USPS Promises Priority Mail Improvements
“Major corporate users of Priority Mail, all of whom are members of the Association of Priority Mail Users Inc., met with postal officials yesterday to press for improvements to Priority Mail.
Read MoreTag: USA
When it comes to delivery, Germans and Americans are pretty hard to beat
Today’s is a tricky row to hoe. There are, I fear, many among you who, in about 800 words’ time, will be hurtling to your own keyboards and dashing off fulminating letters, faxes, and e-mails to the Editor, imploring him to lose not a moment in putting my P45 in the post. You will do this in the name of patriotism. And because you are patriots, you will loyally accept that precious few of your letters, faxes, and e-mails will get to him, and that, should he act on your imploring, my P45 will not reach me for some months, if at all, with the result that I shall continue to churn out my weekly column in complete ignorance – so no change there – until such time as he sends a couple of Wapping heavies round to break my typing-finger.
Read MoreConsolidated Freightways Fall Good for Others
The collapse of Consolidated Freightways gives other struggling trucking companies an opportunity to gain market share and raise prices at a time of soft demand.
Shares of several large rivals made double-digit percentage gains as investors bet they would pick up much of the business left behind by Vancouver, Wash.-based Consolidated, which abruptly shut down Tuesday.
“This is a sea change for our industry,” said Bill Zollars, chief executive of Overland Park, Kan.-based Yellow Corp.
Yellow is among the biggest players now vying for business once belonging to Consolidated, which had $2 billion in revenue in 2001 and controlled about 15 percent of the domestic long-haul market.
Consolidated Freightways to Close, Cut 15,500 Jobs
Consolidated Freightways Corp., the third-biggest U.S. trucker, said it’s shutting down operations and plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy tomorrow, resulting in the loss of about 15,500 jobs.
More than 80 percent of those workers will be fired immediately, and the remainder will be “phased out,” the company said in a statement distributed by Business Wire.
Consolidated Freightways, which has had losses for seven straight quarters, named management consultant John Brincko Chief Executive Officer in May, replacing Patrick Blake. Consolidated lost $104.3 million last year, while larger rivals Yellow Corp. and Roadway Corp. were profitable.
Delivering Overseas Mail
On Aug. 8 The Post reprinted on the Federal Page a five-week-old story from the International Herald Tribune [July 4] about the U.S. Postal Service agreement with Consignia for the delivery of Global Express Mail and Global Air Parcel Post in Europe began in January. The agreement provides for an integrated network for delivery. It also introduced tracking capabilities for Air Parcels and improved tracking and tracing for Global Express Mail.
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