Postal News from August 2007:
The latest issue of
the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
In this essay by Mackinac Center for Public Policy economist Chrtistina M. Cohn, she claims private competition would be very effective against the USPS, and that there is historical precedent for saying so.
USPS offers new procedure for periodical mailing applications. Federal executive bonuses getting congressional scrutiny. Discovery Channel will spotlight USPS.
TNT asks staff for wage freeze. Deutsche Post fudging its rates? Postcomm says Royal Mail failing competition. Australia Post sticks to its offer.
A list of upcoming postal-related events.

Postal
Regulatory Chairman Dan G. Blair will be the guest on the IBM Business of
Government Hour at 9 a.m. Saturday, September 1 on WJFK radio (106.7 FM). The
station will have live streaming audio available at the WJFK website (www.wjfk.com)
From the
U.S. Postal Service: "Pay consultations with the Postal Service and the
National Association of Postal Supervisors, The National League of Postmasters
and the National Association of Postmasters of the United States have concluded,
resulting in a four-year compensation package that will remain in effect through
fiscal year 2010."
Analytiqa
has reported that "DHL has been selected as the exclusive small package delivery
provider for the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., one of the largest regional department
store chains in the US. DHL will provide US domestic Express and home delivery
services, supporting The Bon-Ton store's entire network."
Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German
postal service operator, is planning to replace its head of finance, Edgar
Ernst, earlier than expected. Mr Ernst's contract is not due to expire until
November 2010. Sources close to the group say that Deutsche Post is examining
possible replacements and that it is also searching for a successor for Bernd
Boecken, Mr Ernst's deputy. A spokesperson for the company has denied that it
wants to replace Mr Ernst but has confirmed that it is looking for a successor
for Mr Boecken, who is to retire next March when he turns 65."
The
Straits Times has reported that "THE Group CEO of Singapore Post Limited
(SingPost), Lau Boon Tuan resigned on Friday to pursue other opportunities. He
will also step down as Director of SingPost. Mr Lau has been SingPost's Group
CEO since February 2005."
The
Globe and Mail has reported that "Canada Post is following Britain's
example, and offering free delivery of mail to Canadian soldiers stationed in
Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world."
From
BusinessWire:
"Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c67052)
has announced the addition of "Five Factors That Will Shape The Future Of The
Express Industry" to their offering. The express industry is set to undergo
drastic transition driven by growing globalization, deregulation of the postal
sector, the wave of mergers and alliances and the booming e-commerce industry.
This brief contains a strategic overview of the upcoming trends in the European
express market and a detailed discussion of the positive and negative effects of
these trends."
Logistics Business Review has reported that "Mail and logistics company
Norway Post has recorded a 17.8% increase in first half revenue, while also
registering an increase in costs. Going forward, the company aims to cut costs
by improving efficiencies and by further decreasing its dependence on the
domestic postal market, but faces a tough challenge given the increasingly
competitive environment in which it operates.
As DM News
postal commentator
Cary Baer
has noted, "During the past few weeks, both the Senate and the House have held
so-called oversight hearings concerning the Postal Service. This hearing also
featured testimony from a number of high-ranking members of Washington-based
postal-oriented trade associations. To me, however, the most significant
testimony came from Mike Winn, director of postal affairs and mailing operations
for R.R. Donnelley and a member of Postcom’s Board of Directors. Winn was able
to provide testimony based on his experiences and responsibilities at
Donnelley."
Banking Technology has reported that "Citi Markets & Banking and Eurogiro, a
low value payments network of postal organisations and financial institutions,
are collaborating to extend their payment networks. The alliance will bring
together Eurogiro's 61 connections in 50 countries with Citi's existing payment
network encompassing over 100 countries. Eurogiro's members will benefit from
Citi's distribution capacity and payment offerings, while Citi and its customers
will gain access to Eurogiro's distribution network and products."
According
to Nepal
News, "Postal services have came to a complete halt with the postal
employees announcing closure of all the post offices around the country from
Friday to protest government’s 'indifference' towards fulfilling their demands."
PrintWeek has reported that "Finishing kit manufacturer Buhrs is in the
midst of potentially its largest-ever deal, having so far installed six 4700
Film Wrapping Systems at Deutsche Post sites in Germany."
ABC Regional has reported that "Australia Post staff throughout regional New
South Wales, including the New England and north-west, are likely to take
industrial action next month in a push for more pay. The Communications,
Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU) says staff are not satisfied with the latest
enterprise bargaining agreement that has been offered to them."
The Hindu
has noted that "for the first time in the country, the movement of mail vehicles
in Chennai will be monitored with the help of global positioning system."
The
Economic Times has reported that "Matching steps with the growing
competition from private courier firms, the Delhi Post is targeting corporate
houses to generate more revenues by flaunting a well-established network across
the country. India Post's Delhi Circle, responsible for postal services in the
National Capital Territory of Delhi, has launched a special service, Mail
Business Centres (MBC), for private companies, through which postal staff will
not only collect the companies' bulk mail, but will also place them in envelopes
and label them with the recipients' address."
August 30, 2007
From
eGovMonitor: "Royal Mail
today announced that Stephen Carter, Chief Executive of Brunswick Group LLP, has
been appointed as a Non Executive Director. Stephen was Chief Executive of OFCOM
between 2003 and 2007 and before that Managing Director of NTL Ltd, the cable,
broadband and telecommunications business between 2000 and 2002. Royal Mail
Chairman Allan Leighton said: "I am delighted to welcome Stephen to Royal Mail.
He brings a wealth of experience from the worlds of telecoms, marketing and
regulation to the Board at a time when we are facing increasing competition from
a range of other communications media as well as rival postal operators."
From the U.S. Postal Service: "In
today’s Postal Bulletin [PDF]
| [HTML],
we introduce a new application procedure for publishers seeking Periodicals
mailing privileges. The “New Launch” procedure provides an alternative process
to apply for and obtain Periodicals mailing privileges under the “general” or
“requester” categories. Publishers who use this procedure are not initially
required to meet traditional circulation standards at the time of application.
Publishers seeking Periodicals mailing privileges under the New Launch procedure
have up to 15 months from the date of initial application to file an updated PS
Form 3500, Application for Periodicals Mailing Privileges, with the appropriate
circulation criteria and to provide documentation showing compliance with
Periodicals circulation standards. The new procedure is available beginning
August 30, 2007."
Ha'aretz
(tongue-in-cheek) warned its readers: "Watch out, Walla. Take heed, Google: the
Israel Postal Company will shortly be competing in the electronic arena to
provide e-mail boxes and services to customers, if not in other areas controlled
by the online giants. The postal service's motivation is simple: It must prepare
for an era when regular mail, featuring envelopes and a stamp, disappears
altogether and is replaced by electronic communications." See also the
Jerusalem Post.
From the
National Association of Major Mail
Users: Canada Post and the mailing industry meet to present and review the
impact of the
2008 rate case as well as the strategic development of all major
postal products and services. A vital session you won’t want to miss.
CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
The first half of 2007 has produced mixed outcomes at Posten Norge.
Speculation surrounding a new major shareholder boosted Deutsche Post as well as TNT stock prices last Thursday. Apparently Apax, together with UPS, plans to bid 28 euros per Deutsche Post share for the remaining stake which is still held by the state-owned bank KfW, a trader told the news agency »Reuters«.
The relationship between the executive board at Österreichische Post and the workers’ representatives has apparently broken down.
If Royal Mail does not succeed in modernising its business and drastically cutting costs, it should be split into two companies. This was suggested by Nigel Stapleton, chairman of the regulator Postcomm.
Österreichische Post intends to cut one in ten jobs in the delivery sector by the end of 2009.
TNT has asked staff in the Netherlands to agree to a 30-month pay freeze.
The Indian government now apparently plans to take the amended postal bill, criticised by trade associations and operators, to the cabinet and parliament after all, reported the »Economic Times«.
Customers in Germany can anticipate stable postal rates even after the monopoly on letters comes to an end in 2008.
Österreichische Post is going to lose the delivery of parcels in Austria for the mail order company Quelle.
The British CEP operator City Link, one of the largest operators on the market, has completed the first half of the year extremely successfully.
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Klaus Zumwinkel, CEO of Deutsche Post, has announced that the company is interested in entering the Japanese postal market if it is liberalised.
World Courier, which specialises in Special Speed Services, announced the start of a new cool-chain transport service in China last week.
The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News. (We appreciate the courtesy extended by CEP News to help whet your appetite for more of what CEP offers.)
August 29, 2007
The
Postal Regulatory Commission has extended the dates for comments on the
Commission’s proposed regulations to implement a modern ratemaking and
classification system for market dominant and competitive mail products (Order
No. 26), issued on August 15, 2007, and posted on www.prc.gov. The comment
period has been extended from September 14, 2007 to September 24, 2007. The date
for reply comments is extended from September 28, 2007 to October 9, 2007. The
Commission remains committed to expediting the development of these important
rules.
The
Florida Times-Union has reported that "If Windy Hill residents want their
front-door mail delivery restored, they and Jacksonville must take lasting
action to eliminate the problem of dogs running loose in their neighborhood.
That was the message delivered by a postal spokesman Tuesday at a meeting in
City Hall."
According to
Forbes, "The German cartel office said that regulators' lenient calculations
allow Deutsche Post World Net AG to keep its postal rates unchanged, Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung reported, quoting a spokeswoman of the office."
The
Gaylord Herald Times has reported that "According to U.S. Congressman Bart
Stupak, D-Menominee, the Gaylord mail processing facility not only lacks
equipment which would increase efficiency, it is one of a handful of facilities
in the country without a biological agent detection system. The meeting followed
Stupak’s recent letter to the USPS questioning management decisions to move mail
processing responsibilities of third-class flats from the Gaylord mail
processing facility to the Traverse City Processing and Distribution Center.
Transport
Intelligence has reported that:
DHL has announced the opening of a new facility at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. DHL's previous operations at the airport have been enhanced with the opening of a new, $1.6 million on-airport facility serving Baltimore and the surrounding areas. Improved material handling equipment for aircraft container loading and unloading as well as a 25 percent larger facility will provide for a significantly more efficient operation.
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FedEx Express (FedEx) has announced the launch of a dedicated direct flight between Manchester, U.K., and the U.S. FedEx will fly a wide-body MD-11 freighter daily, Monday through Thursday, between Manchester International Airport and Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. The flight, originating at the FedEx European Hub in Paris, will increase FedEx daily capacity on the important U.K. - to - U.S. route by up to 50% and from Europe to the U.S. by up to 20%.
The Age has reported that "Australia Post says its 12 per cent pay offer to
postal workers is generous, rejecting unions claims that it fails to keep up
with CPI. Australia Post said it was offering a 12 per cent pay increase over
two and a half years, plus a one-off $500 performance bonus to workers under a
new enterprise bargaining agreement. Australia Post spokesman Rod McDonald said
the agreement also locked in all existing award entitlements and conditions.
"Our offer is a very good one," Mr McDonald said."
The
Malaysian
National News Agency has reported that "A Malaysian student's letter on the
plight of a tiger cub which lives in the rainforest of Malaysia won her the
first prize in the 36th Universal Postal Union (UPU) International
Letter-Writing Competition for Young People in Berne, Switzerland."
August 28, 2007
The
Cambridge Evening News has reported that "The Royal Mail is finding it
difficult to cope with competition, partly because of its slow progress in
improving efficiency and developing new services, according to an industry
report. Postal regulator Postcomm, which produced the study, has called on mail
operators to make the most of the opportunities presented by the changing mail
market."
Forbes has reported that "German mail operator Deutsche Post is not going to
have a very happy new year in 2008 when the German postal sector is liberalized,
say the analysts that downgraded the stock on Tuesday."
The
Discovery Channel’s new series Really Big Things profiles “the inner workings of
massive man-made wonders that keep our world moving.” The U.S. Postal Service,
which processes and delivers more than 213 billion pieces of mail every
year—handling more than 46 percent of the world’s card and mail volume*—will be
showcased in tomorrow’s (Wednesday, Aug. 29) episode. Watch Really Big Things at
8 p.m. ET/PT Wednesday, Aug. 29, on the Discovery Channel to follow the modern
journey of a letter through state-of-the-art machinery at the Santa Clarita,
Calif., Processing and Distribution Center and beyond.
The
Poughkeepsie Journal has reported that "Poughkeepsie school district
residents who tell the tax collector, "The post office ate my bill," won't just
be making excuses. According to Poughkeepsie City School District officials, an
unknown number of this year's school tax bills were damaged or destroyed by
sorting ma-chines at the Poughkeepsie Post Office, 55 Mansion St. "It seems that
the machinery, as it sorted out the various tax bills, it just chewed some of
them up," Poughkeepsie Superintendent Laval Wilson said. The district has not
yet determined whether there will be an extension on the taxes' due date because
of the shredding. Taxpayers who haven't received a bill should contact the
district. This is the second year in a row the post office's machinery has
jammed up on the city district's tax bills, Wilson said. Tom Gaynor, spokesman
for the New York Metro Area U.S. Postal Service, said the problem with the tax
bill mailer is thickness."
