deutsche Post’s competitors, who pay lower wages, could be hit if a minimum wage of between 8 and 9.8 euros was brought in for the whole sector, as the SPD wants.

If the two parties can agree, the wage could come into effect when Deutsche Post’s monopoly ends at the start of next year.

Verdi’s pay commission still has to approve the proposal.

The two parties have been wrangling for months over which employees a minimum wage should apply to and whether that would amount to half of the number of employees in the sector.

Deutsche Post’s competitors, who include Dutch mail company TNT, have said the suggested minimum wage is too high.

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NetDespatch Soars Towards Christmas Internet Shopping Peak

Posted by | Nov 27, 2007 | |

NetDespatch is seeing a massive seasonal uplift to its business as more and more people buy Christmas gifts online or through catalogues. In November alone, the delivery of over 8 million parcels will be managed online by the NetDespatch Velocity web-based platform, and with the scanning of parcels throughout the delivery process, the company’s secure web servers are processing an average of 100,000 transactions an hour.

TNT Post has utilised NetDespatch’s Velocity platform to create an end-to-end, wholly web- based solution to control its innovative packet and parcel home delivery services. The company is able to provide unparalled customer and supplier integration, with enterprise-wide visibility of data from customer despatch right through to courier delivery. TNT Post is also able to utilise the platform to offer a leading-edge customer returns solution.

Other carriers such as APC Overnight and Amtrak are increasingly providing home delivery services through the Velocity platform. This allows customers to book and track on line, whether an occasional shipper paying by credit card or a major customer requiring integration with their sales order processing or warehouse system. The NetDespatch systems integration, advanced bar code labelling and address checking services ensure that home delivery shopping order details are only entered once, are held securely on a central server, are automatically booked with the chosen parcel carrier, and are correctly labelled ready for collection from any location.

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Parcel providers to expand in Asia

Posted by | Nov 26, 2007 | |

DHL is investing USD 175 million to build the DHL Express North Asia Hub at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai. According to a statement from DHL, the development of the North Asia Hub is part of DHL’s “hubs and spokes” regional air network strategy. “Hubs like Shanghai, are optimally positioned to reduce transit times and distances within the regions but also ensure that the region is better connected with the rest of the world. Shanghai will provide added flexibility for its customers with guaranteed Time Definite morning delivery for more major cities in North Asia.”

In an interview with Bloomberg, Jerry Hsu, DHL’s president of Greater China, said, “It’s the right location with the resources in the Yangtze River Delta and China’s economic growth.”

The facility at Pudong should be opened by the second half of 2010.

But TNT is taking a different approach in Asia. Rather than focusing solely on air freight for small parcel shipments in Asia, TNT is focusing on developing a road-based network to reduce costs of shipping parcels across Asia.

In a recent Reuters report, Onno Boots, TNT’s managing director for Southeast Asia, says TNT is seeking a niche between fast-but-costly air transport and slow-but-cheap sea freight, which accounts for about two thirds of the intra-Asia market.

TNT’s plan is to develop a road infrastructure in Asia as it has done in Europe.

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TNT in talks with Airbus about launch of new-build A320 family freighter programme

Posted by | Nov 26, 2007 | |

Airbus is talks with TNT Airways about the launch of a new-build A320 family freighter programme, but the ongoing sales surge for the passenger version could threaten the project.

The Liege, Belgium-based express package carrier is planning a “massive purchase” of narrowbody freighters to replace its Boeing 737-300F fleet and support its growth plans, says the airline’s managing director Niky Terzakis.

The creation of a new-build single-aisle cargo aircraft would be a first for Airbus, which has so far only offered the A300-600F and A330-200F as factory-new freighters.

Terzakis says the discussions, which also involve leasing companies, envisage the production of standard passenger A320/A321s that would be ferried “green” to the EADS EFW plant in Dresden for the installation of the passenger to freighter (P2F) conversion kit that is being developed by the Airbus Freighter Conversion (AFC) joint venture with Russia.

The proposed TNT programme, dubbed G2F for “green to freighter”, is mainly focused on the A321 airframe due to its larger payload and volume, says Terzakis.

Sources say that some 2012 production slots had been earmarked for the first G2F airframes, but these are believed to have since been allocated to customers for the passenger aircraft.

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TNT signs book deal with Gardners

Posted by | Nov 23, 2007 | |

TNT Express has signed a three-year deal to provide delivery services for Gardners Books. Under the multi-million pound agreement, TNT will collect stock from the headquarters of the UK’s largest book wholesaler in Eastbourne, East Sussex, and distribute it to hundreds of independent books stores around the UK.

TNT says the deal is “its first major venture into the wholesale book market” and “an exciting new business element for the company’s burgeoning media and entertainment division”. The firm took over the contract after Gardners’ previous deal with Parcel-force expired.

Danny Geach, general manager, TNT media and entertainment, says: “This market is worth in excess of GBP 180m a year and we see this as a real opportunity. “We believe we won the contract because we are able to provide a high-quality service at a reasonable cost.”

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