Express delivery service provider UPS will launch in the second half of 2005 the Trade Direct Air (TDA), a new air cargo service with support for Brazilian companies in the United States. UPS, active in Brazil for 10 years, has invested USD7mil in the country. In more than one year the Brazilian subsidiary doubled its transportation capacity from 28 – 30 m tons 55 – 60 m tons.
Read MoreThe USPS often is overlooked as a competitive threat to UPS, but with 22% of the domestic ground package market, we believe it’s a force to be watched, especially given that the USPS is growing its parcel volumes once again, after a few years of decline. We should remember that the USPS is the low-price leader in many markets and so its improved service is putting pressure on UPS’s pricing in those lanes in which it competes, namely light-weight B2C. We believe the re-energized USPS management is attempting to find new ways to bemore efficient and to this end we believe it will be more aggressive in re-pricing its $1billion annual contract with FDX for providing the air line-haul for the USPS’s Priority Mail and Express Mail shipments. While we see potential margin pressure for FDX, the contract doesn’t expire until 2008 and thus we don’t see any near-term disappointment.
Read MoreUPS will construct additional 20 logistics facilities in China in 2005 and 2006, David Abney, president of UPS International, was quoted as saying.
In the future, the company will have 60 logistics infrastructures in the country. The group had injected USD 500 million in the construction of infrastructure in the past several years.
New players are set to seriously challenge the big global integrators in the fast-growing European international road express market. They will include national parcel operators and freight forwarders.
That was one of the arguments put forward at this month’s World Mail ‘ Express Europe conference in Brussels. However, industry observers questioned that suggestion, asking where the new market entrants would come. They also pointed out that both groups of potential additional competitors had tried in the past to move into that sector without success.
Opening the debate, German express, parcel and transport industry journalist and consultant Ludwig-Michael Cremer argued that the European international express market was set to see further segmentation between air and road-based operations. TNT already had fully separate pan-European air and road networks, he said, and DHL and UPS were set to follow. FedEx was currently focused on air express and might need to find a partner to develop the equivalent of its FedEx Ground operation in the US.
Read MoreUnited Parcel Service’s advertising slogan asks: “What can Brown do for you?” On Monday, the answer grew longer when the company, known for its brown delivery trucks, agreed to buy Overnite Corporation, a US truck operator, for Dollars 1.25bn.
The deal adds ground freight transportation to a growing list of logistics services offered by UPS, as the company diversifies beyond its original package delivery business.
Last year, UPS increased its heavy airfreight capability through the acquisition of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding and the company has a fast-growing supply chain management business, which helps customers co-ordinate their movement of goods around the world.
Read More
Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.