From
NewsReleaseWire: "Stopthejunkmail.com releases their consumer opinion survey
quarterly in an effort to determine how best to reduce the environmental impact
of postal junk mail. The survey is taken anonymously by a nationwide sampling of
consumers to accurately show attitudes toward stopping junk mail. The survey
also asks consumers what they believe are direct mail’s “worst offenders” with
banks at the top of the list followed by catalogs."
From
Carolina Newswire: "Mail Your Sharps, a business unit of Plastic Recovery
Service LLC, introduces a U.S. Postal Service approved mail-back sharps program.
The mail-back sharps program is designed for syringes, lancets, needles
including those used in tattoo and body piercing studios, other sharps and small
amounts of medical waste. The mail-back program consists of a U.S. Postal
Service approved sharps collection container, ranging in size from 1.4 quarts to
5 gallons, protective bag liner, third party bar coded tracking, destruction
manifest for Regulated Medical Waste – Sharps and a postage paid U.S. Postal
Service approved return box."
Forbes
has noted: "UPS Celebrates Its 100-Year Anniversary."
The
Express-Times has reported that "Workers at international delivery company
DHL's Lehigh County distribution center will vote next month on forming a
union."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "there have been new developments
in the highly strategic Indian express market, this time involving DHL and the
state-run India Post. It appears that the two companies are in negotiations to
form some type of joint venture which would allow DHL to access India Post's
huge distribution footprint reaching right across the vast geographies
involved."
The
Associated Press has reported that "One block of Capitol Hill is plagued
with so many bird droppings that even the U.S. Postal Service says there are
days it won't deliver the mail."
According to
Precision Marketing, "When Royal Mail blamed its first operating loss in six
years on increased competition, eyebrows were raised across the industry. But
new figures from Postcomm reveal that the 15 alternative licenced postal
operators are clawing their way deeper into Royal Mail territory."
The
Australian
Broadcasting Corporation has reported that "Australia Post has rejected
union claims mail sorters are being forced to work on the APEC public holiday
next week, even though there will be no mail deliveries until the following
Monday. The Communications, Electrical and Postal Union says 600 employees are
expected to turn up for work at 40 mail centres across Sydney on Friday
September 7. The union's Ed Husic says while the workers will be paid
double-time-and-a-half, they will be faced with a "nightmare" drive home after
their night shift." See also the
Sydney Morning Herald.
DutchNews has reported that "TNT wants staff to agree to a 2.5 year pay
freeze and to make their own payments into the company pension scheme, according
to the postal group's starting position for the latest round of pay talks."
Forbes has reported that "Hermes, a Hamburg-based logistics groups, is
considering legal steps if the German Finance Ministry extends the VAT exemption
for Deutsche Post World Net AG beyond 2007, its managing director Hanjo
Schneider told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung."
The
Czech Business Weekly has reported that:
With the Czech government having recently agreed on a crucial step in getting the privatization of the state-run post office under way—namely, transforming the state enterprise into a corporation—analysts are busy estimating how much capital could be raised for the public purse by the sale. Karel Potměšil, an analyst at brokerage Cyrrus, gives an approximate figure of Kč 10 billion (€ 362 million) for Czech postal services operator Česká pošta (ČP). “But it could be more, and it could be less. It depends on how big a part of the company will be sold, and what changes will occur with the company during the transformation [from a state to a privatized entity],” he said."
The Czech postal services market is the most open and developed within the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, yet rivals of traditional public operators are awaiting full liberalization of the European Union postal market, says Jaroslav Aujezdský, CEO of Mediaservis, an alternative competitor to domestic state-run post office Česká pošta (ČP). Europe’s postal market was supposed to be opened up to rivals as of 2009, but the European Parliament adopted a compromise solution July 11 that would allow EU member states to delay full liberalization until 2011 or 2013. The decision is expected in October. Countries including France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Hungary and Poland fear that rapid liberalization could destroy their public operators, resulting in weaker customer service and significant job losses. Except for Sweden, Finland and the U.K., which are fully liberalized, national postal operators in the European Union currently have a monopoly on processing mail weighing less than 50 grams.
August 26, 2007
The Boston
Globe has reported that "Six million people know the experience: You order a DVD
from the Netflix website and a day or two later it appears in a red paper
envelope. You watch the movie, mail it back, and soon another disc arrives. This
cycle happens in America 20 times every second and 1.6 million times every day,
making Netflix, the movie-rental company, a veritable postal service within the
postal service."
The Sentinel has reported that "Businesses are still counting the cost of
postal strikes and say the action has the potential to lose them thousands of
pounds.Royal Mail workers walked out in two 24-hour strikes followed by a
campaign of staggered action, in which each division was allocated a different
day to revolt in a bid to cause continuous disruption."
August 25, 2007
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FirstCoastNews has reported that "The Windy Hill community is petitioning
the U.S. Post Office to reconsider pulling home mail delivery to nearly 600
homes and businesses because of dog attacks. Earlier this month cluster boxes
were installed at several locations making home mail boxes useless."
Inc. has
reported that "A small trucking firm awarded multimillion contracts with the
U.S. Postal Service owes its drivers nearly $1.4 million in back wages, the
Labor Department said this week. Alan Berman Trucking, based in Woodland Hills,
Calif., is accused of pay violations on at least eight government contracts
worth $10 million to haul mail for post offices in Los Angeles and San
Francisco, the agency said. Investigators with the agency's Wage and Hour
Division said the company paid its drivers by the mile or trip, making them use
their own vehicles and cover fuel, maintenance, and repair costs. It also did
not provide fringe benefits required by law. As a result, the drivers' wages
fell below rates stipulated by the Service Contract Act."
The
Allentown Morning Call has reported that "The international delivery company
DHL violated labor laws by trying to hamper a union organizing campaign at its
new Upper Macungie distribution center, an attorney with the National Labor
Relations Board alleged Friday. But the company disputed the allegations, which
stem from complaints filed earlier this year by the American Postal Workers
Union."
Gulf Daily News has reported that "Bahrain has joined other GCC states in
studying the establishment of a pan-Gulf mail transportation company. The
company is aimed at streamlining and speeding up mail transportation within the
Gulf region."
August 24, 2007
PostCom Members! The latest
PostCom
issues brief (this one dealing with addressing) is now available on this
site.
The latest issue of
the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
Attorney and former postal executive Murray Comarow examines the roles played by Congress, postal unions, postmasters, competitors, and the Postal Service in creating the conditions that now threaten the agency’s viability while emphasizing the behavior of mailers in contributing to those conditions.
In this perspective, QUAD/Graphics’ Joe Schick looks at some of the methods postal employees use to deliver your mail on time, inadvertently increasing costs, and the mailers and their service providers who abuse the process.A new paper in Pitney Bowes Future of Mail Series peers beneath the much-hyped increased adoption of electronic bills, statements and payments while systematically reviewing available research and attempting to forecast future mail volumes and the expected growth of electronic alternatives.
Federal Register: State Dept. wants UPU input. DMM Advisory: Revised Plant Verified Drop Shipment Forms 8125 and 8125-C. AT&T wins USPS contract. FEDEX, UPS shifting campaign contributions to Democrats. RPost, Postini form global alliance. Online postal delivery firm to star in new TV series.
Britain’s Postcomm threatens Royal Mail with breakup. Is Canada Post trying to ‘banish’ competitors? Deutsche Post loses Berlin business. FedEx changing partners in Russia. UPS wants China Postal Act modified. Korea post pondering bank investments. China Postal Group adding non-postal services.
A list of upcoming postal-related events.

The
DM Bulletin has reported that "Postcomm has suggested that Royal Mail's bulk
mail services could be removed from its universal service obligations in a
two-stage process."
Registration is now open for the September 19 NAMMU National Forum: 2008 Rate
Case Review Plus+ New Ideas That Matter
.
A vital session you won’t want to miss, this year’s forum mirrors the productive
format introduced in 2007, and adds even more opportunity for idea exchange. All
major postal products and services that enhance and impact your business model
are tabled. Maximum opportunity for dialogue, and discussion about new ideas
that matter to you. Registration required by September 14.
Learn more. And
be sure to register.
According
to the Kyodo
news service, "Japan Post said Friday all of some 26,000 automated teller
machines for postal savings will be taken out of service on Sept. 30 to prepare
for the privatization of postal services due to start the following day. All
postal ATMs installed at post offices and other locations across Japan need to
be suspended so as to confirm the amount of cash Japan Post holds on the last
day as a public corporation, it said. ATMs operated by financial institutions
and convenience stores tied up with Japan Post will not be affected."
The
Daily News has
reported that "Shortcomings at the top management level in the postal service
has led to several irregularities. Corrective measures will be taken immediately
after submission of the Committee Report, Posts and Telecommunications Minister
Rauff Hakeem said yesterday. Hakeem revealed this to representatives of trade
unions attached to the Postal Department during discussions to enlighten them on
matters of the interim committee report which probed into the alleged corruption
and irregularities at the Postal Department."
According to
Bloomberg, "FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service Inc. and General Dynamics
Corp. are among companies shifting campaign contributions to Democrats after
years of favoring Republicans, federal records show."
Air Force Link has
noted that "Members of the Det. 4, Pacific Air Forces Air Postal Squadron here
have been busy supporting Operation Deep Freeze 2007-08 winter flights to
Antarctica beginning in late August after more than 150 days since the last
shipment of mail to the ice station. The detachment members collected 14,000
pounds of incoming mail in more than five months for the staff of the U.S.
Antarctic Program at McMurdo Station who have wintered over and who are heading
down to the frozen continent. Severe winters prevent any flights into
Antarctica, but mail is flowing again now that winter fly-in flights have
started in late August. Loaded into tri-wall containers, the mail is palletized
eight containers at a time and loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III for a
five-hour flight to its destination on the ice.
The U.S.
Postal Service has revised Form 8125, Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS)
Verification and Clearance, and Form 8125-C, Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS)
Consolidated Verification and Clearance. Both forms are dated July 2007. Images
of the revised forms appear on pages 77–79 in the
August 2,
Postal Bulletin.
August 23, 2007
The
Wall Street
Journal has reported that "Valassis Communications Inc. sells coupons, but
it may be Valassis's shares taking a big discount if it doesn't show payoffs
from a recent acquisition. Buying direct marketer Advo Inc. -- a lengthy,
contentious purchase that closed in March -- was supposed to broaden Valassis's
coupon business as a price war with competitors and shrinking newspaper sales
eroded profits. Like Valassis, Advo puts together marketing promotions from
multiple advertisers. Valassis delivers its bundles of coupons as "free standing
inserts," or FSIs -- the familiar pages of coupons stuffed into Sunday
newspapers. Advo delivers similar marketing promotions through the mail.
Valassis saw an opportunity for cross-selling to each company's traditional
clients."
The
American Postal Workers Union has announced that "In an overwhelming vote of
51 to 9, on Aug. 17 the National Postal Professional Nurses (NPPN) voted “YES,”
in favor of merging with the American Postal Workers Union."
Hemscott has reported that "Oesterreichische Post AG (Austrian Post) said
that it plans to shed around 1,200 jobs until the end of 2009, with some 1,000
positions being eliminated in its mail and package delivery segment. The
Austrian postal services group said that the reduction in the number of letter
carriers will take place within the previously announced framework of striking
around 400 such positions a year through natural attrition."
The
Financial Times has reported that:
Royal Mail should be split in two if it fails to modernise its business and cut costs, the industry regulator warns on Thursday. Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm chairman, told the Financial Times the priority was for Royal Mail drastically to improve its efficiency. One option would be to separate its sorting operations from doorstep deliveries.
In public relations terms, Berlin’s decision this week to impose a minimum wage in the postal sector was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, demonstrating both social responsibility and industrial patriotism. But it was also symptomatic of how German policy-making could evolve, if the agenda of the government’s conclave starting on Thursday at its guesthouse north of Berlin is anything to go by.
Direct Newsline has reported that
"Quebecor World Inc. has named Hughes Bakewell president of its direct marketing
solutions business. Bakwell most recently served as VP of marketing at Quest
Diagnostics Inc. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of Kickstart Inc., an
Internet company, and before that he was a managing director at The Integer
Group, an advertising agency. Bakewell has also spent more than a decade in a
succession of marketing and business development roles at Frito-Lay Inc.,
Hallmark Cards Inc., and Pepsi-Cola Inc."
Federal Computer Week
has reported that "Robert Otto, the U.S. Postal Service’s chief technology
officer and a vice president, will retire Oct. 1."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL has joined the international
relief effort to help victims of the earthquake disaster in Peru. The DHL
Disaster Response Team (DRT) for the Americas region is supporting the National
Civil Defense System at the Pisco Air Base."
Network World has reported that "RPost on Monday announced its e-mail
registering service will be integrated with Postini’s messaging security hosted
service. As per the agreement, Postini’s 35,000 customer sites can immediately
take advantage of RPost’s proof-of-delivery service as part of Postini’s
collection of service offerings, according to RPost officials. RPost provides
users with proof of an e-mail’s content, receipt, and delivery date, which holds
up as admissible evidence in court, officials say. Sending a message with
RPost’s Registered E-mail service is much like sending registered mail, offering
proof that an e-mail was sent, when it was sent, who the recipient was, and what
the original content of the e-mail was. In June, RPost added encryption, PDF
conversion, data-leak protection and the ability to generate electronic
contracts to the service."
