Tag: UPS

UPS Thailand growth slows due to sluggish economy

Posted by | Oct 9, 2007 | |

After relishing double-digit growth for the past two years, UPS Thailand is likely to experience slower growth in deliveries this year due to political uncertainty, sluggish economy and stronger baht, according to assistant marketing manager Phongchayut Ladavalya.

Thailand’s delivery business has been stagnant during the year as the stronger baht and economic slowdown have hurt exporters, which are UPS’s major customers.

Although the electronics industry continued to grow, some small and medium-sized enterprises have closed. The outlook for garments and jewellery also remains unpredictable.

During 2005-06, UPS Thailand’s delivery volume rose by more than 15 pct after rising 20 pct in 2004-05. Among Asia-Pacific countries, Thailand ranked no higher than sixth behind China, India, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

Thailand’s delivery market will not grow significantly this year, he said, as many players create stiff competition.

UPS believes its strengths include speed and the ability to handle sensitive cargoes.
UPS’s general niche market also include deliveries of hazardous goods such as chemicals that commercial airlines typically refuse to handle, and medical items including blood samples or cells that need special services like storage with temperature control.

Mr Phongchayut said competition in the courier business was focused on three areas: services, technology and networking. Services cover speed and guarantee a specific time instead of just a delivery date. UPS offers services known as time definite-express plus, or guaranteed delivery before 8:30-9 am, before noon and or before 5 pm.

Meanwhile, technology will help customers reduce costs and save time. These include a tracking system through call centres, short messaging services and a website that can be integrated into a customer’s back-end system.

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UPS Survey: American businesses missing global opportunities

Posted by | Oct 9, 2007 | |

Most of America’s small- and mid-sized businesses have failed to explore the significant growth opportunities offered by an increasingly global economy. Indeed, a new survey conducted for UPS shows 67 percent of the nation’s small-to-mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still chaining themselves to the U.S. economy.

The inaugural UPS Business Monitor United States, a survey of 600 business decision-makers conducted by the marketing insight firm TNS, found that only 33 percent reported participating in any cross-border trade. Of those, 15 percent are importers and nine percent exporters. Nine percent do both.

“The survey shows that many American SMEs haven’t gone global yet,” said David Abney, chief operating officer of UPS. “And if they don’t take part in trade, they stand to lose their competitive edge in a business environment that continues to transcend international borders. For example, McKinsey** estimates that nearly 1 billion new consumers are expected to enter the global marketplace over the next decade as a result of economic growth in emerging markets, creating a significant opportunity for American small businesses.”

Survey respondents cite many reasons for not engaging in international trade, including a perception that it is too risky, a lack of knowledge about international markets, unfamiliarity with customs regulations and disinterest in expanding business beyond U.S. borders.

Among businesses that either import or export, 45 percent perceive global trade as a benefit while 18 percent see it as a disadvantage. Slightly more than half – 52 percent – say global expansion will help them remain competitive or create an opportunity to increase profits. One out of every four believes that global expansion could lead to competition that will cut into profits.

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UPS expands "Green Fleet" with 306 alternative fuel vehicles

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

UPS today announced it was adding 306 alternative fuel vehicles to its “green fleet” by placing an order for 167 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery trucks while taking delivery of 139 new propane delivery trucks in North America. Additionally, the company has launched an initiative to use biodiesel fuel in its ground support vehicles at the UPS Worldport® air hub in Louisville.

The CNG trucks will be deployed early next year in Dallas, Atlanta and four California cities – Los Angeles, Ontario, San Ramon and Fresno. They will join more than 800 such vehicles already in use in the United States. The propane vehicles are joining nearly 600 propane trucks already operating in Canada and Mexico.

UPS’s global alternative-fuel fleet now stands at 1,629 vehicles – the largest such private fleet in the transportation industry – and includes CNG, liquefied natural gas, propane and electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The company also is working with the Environmental Protection Agency on a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle.

The propane and CNG trucks currently in the UPS fleet were converted from gasoline and diesel vehicles in the 1980s to run on alternative fuels. The new trucks are originally manufactured for alternative fuel use.

The chassis for the CNG trucks are being purchased in two sizes from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation. The trucks will feature engines from Cummins Westport that are expected to yield a 20 percent emissions reduction and 10 percent improvement in fuel economy over the cleanest diesel engines available in the market today. The truck bodies will be identical externally to the signature-brown trucks that now comprise the UPS fleet and will be marked as CNG vehicles.

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UPS Indianapolis freight workers ratify contract

Posted by | Oct 7, 2007 | |

United Parcel Service Inc. freight workers in Indianapolis ratified a new five-year contract reached by the Teamsters union that raises workers’ wages and boosts the company’s contributions to pensions and benefits.

The contract, which covers 125 freight employees, is considered to be the first step toward the unionization of UPS’s freight work force of about 15,000. The contract was ratified by a 107-to-1 vote.

UPS Freight was formerly known as Overnite Transportation.

UPS and the Teamsters union reached a tentative agreement on Sept. 30.

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Private rivals urged to save post offices in the UK

Posted by | Oct 7, 2007 | |

The UK’s postal regulator, PostComm, will this week call on private businesses competing with the Royal Mail to help sustain the country’s flagging post offices.

In its annual report, PostComm will urge private postal operators such as UPS and DHL to strike a deal with the Post Office to use its branches as holding areas for undelivered mail.

Currently, if members of the public are not at home to sign for their privately delivered parcels or registered letters they are returned to company depots which are often situated far from the delivery address.

Private delivery staff sometimes have to visit a property up to three times before the mail is delivered or customers are required to collect it themselves, often at premises far from their homes.

PostComm will suggest that private companies could make an arrangement with the Post Office for undelivered mail to be held at branches close to the customer’s home. This, it will argue, would save both time and money for the private companies and generate extra business for the struggling Post Office network.

A spokesman for PostComm declined to expand on the plans. However, he did confirm that the regulator will be recommending a number of ways in which the Post Office can make money from the numerous private rivals that have come onto the market since the postal service was opened up to full competition last year.

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