Tag: USA

Special Delivery: Bringing SMBs into the Global Shipping Network

Posted by | Jan 4, 2008 | |

“Each carrier has tools to make international shipping easier. DHL calls its ‘Trade Automation Services.’ UPS’ international tool is named ‘TradeAbility.’ FedEx has its Trade Network. You will have to register in order to access these tools, and some carriers charge a transaction fee for providing a service,” Mark Taylor, chief logistics officer at RedRoller.com told the E-Commerce Times.

The parcel carriers have been a huge factor driving the globalization of commerce, Taylor agreed.

“First, they see this as a high priority in their own growth and success,” he continued. “We can see this from some public statements from their CEOs. Mike Eskew, chairman and chief executive officer of United Parcel Service informs us, ‘Most of our 8 million daily customers at UPS are small businesses.

It turns out that small businesses make up 97 percent of all exporters and nearly 40 percent of exports’ total value, statistics pointed out by FedEx CEO Fred Smith, said Taylor.

“Second, international shipping is where their bread is buttered. Donald Broughton, an analyst who follows both UPS and FedEx for A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis, tells us ‘Direct international is 23 percent of revenue for FedEx, but it’s the fastest growing part of their business, and it’s almost 20 percent for UPS. FedEx is the largest air freight carrier in Asia and UPS is neck-and-neck with DHL in Europe,'” he said.

UPS provides package delivery services to 21 of the top 25 e-tailers in the U.S. as ranked by Internet Retailer magazine, according to Donna Barrett, the company’s technology public relations manager. Tracking requests on UPS.com along average 15 million a day.

There have been more than 25,000 distinct integrations within the last 18 months of UPS Online Tools, which retailers can integrate into their Web sites, Barrett told the E-Commerce Times. These have enabled more than 748,000 individual users to access tracking, time-in-transit, rating and shipping information.

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TNT to offer print management after TDG tie-up

Posted by | Jan 4, 2008 | |

TNT Post is offering print management services to its clients after signing a 12-month agreement with TDG Group.

The private-sector rival to Royal Mail will use the tie-up with the London-based firm to offer end-to-end print management services, a creative review process and environmental consultancy to direct mail clients. It will also use TDG’s services for its own print.

TNT’s agreement makes it the latest postal operator to offer some form of print management. Most notable among those who have moved into the market is Deutsche Post World Net, which in February 2006 bought a controlling stake in Williams Lea.

TNT Post has recently launched an initiative to cut its carbon emissions and TDG is hoping it can help, having recently been awarded ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation. It also has the ISO 9001 quality management stamp.

“With this agreement, we can advise TNT’s clients on how to be greener and open up a creative delivery to ensure they maximise their demands,” said Tom Gorman, TDG managing director. He added that he hoped to increase turnover from GBP 6m to GBP 8m in 2008.

A spokeswoman for TNT Post said the firm had worked with TDG in the past and the renewed link was “a great opportunity” for the firm. The group had formalised the relationship after TDG, which has recently launched a green audit for suppliers, stepped up its environmental focus.

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FedEx Corp. Issues Update on Status of Tentative IRS Assessment Regarding Worker Classification at FedEx Ground

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

FedEx Corp. today announced that, in response to a tentative assessment by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on December 20, 2007 regarding the classification of owner-operators at FedEx Ground, the Company is preparing to meet with the IRS audit team to review their tentative assessment and to provide an initial response. It is expected that the meeting will occur in the spring of 2008 and that a final resolution of this matter will not occur for some time. The Company notes that some reporting concerning this matter has been inaccurate.

As disclosed in the Companys second quarter Form 10-Q filed on December 21, 2007, the IRS has tentatively concluded, subject to further discussion with the Company, that FedEx Grounds pick-up-and-delivery owner-operators should be reclassified as employees for federal employment tax purposes. The IRS has indicated that it anticipates assessing tax and penalties of USD 319 million plus interest for 2002. Substantially all of the IRSs tentative assessment relates to employment and withholding taxes for the 2002 calendar year and, if paid by the Company, would be fully deductible. Similar issues are under audit by the IRS for calendar years 2004 through 2006.

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Deutsche Post expects sales decline in US express operations

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post World Net AG is increasingly facing the impact of the US subprime crisis on the US economy in its express operations, Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel told Capital magazine in an interview to be published tomorrow.

He said he sees sales declining by a one-digit percentage, to which Deutsche Post will react by cutting costs and capacities.

Deutsche Post in November said it no longer expects to return to profitability in its US express operations by the end of 2009, as previously expected, but did not give a new date. It has posted unspecified losses since it entered the US express market in 2004.

Separately, Zumwinkel reiterated the German mail services company could sell off its banking unit Deutsche Postbank AG. ‘During the current year, we will consider how to proceed with Postbank,’ he said.

He said he preferred a German buyer for the bank.

‘Postbank is perfectly suited as an inexpensive and efficient platform on which the German capital market can advance,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Postbank could face further losses due to the US subprime woes, if the crisis spills over to other investment types such as equities, Zumwinkel said.

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PRC seeks comment on USPS annual compliance report

Posted by | Jan 3, 2008 | |

The US Postal Service filed its annual compliance report for the fiscal year 2007 with the Postal Regulatory Commission.

The PRC is seeking feedback on the report in order to determine if it complies with Title 39 of the United States Code. The report includes detailed costs, revenues and volumes for all classes and types of mail. It also provides service measurement and customer satisfaction data. Comments are due by January 30, while reply comments are due on February 13.

For interested parties, the PRC will be holding two informal technical conferences on January 11 and January 23 at its hearing room in Washington. USPS analysts will be on hand to answer questions about the report, as well as concerns about the periodicals cost model.

This is the first compliance report that the USPS has filed since the passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 by Congress. However, because fiscal year 2007 was a transition period, postal rates and fees during this year were governed by provisions of the former Postal Reorganization Act, rather than the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

In the report, the USPS noted that it plans to file its comprehensive statement for fiscal year 2007 with the PRC in early or mid-January.

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