From
WebWire:
"Parcel2go, the UK and USA delivery and collection postal service, are now
offering a 10 percent discount for eBay users."
The
Economic Times has reported that:
Private courier companies have approached telecom minister A Raja demanding that the government hold fresh consultations with the industry before finalising amendments to the Indian Post Office Act. Private courier companies are opposed to the proposed amendments to the Post Office Act as it bars them from carrying letters and parcel below 150 gm and also seeks to limit foreign direct investment in the sector to 49%. The Bill also envisages that private courier companies who want to deliver letters below this slab (150 gm) be imposed a price multiple, which is five times more than the rates charged by India Post or 2.5 times of Speed Post rates.
Deutsche Post — one of the largest postal, express & logistics entities in the world and the owner of the DHL brand globally — is looking at developing a strategic partnership with the Indian postal system. Through this venture, both postal authorities are aiming at strengthening their global business operations. The entities are in early stages of discussions to ascertain specific segments, like last mile delivery, sharing infrastructural facility & technological innovations in which they could strike a partnership and initiate operations.
August 22, 2007
From the
Federal Register: "The Department of State solicits ideas and suggestions
for proposals that the U.S. Government could submit to the plenipotentiary
Congress of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from
August 13 to September 3, 2008. The deadline for submission of proposals by an
individual UPU member country is February 12, 2008. Written suggestions for
draft proposals for the Nairobi UPU Congress should reach the Department of
State by September 30, 2007. Your suggestions may be sent to the Department of
State by one of the following methods: E-mail:
DelehantyDM@state.gov or
WoodCS@state.gov. Fax: (202) 647-8902.
Mail: Mr. Dennis Delehanty, Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Technical
Specialized Agencies (IO/T), Bureau of International Organization Affairs,
Department of State, 2201 C Street, NW., Room 5333, Washington, DC 20520."
HR.BLR.com has reported that
"The U.S. Department of Labor has filed an administrative complaint against Alan
Berman Trucking, seeking $1,369,870 in back wages for 80 current and former
employees. The complaint also seeks to prohibit the company from receiving
government contracts for a period of three years. Alan Berman Trucking had some
$10 million in mail hauling contracts with the U.S. Postal Service subject to
the Service Contract Act (SCA) during the time period investigated, providing
services from postal facilities in the greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay
areas."
Reuters
AlertNet has reported that "A minimum wage for the postal sector has been
agreed in a deal to end the domestic mail monopoly, but the SPD insists on a
national minimum wage. The CDU is strongly against the idea."
CBC News has reported that "A private member's bill that would make it free
to send letters to Canadian Forces personnel serving overseas has stalled, and
the New Brunswick MP who sponsored the bill wants to know what the holdup is.
Saint John Liberal MP Paul Zed introduced the bill to amend the Canada Post
Corporation Act in April. Not only has Canada Post not responded to his calls
for action on the matter, he says, but House of Commons leader Peter Van Loan
struck down the bill three times in three weeks. Zed said it doesn't make sense,
because he feels the majority of parliamentarians support the bill. "
CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
Royal Mail will have to close its business year 2006/2007 with an operating loss of at least 17.6 million euros. For the previous year, in contrast, profits of almost 290m euros were reported.
The Arbeitgeberverband Postdienste (employers’ association for postal services) has been set up in Bonn in time for the upcoming introduction of minimum wages. The association is an initiative of Deutsche Post. The post, along with a whole range of affiliated postal businesses, belongs to the new committee, which plans to take up negotiations with ver.di immediately.
The structure of the Polish postal market is becoming increasingly stable. This a finding of the study of the postal market presented by the Polish regulator, Office of Electronic Communications,
The Russian post has big plans. This year the business will invest an equivalent of 273m euros in modernising its infrastructure and its network, as well as in automating its freight process. According to Russian media reports, the investments are a result of the 26 per cent increase in turnover, which Russian Post achieved in the first half of 2007 (some 863m euros).
In future, customers of the Chinese express operators will be able to claim compensation for consignments not delivered on time.
According to UPS CEO Mike Eskew, manufacturer-consumer relationships have changed radically. Whereas the road from the manufacturer to the customer used to be virtually a one-way street, the transport service is nowadays run according to very diverse customer demands. Mr. Eskew claims that this has created unprecedented possibilities for the integrator.
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The Swedish post is expanding in Norway. Having snatched the custom of the Swedish mail order business Ellos from Posten Norge AS, Posten Sverige AB is now spreading itself out on the Norwegian parcel market.
The Norwegian Post has announced a strict economy drive.
Belgian unions have accused the post’s CEO Johnny Thijs of a witch-hunt against sick employees.
TNT announced on Tuesday that, so far, 80 per cent of the planned 400meuro share buyback has been realised.
The German trade union ver.di last week criticised the decision to award the PIN Group the job of delivering the official post for the Berlin Senate.
TNT Post has gained further ground in its competition with Royal Mail.
Since 1 August, EMS Russian Post, the express subsidiary company of Russian Post, has offered a faster delivery service on express letters within the Russian Federation.
The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News. (We appreciate the courtesy extended by CEP News to help whet your appetite for more of what CEP offers.)
ThisIsLocalLondon has reported that "Royal Mail workers have warned the
suspension of industrial action may only be temporary if bosses continue to push
ahead with changes to working practices and conditions."
Expatica has noted that rolling strikes continue in Belgium as the failure
of progress in labor talks continues.
The
Financial Times has reported that "The German government could introduce a
minimum wage in postal services next year in a move set to help Deutsche Post,
the former monopoly, ahead of the liberalisation of the market. The decision
comes as the cabinet prepares for its mid-term retreat in Meseberg, north of
Berlin, on Thursday, where it will map out its policy programme for the next two
years. Economists have criticised the meeting’s draft agenda for focusing too
much on potentially costly social policies and protectionist measures at the
expense of structural reforms. Analysts said the minimum wage move reflected the
ruling parties’ concern about their lacklustre popularity ratings and Berlin’s
gradual embrace of a more hands-on industry policy."
The
Globe & Mail has reported that "More than twice as many letter carriers have
been bitten by dogs this summer in British Columbia than last and Canada Post
wants owners to know they're responsible for their pets."
August 21, 2007
From
PR Newswire: "AT&T Inc. has announced that AT&T Government Solutions has
been awarded up to $22 million under the Postal Advanced Telecommunications
Network (PATN) contract. AT&T will upgrade 1,800 United States Postal Service
(USPS) facilities with its Enhanced Virtual Private Network (EVPN) service."
From
Marketwire: "Pop N Go, Inc.
has announced the test of our popcorn vending machine program with the U.S
Postal Service at their South New Jersey Processing and Distribution Center.
Frank Collepardi, President of Franco's Snacks, stated, "We service over 1,000
employees in this center and based on the response to Pop N Go's popcorn machine
we are looking forward to expanding into many other facilities."
The
Orange County Register has reported that "U.S. Postal Service officials
announced Monday that they have scrapped plans for a proposed nine-acre mail
processing facility near the city's northern gateway, following two weeks of
heated opposition from residents and city leaders. The sticking point for the
project was a study determining that an overpass bridge was needed to cover a
rail line on the property, postal officials said. The bridge would have required
coordination with the Public Utilities Commission and each of the railroad
operators."
You can find
the latest UPS income statement on
Yahoo!.
CFRA.com
has reported that "Canada's border guards are looking for some high-tech help to
read the mail. The Canada Border Services Agency has put out a call to
manufacturers for leading edge equipment that will automatically screen
thousands of packages for weapons and explosives. The devices would be used to
monitor the flow of suspicious munitions into Canada's major postal facilities."
The
New York Times has noted that "Competing for consumers who spend less time
browsing to find the perfect card and who increasingly communicate with friends
electronically, the two companies — which dominate the $7.5 billion industry —
are appealing to women who, according to their research, like humorous takes on
their everyday travails. They also purchase 80 percent of all paper greeting
cards. While the paper card market is declining, it is still five times as large
as the e-card market, according to the Greeting Card Association, a trade group.
Ninety percent of United States households still buy paper greeting cards, and
the average household buys 30 a year, the association said."
9News.com
has noted that "U.S. Postal Inspectors hope you will recognize a man they say is
using counterfeit credit cards to steal stamps out of automated postal centers
at post offices in Denver and Boulder. Postal inspectors say this man used
numerous counterfeit credit cards to make transactions at the automated stamp
machines. The robber visited a number of Denver and Boulder post offices between
January and March 2007. Postal officials think he is part of a larger scheme to
steal stamps and sell them on the street or on the Internet."
From
eMediaWire:
"According to ScanMyPhotos.com, a division of 30 Minute Photos Etc. (which began
in 1990 as a traditional retail photo center in Irvine, Calif.), they have also
begun receiving its order of 50,000 co-branded United States Postal Service
Priority Flat Rate boxes. Working in partnership with the USPS, ScanMyPhotos.com
is able to provide super-fast turnarounds. According to Mitch Goldstone,
President and CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com, "the newly imprinted, co-branded boxes
help celebrate our commitment and enhances our credibility for the new business
model we built to efficiently preserve analog pictures in today's all digital
world."
Politics.co.uk has reported that "Politicians have welcomed Royal Mail's
decision to allow relatives of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to send
parcels for free. Royal Mail is working with the British Forces Post Office to
arrange special arrangements for the busy posting period up until Christmas and
will confirm formal arrangements in the next few days. Head of the army general
sir Richard Dannatt, who had called on Royal Mail to introduce the free service,
said he was delighted at the move." See also
The Mirror.
Bloomberg has reported that "German postal workers may be subject to a
minimum wage from early next year after the ruling coalition parties reached a
late-night deal to extend basic pay levels, Labor Minister Franz Muentefering
said.
Arabian Business has reported that "A pan-GCC mail transportation company is
likely to be set up to carry postal mail and courier parcels across the region,
the UAE’s postal services company said. The company, which was first proposed at
a meeting of GCC postal officials last May, would facilitate package delivery
among the different postal systems of the six GCC member states." See also
AMEInfo.
Xinhua has reported that "China's first national museum of postal artifacts
is expected to open in Beijing on Wednesday, according to its owner China Postal
Group (CPG). The China Museum of Postal Services and Stamps will house almost
10,000 exhibit items in a four-story exhibition hall with a floor space of 7,500
square meters, and a warehouse with a floor space of 6,000 square meters. The
country's postal services can be traced back to 400 B.C., when post houses were
set up nationwide by imperial governments to deliver letters and documents,
mostly for military and diplomatic purposes."
AllAfrica.com has
reported that "Posta Uganda, the country's traditional postal service provider,
is sliding out of business after taking damaging knocks from new sophisticated
players amid severe under funding from the government. "Posta needs
re-capitalisation to become profitable," the former Posta Uganda Board
Chairperson Aisha Lubega said last week. Her statement underlined the deep
seated precarious situation under which the company is operating. Almost ten
years after its formation, the company has failed to break even despite initial
government promises to subsidise it."
August 20, 2007
Be sure to
check out the PostInsight web site, where
you can find a summary of the findings and strategic conclusions of the latest
paper
in the Future of Mail Series from Pitney Bowes. This paper is entitled Bills,
Statements and Payments – Paper and Electronic Delivery. The complete report is
available at
http://postinsight.com/files/EBPP_Paper_Aug07_AFu.pdf.
The
Economic Times has reported that "After putting the issue on the backburner
for a couple of months on account of strong protests from private courier
players, the ministry of communications under telecom minister A Raja has now
revived work on amendments to the controversial postal bill. Private courier
companies are opposed to the proposed bill as it intends to prevent them from
carrying any letter or parcel below 150 grams and also seeks to limit the
foreign direct investment in the sector to 49%. The bill also envisages that
private courier companies who want to deliver letters below this slab (150
grams) do so at a price which is five times more than the rates charged by India
Post or 2.5 times Speed Post rates."
August 18, 2007
The
Orange County Register has reported that "After two weeks of heated debate,
the council Tuesday is expected to weigh in on a U.S. Postal Service backed plan
to construct a 9-acre mail sorting facility at the northern gateway to the city.
While postal officials say the facility is needed to meet growing demand for
mail service in South County, many residents and community leaders fear it would
destroy the rural character of the area."
MediaWeek has reported that "Emap has handed its magazine postal account to
TNT Post, marking the Royal Mail rival’s first win in the sector. The 12-month
contract will involve handling up to six million items across its consumer and
business-to-business titles using TNT’s Premier service."
The
Daily Mail has reported that "Royal Mail is paying out more than £1million a
month in compensation for its failures - including settling vast numbers of
claims for lost and damaged items. More than 800 claims a day are paid out for
letters and packages that have been lost. There are another 80 a day for damaged
parcels and 150 per day over delayed items. The £13.6million annual bill to
settle claims represents the tip of the iceberg of Royal Mail failings because
the company has become notorious for refusing to pay up over complaints."
