Tag: USA

USPS – countdown to new international mailing

Posted by | Apr 24, 2007 | |

USPS has simplified the eight main International Mail products into four: Global Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail International and First-Class Mail International.

Another simplification for customers comes in packaging. Also effective May 14, mailers can use the same Priority Mail and Express Mail packaging whether they are shipping within the United States or to another country. And as always, the packaging supplies are available free of charge from USPS.

Other changes to make international mailing easy for customers are:
The same flat-rate packaging already popular for domestic shipping can now be used for international mailing.
Online tools now combine a mailer’s customs form and address label into one, easy-to-complete document.
Discounts are available for postage purchased online using Click-N-Ship at usps.com or through authorized PC postage vendors. Online customers also can request Free Package Pickup for most International Mail services.

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Personalized Mailboxes

Posted by | Apr 24, 2007 | |

Before interstates, blue highways and global overnight delivery, the Rural Federal Delivery brought correspondence and packages to rural mailboxes that were as individual as each resident. Now, as more and more mass-produced Cluster Box Units (CBUs) replace the quirky, personalized mailboxes of our back roads, some say we’re in danger of losing a beloved part of Americana. Others say rural Americans are, like the rest of the country, simply looking to upgrade their service, access and security.
In a world that thrives on cultural icons, mailboxes are peculiarly American expressions of identity. Just take a drive in any area of the country to view the care and creativity that go into designing a mailbox to complement the homeowner’s lifestyle. For example, fiberglass dolphins and manatees or wooden lighthouses are popular in shell-lined coastal areas. Whirligigs, anchors and nautical ropes are also big for ocean-side bungalows. Miniature McMansions with cedar shingles and slate roofs grace the paved drives of gated communities. And small, hollow yurts and geodesic domes stand as sentinels on the dirt roads of Rocky Mountain skiers and backcountry hippies.
Before interstates, blue highways and global overnight delivery, the Rural Federal Delivery brought correspondence and packages to rural mailboxes that were as individual as each resident. Now, as more and more mass-produced Cluster Box Units (CBUs) replace the quirky, personalized mailboxes of our back roads, some say we’re in danger of losing a beloved part of Americana. Others say rural Americans are, like the rest of the country, simply looking to upgrade their service, access and security.

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Smart Stamp – Universal Envelope Identifier

Posted by | Apr 24, 2007 | |

Intellareturn Corp., announced its Append® Envelope Technology at the Envelope Manufacturers Association’s (EMA) Spring Meeting in Tuscon, AZ. As part of the conference, ‘Center for Technology and Trends’ session, the company presented technological advances in paper-based communication.

The Append® microchip-based “Smart Stamp” system links supplemental text, audio and video files to envelopes. The Smart Stamp service can be sold as a book of self-adhesive labels or pre-manufactured into envelopes, taking envelope manufacturers into the wireless ecosystem with new business models to store, control and deliver rich-media content.

Using Near-Field Communication Technology (“NFC”) and printed conductive ink antennas combined with mobile phones and other wireless reader devices, Append services bring a new intelligent mail “Smart Stamp”service into the mailstream for adding supplemental text, pictures, audio and video to sent postal mail.

Append represents the next evolution of postal services where the so-called ‘Internet of things’ can be embedded into everyday items with built-in Internet access technology to grow the value of envelopes and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The new service can also provide seamless verification that mail has been received, read and contractually acted upon by integrating with USPS Intelligent Mail printed codes and graphics linked to postal identifier solutions.

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DHL expands operations in Vermont

Posted by | Apr 24, 2007 | |

DHL today announced the opening of a new facility in White River Junction, Vt., which will significantly expand DHL’s presence in the Upper Valley region. DHL has invested USD640,000 in the new 11,000-sq.-ft facility, which will serve DHL’s local pickup, delivery and sorting operations.

The new facility relocates DHL from a 2,000 sq.-ft facility to one over five times its size to meet DHL’s current and future needs in this market. Strategically located off of a main arterial to provide more convenient customer access, customers will receive earlier package deliveries due to the newly automated package handling systems and a more efficient, expanded dock operation.

The pickup and delivery area for the new facility includes areas in and around White River Junction, Vt., as well as areas in New Hampshire including Claremont, Lebanon, and Hanover.

The new facility will handle all types of shipments – including domestic and international parcels and palletized, loose-load and container freight.

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FedEx says landing rules cut its efficiency

Posted by | Apr 24, 2007 | |

New FAA landing rules imposed at Memphis International Airport last week reduce FedEx Express’ efficiency by more than 20 percent some days, quickly affecting its ability to deliver on its famous promise, the company says.

FedEx, surprised that the decision happened without warning, wrote a letter to Federal Aviation Administration administrator Marion Blakely last week, taking the agency to task for proceeding “without a formal review” and saying the impact “to our ‘absolutely, positively overnight’ service cannot be understated.”

The letter, signed by James Parker, senior vice president of air operations, says FedEx’s daytime landing efficiency will drop from 88 landings an hour to 68 landings when winds are out of the south.

The FAA starts its formal review at the airport today with agency officials from Washington, Atlanta and the Memphis air traffic control tower.

The goal, she said, is to see if the suspended procedure can be “mitigated” in a way that doesn’t affect safety “and has little impact on capacity.”

FedEx, which says it has never recorded a safety incident in the configuration, questions why the FAA would halt a long-used practice that the agency itself said was safe in 1999.

Since last week, controllers have been instructed to stagger landings on the runways when the wind is out of the south. The FAA said winds call for the landing configuration here 17 percent of the time.

National Weather Service records over 40 years show the wind blows out of the south in Memphis more than 42 percent of the year. In April, May, June and July, it is closer to 50 percent.

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