In a letter
to the editor, Communication Workers Union president
Billy Hayes took the Financial Times to task for an earlier
editorial. He wrote: "You paint the usual picture of letters being replaced by
e-mail. This ignores the growth of letters alongside the internet. The
complementary nature of different forms of communication in society and industry
appears too complex a concept for many. If this is simply a declining industry,
why are foolish competitors lining up to take a piece of the vanishing pie? Of
course, privatisation is your ultimate solution. Our view is different. We
favour making the industry more responsive to customer demand through a process
of tailoring services to customers, and involving authority for decision-making
in line with local needs."
ZeeNews has reported that "Post offices in metros are set for a major change
with the Government deciding to introduce new facilities like forex counters,
cargo services, access to instant money order and other revenue generating
services."
August 17, 2007
The latest issue of
the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
The Postal Regulatory Commission released its proposed regulations for establishing a modern system of ratemaking this week. In it, the PRC lays out the basic elements of how the new system will work and provides comprehensive proposed regulations to move the USPS’ ratemaking system for market-dominant products away from the old cost-of-service system to one based on a price cap.
The Postal Service held a market fact-finding session this week to provide interested parties an opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification around the Postal Service’s July 25 request for information on a time-definite surface network. Postal officials briefed attendees on the operations information in the RFI and clarified certain issues to help potential suppliers respond effectively to the request.
PostCom Vice President Kate Muth stirs of pot of fresh ideas in her thought-provoking postal perspective, which first appeared in the July/August issue of Mailing Systems Technology magazine.
Congress asks GAO to investigate executive bonuses. Mexico, U.S. sign postal agreement. UPS system helps U.S. Air Force track mail in South Korea.
More labor action against Britain’s Royal Mail. Deutsche Post CEO accused of ‘fear mongering’ over competition remarks. It was a good six months for Austria Post. Germans share in U.S. mortgage market disaster.
A list of upcoming postal-related events.
Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the
best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?
Send us by email your name, company,
company title, postal and email address.
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Yahoo! has reported that "News audiences are ditching television and
newspapers and using the Internet as their main source of information, in a
trend that could eventually see the demise of local papers, according to a new
study."
According to
LawFuel, "IBM
Corporation and PriceWaterhouseCoopers have both agreed to pay the United States
more than $5.2 million to settle allegations that the companies solicited an
provided improper payments and other things of value on technology contracts
with government agencies, the Justice Department announced today. IBM has agreed
to pay $2,972,038.50, while PWC will pay $2,316,662. According to the complaints
against the companies, IBM and PWC knowingly solicited and/or made payments of
money and other things of value, known as alliance benefits, to a number of
companies with whom they had global alliance relationships. The government
intervened in the actions because the alleged alliance relationships and
resulting alliance benefits amount to kickbacks, as well as undisclosed conflict
of interest relationships in violation of contractual provisions and the
applicable provisions of the federal acquisition regulations."
From the
Federal Register: "Representatives from Time Inc. will present a briefing on
Monday, August 20, 2007, beginning at 3 p.m., in the Postal Regulatory
Commission's main conference room. The briefing will address delivery service
measurement for certain Periodicals mailings. The briefing is open to the
public."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "FedEx appears to have lost its
present round of litigation over wages rates for its drivers. According to its
opponents in the litigation, the California Court of Appeal has upheld the trial
court's decision finding FedEx Ground drivers to be employees and not
independent contractors, thus denying the appeal of FedEx in the landmark
Estrada vs. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. The appeals court also determined
that the FedEx Ground drivers were entitled to reimbursement for approximately
$6 million in additional expenses, bringing the total damages to about $11
million for 200 drivers."
As
Steve Barr of the Washington Post has noted, "Here's a regulator running
ahead of schedule -- the Postal Regulatory Commission. The commission this week
released a 160-page proposed framework for setting mail rates, beating the
deadline set by Congress by 10 months."
ABC12.com has reported that "Around 180 Flint postal jobs could move to
Pontiac. The United States Postal Service is proposing the move as part of a
consolidation plan. Workers are not happy about this proposal. That's why they
held an informational picket day, saying this consolidation would be
unnecessary."
From
Newswire Today: "As the
world’s largest exhibition and conference for printing, finishing and packaging
products, GRAPH EXPO 2007 will feature hundreds of vendors displaying their
latest equipment and products. But only at BÖWE BELL + HOWELL’s booth will
attendees see a unique Connectivity Showcase featuring what is expected to be
the largest multi-vendor online connectivity ever displayed at a print
tradeshow. This “live and connected” environment will feature Web-based tracking
of vendors’ equipment on the show floor in real time, illustrating their open
architecture and integration capabilities. A leading provider of document
management and postal solutions, BÖWE BELL + HOWELL will prominently occupy
Booth No. 600, located just inside the main tradeshow entrance at GRAPH EXPO
2007."
Reuters
has reported that "African postal services must diversify into lucrative
businesses like money transfers and direct marketing or lack of government
support will force them out of operation, the head of Posta Uganda said on
Friday. National post organisations are suffering worldwide as volumes of
traditional letters fall and more people use e-mails, the Internet and mobile
telephones to communicate. In Africa, many rural post offices are little more
than dilapidated shacks. But often they are the only network capable of reaching
the majority of the population who live in villages. Some believe they could
also be used to bring new electronic services to millions of customers."
August 16, 2007
According to
24dash, "The Royal
Mail is losing almost 2p on every letter it delivers for rival firms, new
financial figures have shown."
The
Nanaimo News Bulletin has reported that "To many, the public library is a
sacred institution – like motherhood and apple pie, or rural mail delivery. But
in January a World Trade Organization ruling takes effect that would block
Ottawa directly subsidizing postal rates for libraries. Canada Post would likely
start charging libraries the full parcel rate – 13 times what it currently
charges them to send materials to in the mail."
The
Financial Times has reported that "Royal Mail slipped into the red for the
first time in six years on its first and second- class and bulk business mail,
incurring an operating loss of £12m last year after a profit of £197m in
2005-06. The weak financial performance, revealed in its regulatory accounts
yesterday, underlines the challenges facing the company as it seeks to cut costs
and raise productivity."
According to
The Mirror, "Royal Mail could face a £350million fine after the recent
strikes left services in turmoil."
According to
the Mackinac Center for
Public Policy, "At 41 cents per stamp, paying a bill, sending a birthday
card or keeping in touch with a pen pal can be pretty expensive. Postal fees
continue to rise, but deliveries aren’t faster, mail isn’t safer and the lines
at the Post Office don’t get any shorter. All this leads one to ask, "How can
such an inefficient company stay in business?" The answer, of course, is by
force of law: Competing with the United States Postal Service in the delivery of
first-class mail is illegal. The Post Office has held its statutory mail
monopoly since our country’s infancy, when government officials contended that
private companies could not handle the awesome responsibility of delivering the
mail. But the truth is that private mail services have existed all along and
have generally lowered prices, introduced innovations and intrepidly challenged
the government’s statutory control of the mail delivery market."
New Delhi News has
reported that "State-run India Post is seeking to beat growing competition from
private courier companies by acquiring its own aircraft that would carry mail by
the end of this month."
Easier Finance has reported that "Post Office Ltd and British Gas have
signed a new deal running to the end of December 2010, which allows British Gas
customers to continue to benefit from the convenience of paying for and towards
their Gas and Electricity at Post Office branches."
August 15, 2007
The
Postal Regulatory
Commission (PRC) today published
proposed regulations to implement a modern ratemaking and classification system
for market dominant and competitive mail products. Comments to the
proposed regulations are due by September 14,2007, and reply comments are due by
September 28,2007. The proposed regulations are available on the Commission's
website, www.prc.gov, and will be available in the Federal Register. The
proposed rulemaking consists of three parts: regulations related to compet itive
products; regulations related to rate adjustments for market dominant products,
includinq the formula for calculation of the rate cap under which annual
adjustments may be made; and establishment of a Mail Class ification Schedule,
which categorizes products as either market dominant or competitive. See also
the
PRC press release.
Press
Release: "Winn Solutions has over a decade of experience in the software
tracking industry combined with todays leading edge technology, Microsofts .NET
Framework, we have created the first hosted, web-based tracking system: WebWITS.
Please read our overview that explains the benefits of a web-based system such
as WITS when compared to a web-enabled system. Click here to download the
white paper from WINN Solutions."
From
Business Wire: "Postage, which already represents one of direct marketers’
largest expenses, has just become even more costly in the wake of recent rate
increases. To help mailers mitigate the impact of these increases,
Transcontinental Direct offers a postal optimization solution to maximize USPS
postage and destination-entry discounts. Called Postedge, the company’s Standard
Class postal optimization service includes professional presorting, commingling,
and logistics services designed not only to take maximum advantage of available
USPS discount incentives, but also to improve the overall consistency and
predictability of in-home delivery."
CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
After Deutsche Post’s CEO Klaus Zumwinkel talked about a distortion of competition in the German postal market and demanded the introduction of a minimum wage for the industry, politicians have responded by accusing Mr Zumwinkel of "fear mongering and pessimism".
Analysts’ expectations were fulfilled: Österreichische Post was able to achieve growth in both turnover and result during the first half of 2007.
In an interview with the CEP News, Spring Global Mail confirmed that international operators are struggling in Canada at present.A spokesperson for the Royal Mail/TNT joint venture stated that Canada Post was responsible for creating the greatest difficulties.
Finland’s post Itella enjoyed a growth period during both the second quarter and the first half of 2007.
According to media reports, FedEx has found a new service partner in the Russian market. Instead of long-standing partner Emex¸ Major Express will operate in the Russian market on behalf of FedEx.
US-based investment firm Allied Capital Corporation has taken over Worldwide Express Inc., a wholesaler for DHL consignments in the USA.
Leading United Parcel Service managers have demanded improvements to the Chinese Postal Act.
PIN AG has snatched a contract with the Berlin local government from under the nose of Deutsche Post.
The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News. (We appreciate the courtesy extended by CEP News to help whet your appetite for more of what CEP offers.)
The
DM Bulletin has reported that "Shoppers are increasingly using catalogues to
pick a product before going online to place their order, signalling a new trend
dubbed 'flick to click' shopping, according to research from Experian."
According to
The Day, "never mind the rain, snow and gloom of night — porch steps alone will
stop the mail." See also the
Norwich Bulletin.
Dow Jones has reported that "the Mexican government plans to upgrade the
country's much-criticized postal service and signed an agreement Tuesday with
the U.S. Postal Service to help in the process. Communications and Transport
Minister Luis Tellez said the Mexican Postal Service, or Sepomex, has been
neglected for years, while the USPS is "an example of modernity, efficiency and
quality." Under the agreement signed Tuesday, Sepomex staff will visit U.S.
facilities to analyze procedures and equipment, and the two will also cooperate
to improve cross-border services."
Potomac News has reported that "the work environment at the Harry J. Parrish
Post Office in Manassas has disintegrated, according to carriers, clerks and
union representatives. And they don't want to take it anymore."
According to
Marketing
Sherpa, "Digital print capabilities have made it possible so you don’t have
to send out the exact same postal mail piece to each of your prospects. In fact,
you can arrange products based on past purchase behavior and other data or even
change the size of your mailer. Reader’s Digest Canada has results from a new
mailing where they tested four catalogs with varying levels of customization.
Conversions increased as much as 74%. "
The
Financial Express has noted that "Liberalisation has contributed to India’s
transition from dismal growth rates to the present rate of 9%, among the highest
today in the world. After decades of being served sub-standard goods, the Indian
consumer is experiencing the benefits of competition in sectors such as
automobiles, consumer electronics and durables, telecommunications, insurance,
and so on. Yet unfortunately, reform remains to be completed in important areas,
for example coal, oil, gas, banking and posts. Old habits die hard and there is
a tendency to retain controls or power of market intervention, as reflected in
some recent ministerial proposals such as the Postal Amendment Bill that seeks
to give a wide monopoly to the Post Office and impose regulatory controls on
private service providers, or the Warehousing Bill that seeks to actually
regulate warehousing rates and conditions! "
BOPA News has noted that "Botswana finance assistant minister Duncan Mlazie
has said that "postal services constitute a very important part of peoples daily
life all over the world."
August 14, 2007
From
PRDomain: "Variable data printing (VDP) is the star of a new DVD aimed at
educating marketers on the power of personalized print communications. Sponsored
by Kodak, the DVD explores the components of a successful VDP program through a
series of expert interviews and detailed analysis of real world case studies
from a variety of industries. Advertising Age magazine, Printing Impressions
magazine, the U.S. Postal Service, Pitney Bowes and Kodak collaborated in the
production of the DVD."
Mad.co.uk has reported that "Royal Mail is promoting the combined use of
direct mail and digital campaigns after its latest research found it can
increase customer spend by almost 25 per cent. The postal operator’s consumer
study into the best uses of different advertising also reveals nearly 70 per
cent of respondents believe direct mail supports online advertising."
Traffic World
has reported that "How the UPS and Teamsters deal with the pension fund will set
the tone for how both will handle pensions and each other for decades to come. A
UPS pullout from the fund would reverberate across the parcel delivery and
trucking industries. Union activists worry that if one of the largest unionized
companies pulls out of a multiemployer plan, others will follow."
Direct Newsline has
reported that "while postal list costs rise consumer and business-to-business
e-mail list prices have declined over the last year, while the cost of magazine
and newsletter postal lists have risen $6/M and $5/M respectively, according the
Worldata Summer 2007 List Price Index."
Press
Release: "If you will be attending Graph Expo ’07, visit
Window Book at Booth #2297 where they
will be showcasing its new mailing product, Postage Statement Form Filler
(PSFF). PSFF is an easy and cost-effective solution for quickly producing
printed USPS Postage Statements replacing hand-written mailing statements.
Postage Statement Form Filler allows users to easily create computer generated
Postage Statements, when submitting them handwritten is the only other option.
The new Postage Statement Form Filler will generate the following statements and
forms for processing your mailings: 3541, 3600-R, 3602-R, 3602-N, 3605-R, 3606,
3700, and 8125s. Fill out your statements faster and more accurately."
PostalMag.com has reported that "Among the
items in the Proposed National Agreement between the NALC and USPS is a
memorandum on FSS work methods. FSS could add another (third) bundle to
carriers' daily workload (1. carrier-cased letters and flats; 2. DPS letters; 3.
DPS flats). According to the memorandum, a Joint Task Force comprised of four
members from the NALC and four from the USPS will "explore alternative work
methods necessary for handling mail in an FSS environment." Though the
implementation of FSS will result in greater efficiencies in the sorting of
mail, the implementation could make the daily work of carriers harder in that
carriers will probably have a third bundle everyday, instead of just on circular
(ADVO, etc.) days. (Still not clear is how circulars will be delivered in an FSS
environment.) Also, carrier routes will be adjusted longer as carriers will need
less office time to sort mail."
August 13, 2007
Newbury
Today has reported that "the postal strike by Royal Mail sorting office and
delivery workers, which has disrupted postal services in the Newbury area, has
been called off until September. Counter staff remain set to continue their
industrial action, however. The postal workers union CWU has issued a statement
about their dispute with employers Royal Mail, saying both sides were committed
to reach an agreement by Tuesday, September 4. Delivery and mail sorting workers
returned to work after union bosses signed up to a pledge that during this
period CWU will not serve notice of any strike action, with all industrial
action suspended." [Who the blazes is in charge here? Does anyone speak for
the union as a whole?]
The
Washington Post has reported that "Bonuses for federal executives are
getting a congressional grilling. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) has asked the
Government Accountability Office to investigate possible misuse of the bonus
program for federal executives. In fiscal 2006, two-thirds of federal executives
received bonuses, and at five federal agencies, more than 90 percent of the
executives collected bonuses, he pointed out. In announcing the GAO probe,
Dorgan said agencies, rather than rewarding only their high-performing
executives, seemed to believe that all of their executives were above average,
"a lot like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon." Dorgan said he was concerned by
reports that some executives received bonuses when their agencies had failed to
meet certain performance standards."
Stars
and Stripes has reported that "A new tracking system — the first at an Air
Force base in the Pacific — is helping postal workers at Osan automate
registered mail and package deliveries. The system, called UPS Trackpad, is a
United Parcel Service system that uses bar codes and computer scans to track
certain mail inside the post office."
The
Detroit Free Press
has noted that "As airline delays mount and more bags are mishandled, it's not
an idle worry. About one of every 130 domestic airline passengers had luggage go
astray during the first four months of 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of
Transportation. That's the highest since last summer's airline
bankruptcy-inspired delays. To be on the safe side, you can ship your luggage
ahead. Around for about eight years, luggage delivery services are being used
more as airlines crack down on luggage allotments. While not all guarantee your
bags will arrive, most ship several days ahead so you're likely to get delivery
on time. After surveying prices and policies, and being the cheapskates we are,
the Detroit Free Press tried the cheapest method of mailing a small suitcase
fast, the good old U.S. Postal Service (USPS)."
The
Financial Times has reported that "Horror stories about the state of Royal
Mail abound. But there is a good chance that these tales are not circulating in
the form of a letter, stamped and mailed at a post office. That loss of market
share lies at the heart of Royal Mail's problems: its operations are a shambles
- not entirely its own fault - and the company is facing ever more competition
it is not equipped to handle."
InTheNews has reported that "Thousands of Post Office workers are today
staging a pay strike, which comes after separate industrial action by postal
workers was called off last week. Today's strike, the latest in a series of
walkouts staged by workers at crown post office branches, comes after union
leaders called off separate industrial action by postal workers on Thursday
after agreeing to further talks with Royal Mail bosses over a row concerning pay
and conditions."
The
Philippine
Information Agency has reported that "the country will host the 14th
Association of Southeast Asian Nations Postal Business Meeting (ASEANPost) on
September 4 to 6, 2007 that will be held in Makati City."
August 11, 2007
eTrucker.com
has reported that "A former FedEx owner-operator told a congressional panel that
the company had misclassified him as an independent contractor."
The
Daily Mail has reported that "Almost two-thirds of homes and businesses will
be condemned to afternoon deliveries under fiercely contentious Royal Mail
plans. The proposal, hidden away in a consultation paper, signals yet another
downgrading of a once first-class postal service. It will infuriate consumer
groups and small firms who see morning deliveries as their lifeblood."
The
Times of Malta
has reported that "The Union Haddiema Maghqudin has met Investments Minister
Austin Gatt to discuss the future of Maltapost employees in connection with the
company's privatisation."
Zawya has reported that "Global leader in international express, overland
transport and air and ocean freight, DHLDHL has decided to transfer two of its
main aviation services centres from Africa and Europe to the kingdom. Operations
of its Harare and Brussels centres would be merged and shifted to Bahrain to
serve the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe segments. Bahrain is a
major hub for the cargo leader's Middle East operations with its regional
distribution centre based at the Bahrain International airport."
August 10, 2007
The latest issue of
the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
Postal Service Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Glen Walker told the Board of Governors at its most recent open meeting that the Postal Service’s income from operations through the third quarter of the fiscal year was $1.225 billion, a decrease of $430 million when compared to the same period last year.
The Postal Service has told its Board of Governor that it has had a banner third quarter around service performance, as measured by the External First Class Measurement System (EXFC), which measures the delivery performance of collection-box First Class Mail.
The Postal Service filed two new requests with the Postal Regulatory Commission in the past week – one seeking a functionally equivalent NSA and the other a new baseline agreement. The Bradford Group, a seller of collectibles and gift items, is seeking an NSA modeled after the Bookspan agreement from last year. (It is Docket MC2007-4.) The new baseline NSA is with Life Line Screening, which seeks declining block rates for Standard Mail letters for selling healthcare screening services to a nationwide customer base (MC2007-5).
The milestones associated with the Bank of America negotiated service agreement (NSA) warrant a fresh look at the Postal Regulatory Commission's standards for review of proposed NSAs, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) says in its initial brief submitted last week in its proceeding before the commission, MC2007-1.
The Mail Order Association of America, Advo, Inc., Valpak Direct Marketing, and the Greeting Card Association submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission regarding the different application of laws to the United States Postal Service and private competitors.
DM News postal commentator Cary Baer shares some thoughts about feedback he has received from readers.
The U.S. Postal Service and one of its largest unions, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), just reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract.
USPS proposes making premium forwarding service permanent. United Parcel Service of America Inc., Atlanta, and Teamsters Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Rosemont, Ill., have reached an agreement on the company's potential withdrawal from the $20.7 billion fund, A federal judge in South Bend this month will weigh whether lawsuits filed by independent contractors against FedEx Corp. in two dozen states should be combined. The Chicago District of the U.S. Postal Service announced that it had improved its delivery rate through reforms a few months after the U.S. postmaster slammed the city for having the worst mail delivery in the nation. FedEx Kinko's, a unit parcel delivery group FedEx Corp. (FDX), plans top open 300 new offices and print centers in the U.S. in fiscal 2008 and 20 new centers outside the U.S. According to the Flint Journal, nearly 150 Flint postal jobs could head south under a plan revealed to local employees.
Deutsche Post AG defenseless against invaders into its lucrative home turf as the rest of Europe backtracks on promises to throw open national mail markets. DHL Express has sold its Dutch subsidiary Dedicated Distribution Services (DDS) and its Belgian subsidiary Van Osselaer Pieters Colli Service (VOP) to Österreichische Post AG (ÖPAG), the Austrian postal service. U.K. postal workers are due to go on the next phase of their roll-out series of strikes as the bitter row over pay and jobs remains deadlocked. China Post Group will set up a life insurance unit. UPS CEO Michael Eskew believes that China should improve transparency of a new law governing the country's $6 billion-a-year express delivery market. Osterreichische Post AG (Austrian Post) said its net income for the second-quarter was up. Sri Lanka is seeking to upgrade its postal services. The Postmaster General of the Nigerian Federation, Mallam Ibrahim Mori Baba, has asked employees of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to brace up for the challenges of global competition in the discharge of postal services, saying that was the only way to catch up with the state of postal services in other regions of the world. The Italian competition regulator has opened an investigation into possible abuse of a dominant market position by the country's leading postal services operator, Poste Italiane. Other international postal news you can use.
From The Mailbag
A list of upcoming postal-related events.
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As
Air
Cargo World has noted, "As the U.S. Postal Service faces the growing
challenge of consumers' move to electronic communications, revenue in
the third quarter grew just 2.9 percent. USPS got a boost for its
competition with private parcel carriers from its scores in on-time
performance. The scores were at all-time highs for all three categories
tracked. "
The
Financial Times has reported that "Royal Mail should be allowed to
increase the price of a second-class stamp from 24p to 29p by 2010 to
help its “deteriorating financial position”, the postal operator’s
regulator proposed on Thursday." See also
The Independent.
According to
Card Guide, "A number of banks and credit card companies in the UK
have stated that they intend to be sympathetic with customers who may
have suffered as a result of the postal strikes in terms of payments
coming in late because of the postal delays. Although banks have
suffered a fair amount of bad press lately some of the leading banks and
credit card companies stated that they would take the postal strikes
into account when it came to customers' accounts."
DM
News has reported that "In light of the recent postal rate hike and
advances in printing technology, the transpromo trend has quickly
accelerated. Transpromo is a technique that combines obligatory
transactional customer communication with revenue-generating promotional
offers."
The Rio Rancho Observer quoted one local official as saying:
"Sometimes you wonder how can a mailman put in a wrong box on a wrong
address so many letters, including statements of the credit card," he
said in an interview the previous day. "Something is not working right
in the back of the post office. Something is dysfunctional."
August 9, 2007
The
U.S. Postal Service has filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission
a paper by
one of its consultants, James I. Campbell, Esq., on "An Analysis of
Provisions of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act Relating to
the Regulation of Postal Rates and Services."
The
Postal Regulatory
Commission the Commission has received an appeal of the closing of
the Ecorse Classified Finance Station, Ecorse, MI.
Deutsche Welle has reported that "At the end of this year, the
remains of Germany's postal monopoly are slated to be fully dismantled.
But Deutsche Post says it faces a less-than-level playing field and
unfair competition on the open market."
According to the Lexington Institute's
Dr. Charles Guy, "the Postal Service would apparently prefer to cave
in to union demands rather than confront the long-term challenges of its
burgeoning labor costs. USPS also capitulated earlier this year in its
negotiations with the American Postal Workers Union, its largest union."
Reuters has reported that "Postal workers have called off a series
of 24-hour strikes due to start at 7 p.m. on Thursday after last-minute
talks with employers at the Royal Mail. In a joint statement the
Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the Royal Mail said "detailed
discussions" would now take place at the Trades Union Congress. Both
sides were committed to reaching an agreement by September 4, the
statement added."
Newsdesk has reported that "DHL Express
has reached an agreement to sell its Dutch subsidiary Dedicated
Distribution Services (DDS) and its Belgian subsidiary Van Osselaer
Pieters Colli Service (VOP) to Österreichische Post AG (ÖPAG), the
Austrian postal service. The transaction is a further step in DHL’s
strategy to optimize the strategic synergies within the express
organization and thus to maximize shareholder value. The transaction
will not have any effect on the services provided to existing
customers."
From
the
Federal Register: The Postal Regulatory Commission has opened
"a formal docket to consider changing the status of Premium Forwarding
Service (PFS) from experimental to permanent. It describes the Postal
Service's proposal and makes several preliminary administrative
decisions. Issuance of this document meets legal publication
requirements and informs interested persons about key details, including
opportunities for public participation and the decisionmaking timetable.
August 21, 2007: Deadline for intervention. August 28, 2007: Prehearing
conference (10 a.m.)."
According to
Pensions & Investments, "United Parcel Service of America Inc.,
Atlanta, and Teamsters Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas
Pension Fund, Rosemont, Ill., reached an agreement on the company’s
potential withdrawal from the $20.7 billion fund, according to a letter
the International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent to local union offices."
The
Indianapolis Business Journal has reported that "A federal judge in
South Bend this month will weigh whether lawsuits filed by independent
contractors against FedEx Corp. in two dozen states should be combined.
About 150 independent contract drivers, designated by FedEx as part-time
employees, seek to be classified as full-time workers, according to
Bloomberg. That would entitle them to benefits and paid time off. FedEx
also could be forced to buy up to 15,000 trucks used by the drivers, at
$45,000 apiece. According to some estimates, a favorable ruling for
contract drivers could cost the Memphis-based company $630 million."
From
PR Web:
"StampsByMail.us is officially open for business.
StampsByMail.us will allow people
or businesses to order Stamps by phone or online and have them delivered
right to their door. In addition, people can enroll in a Stamp
Subscription Program, and automatically receive Stamps Monthly or
Bi-Weekly."
The
Chicago Tribune has reported that "The Chicago District of the U.S.
Postal Service announced Wednesday that it had improved its delivery
rate through reforms a few months after the U.S. postmaster slammed the
city for having the worst mail delivery in the nation." See also the
Chicago Sun-Times.
Check out the
PostInsight web site for the latest paper on 'Future of Mail' Paper:
"Bills, Statements and Payments – Paper a
nd
Electronpic Delivery" by Alex Fu. This paper analyzes the
U.S. and European landscape vis-à-vis: the adoption rates of electronic
bills, statements and payments, and the evolution of the corresponding
mail volumes. Third, the paper examines how consumers prefer to receive
and pay bills so as to provide an outlook on the future of paper vs.
electronic methods. Finally, the paper looks at the progress billers
have made to effectively institute and establish new bill, statement and
payment mechanisms."
According to
Bloomberg, "Deutsche Post AG may be defenseless against invaders
into its lucrative home turf as the rest of Europe backtracks on
promises to throw open national mail markets. A two-year delay in
opening most of the region is thwarting plans by Europe's biggest postal
service to expand. That leaves Deutsche Post little room to improve
margins when its letter- delivery monopoly in Germany, its most
profitable business, ends Jan. 1. The shares have dropped 18 percent
since April, after more than doubling in four years as Deutsche Post
shed workers and boosted profit."
Manchester.com has reported that "UK postal workers will today begin
the latest in a series of strikes as union leaders continue to battle
with Royal Mail bosses over pay and jobs." See also
The Guardian.
The Times has reported that "Royal Mail came under attack yesterday
for refusing to publish its delayed financial results as it emerged that
it has given them to the postal regulator."
Newsdesk has reported that "DHL EXPRESS has reached an agreement to
sell its Dutch subsidiary Dedicated Distribution Services (DDS) and its
Belgian subsidiary Van Osselaer Pieters Colli Service (VOP) to
Österreichische Post AG (ÖPAG), the Austrian postal service. The
transaction is a further step in DHL’s strategy to optimize the
strategic synergies within the EXPRESS organization and thus to maximize
shareholder value."
Hemscott has reported that "China Post Group, a 10 bln-usd company
formed out of the State Postal Bureau, said it has won regulatory
approval to set up a life insurance unit."
Forbes has reported that "Oesterreichische Post AG (Austrian
Post) said its net income for the second-quarter was up 72 pct
year-on-year to 25.1 mln eur, beating analyst consensus of 21.0 mln eur,
thanks to continued strong growth in the company's packets and logistics
segments."
This Day
has reported that "The Postmaster General of the Federation, Mallam
Ibrahim Mori Baba has asked employees of the Nigerian Postal Service
(NIPOST) to brace up for the challenges of global competition in the
discharge of postal services, saying that was the only way to catch up
with the state of postal services in other regions of the world."
August 8, 2007
The
Postal Regulatory Commission has received a request of the United States Postal Service for a recommended decision on classifications and rates to
implement a baseline negotiated service agreement with Life Line Screening (Docket
No. MC2007-5).
CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
In the second quarter of the year, Deutsche Post has profited from its express sector and, above all, managed to increase profit considerably.
The Danish postal regulator has criticised careless practice at Post Danmark regarding the duty of confidentiality.
Various private postal services in Germany, including the PIN Group, are refusing to answer the Federal Network Agency’s questionnaire on the working conditions and wages of their employees.
After the negotiating parties Royal Mail and CWU were yet again unable to reach an agreement regarding new wage settlements last week, employees and the union have announced further strike action for the period 9 to 11 August.
Poste Italiane could become known as a power supplier in the future. The financial newspaper »MF« (25.7) reported that the CEO, Massimo Sarmi, is considering taking over a number of small power stations. This would enable the Italian post on the one hand to lower its own electricity bill and on the other hand to retail the electricity through its nationwide post office network. According to the paper, the board’s plan will be discussed in the next few days.
In the second quarter of the year, Posten Norge has managed to improve the quality of its delivery service - finally fulfilling the tariff quota for the so-called A Post once again.
Cartes Llerida is the first Spanish private operator permitted to use the infrastructure of Correos.
Singapore Post has completed the first quarter of the business year 2007/- 2008 with two-digit growth rates on turnover and profit.
MIBM Express, a Bulgarian express transport company, has obtained a 20- year licence from the state regulator, allowing it to provide postal services.
The Dutch TNT has announced that it will react to changing market conditions by updating its strategy and investigating growth opportunities. Faced with liberalisation, demographic change and new environmental awareness, the business is considering new offers in the just-in-time delivery and e-commerce sectors.
Geodis intends to buy the French courier business 46 Express.
The parcel service Hermes, which specialises in B2C parcels, is considering expanding to Italy and Spain in order to extend its European distribution and parcel network.
In future, profitability and stockholders shall be the centre of interest and transparency shall be increased.
The Danish transport group DSV AS took over its New Zealand partner Leader Container Line International Limited.
DHL’s business volume has increased by 25 per cent since the opening of the new hub in Dubai.
The Austrian Cartel Commission has approved the purchase of the direct marketing operator meiller direct GmbH by Österreichische Post.
GLS, Royal Mail’s European parcel business, has opened a branch in Romania.
In the coming year Korea Post, South Korea’s state-owned postal operator, will buy three times as many shares as previously.
For the time being there will be no striking postal workers in Vietnam. At any rate, the Vietnamese government banned strikes in important public sectors last Wednesday.
Hans Boon is the new General Director of the state-owned Armenian Hay- Post.
The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News. (We appreciate the courtesy extended by CEP News to help whet your appetite for more of what CEP offers.)
The
presentation to the Board of Governors by
USPS CFO Glen Walker
has been posted on this site.
From
the
U.S. Postal Service: "National on-time performance scores for the
delivery of First-Class Mail were at all-time highs in the third quarter
of fiscal year 2007 for all three of the categories the Postal Service
tracks. Overnight service was 96 percent on-time, up from 95 percent the
same period last year. Two-day service was 93 percent on-time and
three-day service was 91 percent on-time."
“Our
big challenge is to build awareness,” said Anita Bizzotto, CMO and EVP
at the USPS.
DM
News quoted her as saying, “We are not the same USPS we were 10
years ago; we have services that we never offered before that promise
efficiency, speed and automation.” The Postal Service has mailed about 1
billion direct mail pieces this year to educate small businesses, large
commercial businesses and consumers on the importance and effectiveness
of a direct mail piece. It’s part of a multichannel marketing approach
that uses direct mail, Internet and television ads."
icWales has reported that "As Royal Mail faces continuing industrial
unrest in a dispute with postmen and women over pay and modernisation,
Huw Roberts, Director of Welsh Affairs, Royal Mail Group, gives an
insight into the imperative for change in Britain’s postal services."
TMCNet
has reported that "Italian competition regulator Autorita Garante della
Concorrenza e del Mercato (Antitrust) has opened an investigation into
possible abuse of a dominant market position by the country's leading
postal services operator, Poste Italiane. The investigation relates to
liberalised services and services that are due to be liberalised in the
next six years, and covers supply contracts made by Poste Italiane
between December 2000 and January 2007. These contracts are thought to
have been weighted in the state-owned group's favour, and to have
contained clauses that restricted competition."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "Global express company
FedEx has confirmed reports that it is to move one of its principal
European operations from Frankfurt Rhein/Main Airport to Cologne/Bonn
Airport. The integrator stated on Monday that it "will relocate its
largest German gateway from Frankfurt/Main to the Cologne/Bonn airport
in 2010". The reason given for the move is that FedEx needs greater
capacity for its European network. Germany is particularly favoured due
to its exposure to Central and Eastern European traffic. To this end
FedEx will invest in 50,000 sq m of new sorting facilities in Cologne.
Another key reason for moving out of Frankfurt, however, was that
airpor'ts imminent ban on night-flights."
The Mirror has reported that "Union leaders last night blasted Royal
Mail for trying to lure staff into becoming "scabs" to smash the bitter
pay strike. They said post bosses are offering to smuggle workers into
depots and give them minders if they cross picket lines. In a flyer
dished out to mail centres, staff are also offered a transfer to a
different office to protect their identity."
Network World
has reported that "missed delivery is a bane of apartment and condo
living (unless your swanky address has a real doorman), as well as a
costly drain on the major package-delivery services. But now this
problem also is offering an interesting business opportunity to a trio
of MIT grads behind a startup called IdentiCert, maker of easyQube."
A
copy of the "Declaration of J. Gregory Sidak to the Federal Trade
Commission Concerning Network Advantages Conferred on the U.S. Postal
Services By Its Statutory Monopolies" is available at the
Social Science Research Network.
"Is modern technology a threat to traditional postal service providers?"
Yes, but
Vanguard has reported that "Mallam Ibrahim Mori Baba, Post
Master-General and CEO of the Nigeria Postal Services, (NiPOST) thinks
so, but believes the post remains a vital ingredient of communication in
modern business enterprise."
Mainichi has reported that "The opposition Democratic Party of Japan
(DPJ), which became the largest bloc in the House of Councillors as a
result of the July 29 election, is set to submit to the chamber a bill
that would freeze postal privatization for one year."
August 7, 2007
From
PR Newswire: "RELM Wireless Corporation today announced that its
exclusive supply contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS)
has been extended for a second time through July 14, 2008."
According to the
New York Times, "It is only a matter of time until nearly all
advertisements around the world are digital. The plan is to build a
global digital ad network that uses offshore labor to create thousands
of versions of ads. Then, using data about consumers and computer
algorithms, the network will decide which advertising message to show at
which moment to every person who turns on a computer, cellphone or —
eventually — a television. More simply put, the goal is to transform
advertising from mass messages and 30-second commercials that people
chat about around the water cooler into personalized messages for each
potential customer."
DM
News has reported that "Vertis Communications has unveiled
MailTrail, a mail tracking and reporting system powered by GrayHair
Software. MailTrail provides marketers with the ability to trace a
direct mail campaign’s journey through the mail stream, from a package’s
initial entry to its projected in-home delivery date. The system design
is driven by the US Postal Service’s next-generation Intelligent Mail
Barcode (IMB) technology."
The
Glasgow Evening Times has reported that "Royal Mail is clearing a
backlog of mail in Glasgow by sending lorry loads of letters and parcels
to sorting offices in England. Management say it's normal practice. But
angry workers claim it's a spiteful move to avoid having to pay them
overtime. The row erupted after hundreds of postal workers ended wildcat
action last week and agreed to continue normal duties."
Online Media Daily has reported that "spending on internet advertising will
reach $61.98 billion, and will surpass newspapers to become the nation's
leading ad medium in 2011, projects private equity firm Veronis Suhler
Stevenson in its 21st Communications Industry Forecast released today.
Consumers are also migrating away from ad-supported media and spending
more time with media they support, according to the VSS Forecast.
Consumers spent an average of 1,631 hours in 2006 with
consumer-supported media, such as the Internet and video games--a gain
of 19.8% compared to 2001. Time spent with ad-supported media, such as
broadcast television and newspapers, has fallen 6.3% since 2001 to 1,899
hours per person."
Press Release: "Often overlooked, parcel shipping frequently suffers
from unnecessary rush expenditures and underutilized volume discount
opportunities. Enterprise-wide parcel management systems are helping
companies gain cost control and improve staff productivity, shipment
visibility, and compliance management."
The
Financial Times has reported that "Korea Post is considering buying
a stake in Woori Bank or Korea Exchange Bank, two of South Korea's
largest lenders, as it seeks to broaden its range of investments and
find new areas of business growth."
The
Jerusalem Post has reported that "The Israel Postal Company
sanctions that have annoyed customers and caused millions of shekels in
financial losses to the company over the past two months ended on
Monday, the company management announced."
August 6, 2007
AllAfrica.com
has reported that "Nearly 150 Flint postal jobs could head south under a
plan revealed to local employees. The proposal by the U.S. Postal
Service calls for up to 148 clerk, maintenance and mail handler jobs to
move to a new processing center slated to open in May in Pontiac. While
a final decision on the move won't come until late fall, the results and
recommendations of a recent postal service study suggest the fate of
Flint's processing center on Longway Boulevard could be final after
years of false alarms."
The
Flint Journal has reported that "Nearly 150 Flint postal jobs could
head south under a plan revealed to local employees. The proposal by the
U.S. Postal Service calls for up to 148 clerk, maintenance and mail
handler jobs to move to a new processing center slated to open in May in
Pontiac. While a final decision on the move won't come until late fall,
the results and recommendations of a recent postal service study suggest
the fate of Flint's processing center on Longway Boulevard could be
final after years of false alarms."
From
the
Federal Register: "This notice sets forth the changes to domestic
rates, fees, and classifications to be implemented as a result of the
decision of the Board of Governors (Governors) of the United States
Postal Service[reg] on the Opinion and Recommended Decision of the
Postal Regulatory Commission on Changes in Postal Rates and Fees, Docket
No. R2006-1 (March 19, 2007), and the decision of the Governors of the
United States Postal Service on the Opinion and Recommended Decision on
Reconsideration of the Postal Regulatory Commission on Changes in Postal
Rates and Fees, Docket No. R2006-1 (May 1, 2007). EFFECTIVE DATES: May
14, 2007, except that the rates and classification changes for
Periodicals became effective on July 15, 2007."
The
Wall Street Journal has reported that "FedEx Kinko's, a unit parcel
delivery group FedEx Corp. (FDX), Monday said it plans top open 300 new
offices and print centers in the U.S. in fiscal 2008. FedEx Kinko's said
the changes are part of its plan to provide small businesses and
traveling professionals with greater access to its office and print
services and the FedEx transportation network."
The
East Anglian Times has reported that "a postal watchdog has claimed
strike action is “hurting customers” and called for an urgent
resolution. Postwatch East of England spoke out today after the
Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced further industrial action up
to August 17. It warned that customers who could not use alternatives to
mail were being inconvenienced while some businesses were starting to
use other forms of communication - and more would do so if strikes
persisted."
The
Financial Times has reported that "China should improve transparency
of a new law governing the country’s $6bn-a-year express delivery
market, say executives at UPS, the package delivery group. An updated
version of China’s Postal Law, which was promulgated in 1986, is in its
ninth version and has been a source of concern for foreign and domestic
courier companies pitted against China Post, the incumbent."
The
managing board of Oesterreichische Post AG (Austrian Post) is likely
to be expanded to five directors to allow responsibility for the
company's mail and package delivery divisions to be split between two
board members, said the Austrian daily Die Presse. The growing
importance of Austrian Post's packet delivery and marketing services
makes it logical to establish this segment at the board level separately
from the traditional mail segment, according to unnamed company sources
cited by the paper.
Engineering News has reported that "Paper producer Sappi raised its
prices for fine-coated paper in Europe late last year and early this
year, and will implement a further increase in September. The price
hikes reversed a five-year trend, during which prices remained
unchanged, despite rising input costs, which had put the company's
financial performance under pressure. The US market had seen a weaker
demand compared with the previous quarter and the previous year,
however, Van As said that Sappi expected to see a tightening of the
supply-demand balance. The new postal rate increases in the US had
created confusion, and had impacted on the catalogue market."
According to
KVOA,
"Some residents in Sahuarita are fuming over the Postal Service's
decision not to deliver mail to their neighborhood. On one side are the
angry residents who say they don't understand why postal carriers can't
simply drop the mail in their box. On the other side, the US Postal
Service says the neighborhood is under construction and too dangerous
for their drivers."
As
DM
News noted, "The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) chairman Dan G.
Blair stressed the need for service standards and performance measures
that are transparent and accountable when he appeared in front of the
Senate postal subcommittee August 2. Blair talked about the steps PRC is
taking to implement modern service standards as required by Title III of
the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act."
The
Guardian has reported that "Royal Mail was yesterday embroiled in a
new row over bonus payments to a senior executive amid continuing
industrial action by postal workers over pay and working practices. Post
office managing director Alan Cook was yesterday reported to be in line
for a bonus of up to £1m if he brings the planned closure of 2,500 post
offices in on schedule and restores the network to profit. Mr Cook would
be entitled to receive a bonus of up to 80% of his £250,000 salary every
year until 2011, if he reached the internal targets set for the
business."
The Sunday
Observer has reported that "The Postal Department will prepare a
budget to obtain financial assistance from the Treasury to modernise
postal services and upgrade its facilities Post Master General Shervyn
Senadheera told the Sunday Observer. He said postal services across the
globe have moved into financial transactions, banking services,
logistics and other value added services meeting customer expectations
as a one-stop shop. "Postal services are no more limited to delivering
letters and selling stamps. Services that fulfil wider customer needs in
a professional manner are necessary today" he said. Senadheera said it
is important to train employees in human resource development, IT,
marketing skills, business development and customer services which will
help them widen their knowledge and develop skills."
August 5, 2007
Forbes has noted that "The Italian government has given the
preliminary go-ahead to a revamp of subsidies for publishing companies,
including hikes in value added tax and less postal benefits, said the
Corriere della Sera, citing government officials."
The Observer has said that "Allan Leighton, chairman of the Royal
Mail and one of Britain's best connected businessmen, likes to style
himself as a man of the people with a dash of Mr Motivator thrown in.
But life has not gone so smoothly since. Leighton chaired a number of
companies that have faced problems. But none like Royal Mail. Strike
action received overwhelming backing throughout the network three weeks
ago. It began 10 days ago. Last week, the Communication Workers Union
extended action by another two weeks, paralysing businesses and
inconveniencing the public. Talks between the parties have just started
at Acas, the arbitration service. At stake is Leighton's personal
reputation; but more important is the future of an institution that is
part of the fabric of British society."
According to Green
Left Online, "Around 100 posties and unionists rallied outside the
headquarters of Australia Post on August 1 to protest the latest
attempts by its management to undermine the wages and conditions of its
employees and reduce its service to the community."
The
Camden Herald (ME) has reported that "The United States Postal
Service has been unable to deliver numerous copies of The Camden Herald
in our hometown this week. This latest weakness in the service offered
to postal customers comes on top of a record of increasing delays in
out-of-state delivery of Heralds and other newspapers across the
country. For some time now our out-of-state customers have been
subjected to delays of up to several weeks in the delivery of their
newspapers. But the failure of delivery in our hometown is something
new."
August 4, 2007
The latest issue of PostCom's
PostOps Update has been posted on this site.
In this issue: USPS to propose flats (and letters?) address changes. NPF
2008 to continue flats symposium. Group explores FSS mail preparation alternatives.
FAST mailer rating system begins Aug 18. Periodials appts must be made in fast starting
Sept 4. ADVANCE mailing data effort forges ahead. Seamless acceptance for
MLOCRs a reality. Parcel prep workgroup concludes. Group works to resolve
PostalOne barriers. MTE workgroup recommends improvements. USPS to improve mail direction tools.
Upcoming rule changes.
As
the
American Chronicle has noted, "It certainly takes a great deal of
moxy to publish a book criticizing your employer, and that is exactly
what Ronald Williams Jr. has done with Deep Inside Liteblue. Williams is
a veteran federal employee of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
As we are informed in the book’s Acknowledgements, the internal
operations of the postal service on the extranet are called LiteBlue, a
domain where the employees send, receive and access up-to-date
information about the business."
The
Financial Times has reported that "The Post Office on Friday
apologised for threatening postmasters with the loss of thousands of
pounds in compensation if they did not stick to an official script on
closures. The Conservatives accused Royal Mail bosses of using secret
police tactics “to demand Maoist conformity to their line”, after the
letter, from Sue Huggins, the Post Office’s director of the network
change programme, was leaked to the press."
Venture
Capital Online has reported that "MailExpress, Inc., the leading
provider of services focused solely on expedited mail, today announced
that it has closed its series B round of funding for $15 million. XAnge
Capital led the financing, which includes additional investments from
first round investors CMEA Ventures and Logispring. MailExpress will use
the investment to complete the nationwide network and technology rollout
needed to handle the dramatic growth in demand for its expedited mail
services."
The Press has reported that "a series of further postal strikes in
York could result in a backlog of mountains of mail, containing tens of
thousands of items of post, according to a union official."
The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer has reported that "Four days after a
Seattle law firm accused the U.S. Postal Service of selling the personal
information of employees without consent, more than 100 postal workers
have come forward saying they want restitution."
The
Federal Times
has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is asking for the cooperation
of its unions in holding down costs if it is to avoid contracting out
work, Postmaster General John Potter said last week. “The only way we’re
going to be successful … is to have all 700,000 people in the Postal
Service begin to focus on revenue,” Potter said at a July 19 hearing on
postal outsourcing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform
subcommittee on the Postal Service. Potter said he needed union help to
improve service, reduce costs and increase revenue, suggesting lack of
help on those issues would necessitate more outsourcing, though he
echoed past pledges not to outsource existing postal jobs."
National Association of Letter Carriers president
William Young told his members that they should "Make no mistake
about it, it was the overwhelming response from Congress that brought
the Postal Service back to the table."
Yahoo! News
India has noted that "The Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi has
tied up with the postal department to despatch its holy ash by Speed
Post to devotees across the country. Beginning this month, Speed Post
packets, each containing holy ash along with two rudraksha beads and
holy recital books, will be sent to devotees on request."
The
Washington Post has a really nice piece on the USPS CIO Tom Day's
son Bill.
The
Postal Regulatory Commission has received a request of the United States Postal Service for a recommended decision on classifications and rates to
implement a functionally equivalent negotiated service agreement with Bradford Group
(Docket No. MC2007-4).
The
Associated Press has reported that "as UPS Inc. celebrates its
100-year anniversary later this month, it now is the world's largest
shipping carrier - a $47 billion business with a fleet of trucks, an
airline and operations in 200 countries. Increasing competition for
delivery of goods has meant the company has had to broaden its global
reach and expand its business beyond small package delivery to shipping
heavy freight and providing logistics services for companies."
August 3, 2007
The latest issue of
the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:
Two panels of witnesses, including the PMG, the PRC chairman and industry representatives, shared their views with the Senate oversight subcommittee on service standards and performance measurement systems, as well as other important issues on improving the postal system.
The Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) workgroup tasked with developing recommendations for service standards and measurement for all marketdominant products is close to issuing its recommendations on the service standards portion of its work. For some products, users support using existing standards, while for others, users have defined updated service standards that better reflect the way mailers enter and prepare the mail. . . . . . . POSTCOM URGES C
PostCom this week urged the Postal Regulatory Commission to withhold judgment on whether performance measurement systems should be internal or external until after the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) issues its report on service standards and measurement systems and until the Postal Service and the PRC have completed the consultative process.
Industry welcomed the briefing by Postal Service Senior Vice President of Operations Bill Galligan on a “time-sensitive surface network” concept being considered as part of the Postal Service’s Evolutionary Network Design initiative.
Senior Vice President of Intelligent Mail and Address Quality Tom Day told attendees at the recent MTAC meeting to plan for an early January 2009 requirement to use Intelligent Mail Barcodes.
Postal officials get out early with communications about next year’s addressing requirements in CASS Cycle M. Association representatives hear a briefing on expectations of manufacturers and end-users for the coming year.
The USPS and IDEAlliance near completion of a joint test of the Intelligent Mail Barcode print specifications for flats. Mailers have been urging the Postal Service to explore a reduced barcode minimum height requirement for the IMB on flats to accommodate widely used printing equipment, which has difficulty printing quality barcodes to the USPS’ taller barcode specifications. The recent tests are considering a variety of barcodes print parameters in hopes of finding a print spec that both mailers and the USPS can embrace.
Volume in all classes suffered as a result of the May rate increase, but the effect was most pronounced for Standard Mail and First Class Mail flats, Chief Financial Officer H. Glen Walker reported at MTAC.
The Postal Service will publish an updated Transformation Plan this November to take into account some of the strategies that have changed due to the new postal law, USPS Senior Vice President of Strategy and Transition Linda Kingsley told MTAC meeting attendees this week.
A new report by the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation looks at two important issues affecting the Postal Service, and finds that both the benefits and the burdens on USPS competitive products should be eased.
Here’s one man’s view of the strengths of and challenges facing the Postal Service.
Pursley elected vice chair of Mailers Technical Advisory Committee. PRC renames Office of Rates, Planning, and Analysis to reflect new responsibilities. Postal Service urges mailers to update their address files using the most recent certified USPS products in order to obtain recent changes it has performed as part of its efforts to improve delivery service in the Chicago area. Postal official tells MTAC audience that the USPS is exploring using MERLIN equipment to capture mailpiece addresses. Proposed 2008 MTAC dates. Lawsuit claims USPS made employees’ personal information available. Authentidate signs pact to provide U.S. Postal Service EPM service. What’s a cataloger to do? Higher postal rates are affecting other American industries.
Irish postal service one of EU’s worst, most expensive. Royal Mail planning to sell off more properties. Lithuania postal system reaping benefits of migrant workers overseas. More on the Royal Mail Strike. Competition increasing in Germany. Emirates Post continues to spread its wings. Indian Postal Department wants to spread its retail counter offerings. Israeli Post Bank gives Post Office officials the willies.
Deloitte Services, LP joins PostCom.
A list of upcoming postal-related events.
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According to the “2007
Multi-Channel Direct Mail Study,” direct-mail recipients were nearly
twice as likely to purchase from a retail website as those who received
only an Internet communication. And when the mail piece was a catalog,
the results were even better — influencing more than two-thirds of
shoppers to visit the site. That traffic created a 163 percent increase
in sales over those who did not receive a catalog. Catalog recipients
typically buy more items (4.1 compared to 3.2) and spend more money ($88
compared to $69), the study showed.
Dow
Jones has reported that "Former German postal monopoly Deutsche Post
AG said Friday mail rates would increase by a double-digit percentage,
should Angela Merkel's government decide to give up the value-added tax
exemption for the company's letter deliveries in the country. German
value-added tax currently stands at 19%, which Deutsche Post's
competition in the partially liberalized domestic postal services have
to add to their fees. Deutsche Post is exempt because it is required by
law to offer countrywide deliveries under the universal services
provision."
The
Guardian has reported that "The Communication Workers Union
yesterday gave details of another two weeks of strikes but offered to
suspend the action if Royal Mail agreed not to impose changes in working
practices later this month. Royal Mail has already been hit by two
one-day strikes and workers are on a two-week rolling programme of
action involving different groups striking on different days of the
week."
According to the
Malaysia Star, "E-mails, short messaging and multi-media messaging
services may be the in thing these days but they can never replace the
humble stamp. In fact, the use of snail mail, as the postal service has
become to be known these days, has actually increased in the past
decade."
Yonhap News has reported that "Korea Post, South Korea's postal
service agency, said Friday it plans to raise its purchase of stocks by
as much as threefold next year as it moves to have the law on the
agency's investment ceiling on stocks revised."
According to
ThisIsMoney, "Post Office bosses turned to blackmail and spying to
make sub-postmasters co- operate with their closure programme."
DM
News has reported that:
Three workgroups presented their plans at the Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee Meeting, each with its own purpose. All three shared a common goal: to improve service and measurement.
The package marketplace is soft both domestically and internationally, but the US Postal Service is looking forward to recovering during the holiday season, according to Jim Cochrane, manager of package services at the USPS. Cochrane told the Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) that business-to-business shipments are on the rise, with about 30 percent of all packages shipped in 2007 falling into this category.
According to DM News postal commentator
Cary
Baer, "My column often results in e-mail comments back to me. The
June 25 article, “Tension and contention for postal world increases,”
resulted in more than the usual number of responses, most of which were
quite thoughtful. Several corrected or put a different spin on several
of my conclusions. I thought, therefore, that I might expand and respond
here to several readers’ comments."
Reuters has reported that "Deutsche Post Chief Executive Klaus
Zumwinkel called on the German government to safeguard tens of thousands
of postal jobs threatened by what he branded a botched liberalisation of
the European market. "Parallel liberalisation in the European Union has
failed," Zumwinkel said in a speech on Friday after the publication of
second-quarter earnings. "We have a true mess on our hands." The German
company is bracing for the loss of its domestic mail monopoly from
January and has been expanding abroad, through acquisitions and in other
business areas to reduce reliance on its domestic postal service."
Transport Intelligence has reported that "Deutsche Post World Net
has become the latest logistics company to publish its interim results.
Consolidated revenue rose by 5.4 percent to €30.9 billion. Operating
profits (EBIT) increased by 9 percent to €1.7 billion. The earnings
growth was fueled by the Logistics and Express divisions. During the
first half of 2007, the DHL Express division raised revenue by 2 percent
to €6.8 billion, due to volume growth in both the domestic and
international business. However because more than half of the revenue
was generated in countries outside Europe, the division experienced
negative currency effects of €223 million. In local currencies, organic
revenue growth of 6.2 percent was achieved." See also
Bloomberg.
CNET News has reported that "after Adobe Systems faced the wrath of
numerous printing companies and organizations, the company has decided
to remove a button that made it easy for Adobe Reader and Acrobat
software users to print PDF files at FedEx Kinko's."
The
Palladium-Item has reported that "A former postmaster in this small
town just south of Columbus is accused of putting letters in the trash
instead of mailboxes, federal authorities said." See also
NewsNet5.com.
The
BBC
has reported that "Glasgow postal workers involved in an unofficial
strike have voted narrowly in favour of returning to work."
The Scotsman has reported that "Edinburgh's postal deliveries
were brought to a virtual standstill today as the chaos caused by
striking Royal Mail workers deepened."
Reuters has reported that "Royal Mail workers announced a new wave
of 24-hour strikes on Thursday after talks failed to resolve a dispute
over pay and job cuts. Workers held the first national walk-out in 11
years in June and there were further rolling strikes last month. The
Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the industrial action was due to
Royal Mail's "below inflation pay offer" and its plans to reduce the
workforce by around 40,000 by automating mail-sorting processes. It said
the latest strikes would come against the Royal Mail's modernisation
plans, due to start on August 13, which would make changes to delivery
times and reduce customer services."
Business Week has noted that "Deutsche Post is about to lose its
monopoly on the postal service. And after that, customers will be able
to choose from new green, red and blue postboxes on the street as well
as old yellow. Deutsche Post's competitors have been multiplying -- and
growing in strength -- over the last few years as the postal services
market has become incrementally liberalized."
According to
Globes Online, "Letting the Postal Bank compete against Hapoalim and
Leumi will turn an angel into a demon and hurt Israel Post."
August 2, 2007
The
latest issue of the U.S. Postal Service's
DMM Update has been
posted on this site. Among the topics covered are: Postage Due Weight
Averaging Program; Optional 3-Digit Sort for First-Class Mail
Parcels;Change-of-Address Orders for PO Box Customers; BPM and Parcel
Select Mailing Fees; CIN Codes; and Labeling Lists.
The Association for Postal Commerce welcomes its newest member:
Deloitte Services, LP represented by Allen Hockenbury, Senior Strategic Relationship Manager
You
can find the
testimony presented at today's Senate postal oversight hearing on
the committee's web site. Among those testifying were:
The Hon. Dan Blair, Chairman , U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission
The Honorable John E. Potter, Postmaster General , United States Postal Service , Washington, DC
Jody Berenblatt, Senior Vice President of Postal Strategy , Bank of America (PostCom Board member & Exec. Vice Chairman)
Robert McLean, Executive Director , Mailers Council
James West , Director of Postal and Legislative Affairs , Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (PostCom Board member)
Anthony Conway , Executive Director , Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers
The
Associated Press has reported that "Fiserv Inc., a provider of
information management systems and services, said Thursday it agreed to
acquire online banking company CheckFree Corp. for about $4.2 billion in
cash. CheckFree provides electronic billing and payment, online banking
and investment management technology services, among others. Fiserv
President and Chief Executive Jeffery Yabuki said a goal of the
acquisition is to "tightly integrate electronic bill payment and
settlement capabilities with our core account processing and risk
management solutions."
The Postmaster General's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) has
elected Anita Pursley,
Vice President, Postal Affairs, Quebecor World as its new vice chairman.
She will hold this position for two years, and then will serve for two
years as MTAC's industry chairman. Ms. Pursley presently serves as a
member of the Association for Postal Commerce's Board of Directors and
as its elected Secretary. Congrats Anita!
According to
BizHelp News24, "Small and medium sized businesses spend millions of
pounds on their post every day, and are the ones paying the price as the
postal strikes continue. Each day on average, over £2million of post is
sent by small and medium sized businesses; and the strikes could cause
cash flow problems, customer relationship problems, or even the failure
of a business if payments or invoices are delayed by even just a few
days."`
According to
DM
News, "In the wake of the postal increases, catalog mailers are
increasingly turning to creative solutions to keep the volume and
integrity of their marketing messages intact, while keeping costs down.
One solution is postcards. Many catalog mailers are now using postcards
ahead of a full catalog mailing, inviting prospects to request a
catalog. “Mailing a catalog can be outrageously expensive,” said Karla
Jo Helms, vice president of PR for PostCardMania. Sending a prospect a
postcard costs much less money and if that person requests a catalog,
they are much more likely to buy."
From
PR Newswire: "AMREP Corporation announced today that a reduction in
force of 75 employees in its fulfillment services business is in
process. This represents approximately 3.8% of the business unit's total
number of employees. In January 2007, AMREP, through its Kable Media
Services subsidiary, acquired Palm Coast Data. Both Kable Media and Palm
Coast Data are leading U.S. providers of fulfillment services to the
magazine publishing industry. This workforce reduction is an early step
in the consolidation of the two fulfillment services businesses. This
consolidation is intended to streamline the business, improve operating
efficiency and customer service and reduce operating costs."
The Press has noted that "thousands of items of undelivered mail are
stacking up at York's main delivery office amid the latest wave of
postal strikes that are rocking the city."
The Express has reported that "a wildcat postal strike spread
yesterday with 13 mail centres and as many as 6,000 staff taking action
after delivery drivers had their pay docked for refusing to cross a
picket line. Itcame as the Communication Workers Union (CWU) prepares
for another official 24-hour strike scheduled to start at 3am today.
Yesterday, workers at the main Glasgow Mail Centre in Springburn were
out for a second day as the dispute with Royal Mail chiefs spiralled out
of control."
The NAMMU National Forum to review
and discuss the January 2008 rate and specification changes - and more -
across all major mail products is being held September 19 at the
Metropolitan Hotel, Toronto. For more information contact:
executive@nammu.org
The Hindu has reported that "Long queues for depositing traffic
“challans” at collection centres will soon be a thing of the past in the
Capital, thanks to a novel initiative by the Delhi traffic police that
will send the postman to your doorstep to collect the fine."
Zawya has reported that "Emirates PostEmirates PostEmirates has
announced that its website (www. emiratespost.ae)
has been enhanced to offer a wide range of postal and non-postal
services, backed by a secure online payment system. According to
Emirates Post, users can after registering online pay DewaDewa and
SewaSewa bills, Sharjah Traffic Police and Sharjah MunicipalitySharjah
Municipality fines, track parcels and registered items and calculate
postal tariffs."
According to
Logistics Manager, "TNT saw operating profit (EBIT) rise 2.6 per
cent to 681m euros in the first half on sale up 9.6 per cent to 5.3bn
euros. The business is now focused on its mail and express parcel
operations following the sale of its logistics and freight businesses."
The
Transport News Network has reported that "TNT plans to undergo a
strategic review in response to changing market conditions, which will
investigate growth opportunities, and consider trends in just-in-time
delivery, e-commerce, environmental issues and demographic changes.
However despite positive half-year results, independent market analyst
Datamonitor (DTM.L) says TNT still faces some strong challenges."
August 1, 2007
Postal unions are planning another two weeks of strike action in a
further escalation of their dispute with Royal Mail, the
BBC has
learned.
If
you go to the Postal Regulatory Commission web site, you'll note that
there's a new kid in town. He's the Inspector General of the Postal
Regulatory Commission. Of course, calling him "new" is a bit of a
stretch.
Jack Callender is familiar to everyone who worked with him on the
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.
The
U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General has posted the following
reports on its website today. If you have additional questions
concerning the report, please contact Agapi Doulaveris at 703.248.2286.
EN-MA-07-001 - Area Mail Processing Initiation Process http://www.uspsoig.gov/FOIA_files/EN-MA-07-001.pdf
NO-MA-07-002 - Color-Coding of Standard Mail at the Mobile Processing and Distribution Center http://www.uspsoig.gov/FOIA_files/NO-MA-07-002.pdf
DR-AR-07-011 - Review of the Postal Service's Refund Process - Capital Metro Area http://www.uspsoig.gov/FOIA_files/DR-AR-07-011.pdf
CA-AR-07-006 - Voyager Card Program - Post Office http://www.uspsoig.gov/FOIA_files/CA-AR-07-006.pdf
The
Bangor Daily News has reported that "It's the end of the line for a
101-year-old paper machine and 150 workers now that Montreal-based
Domtar Corp. has announced it is permanently shutting down its
papermaking operation here. The pulp production side of the mill, which
makes raw material for global paper markets. "In total, these closures
will eliminate approximately 284,000 tons of Domtar’s annual production
capacity and reduce its total work force by approximately 430 people,"
according to a company press release. Domtar has seen a 20 percent
decline in the North American market for uncoated free-sheet paper.
"Paper isn’t being consumed as it has been historically," he said,
referring to businesses using less paper and more e-mail or other
technologies to communicate.
Increasing foreign imports and
postal rates also have affected
sales.
The
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information,
Federal Services, and International Security will hold a hearing at 10
a.m. on August 2, 2007 in Room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building
on "Service
Standards at the Postal Service: Are Customers Getting What They Paid
For?” The hearing will examine the implementation of the portion of
Title III of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 which
calls for the creation of service standards for most postal products.
The hearing will also examine a number of issues that could have an
impact on the service that the Postal Service provides, including mail
processing facility consolidations and contracting out. Those testifying
will include: The Hon. Dan Blair , Chairman , U.S. Postal Regulatory
Commission; The Honorable John E. Potter , Postmaster General , United
States Postal Service ; Jody
Berenblatt , Senior Vice President of Postal Strategy , Bank of
America (and PostCom Executive
Vice President); Robert McLean , Executive Director, Mailers
Council; James West ,
Director of Postal and Legislative Affairs , Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (and
member of the PostCom Board of
Directors); and Anthony Conway , Executive Director, Alliance of
Nonprofit Mailers.
The
U.S. Postal Service has filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission
a request for a recommended
decision on permanent premium forwarding service (Docket
No. MC2007-3). The proposal would convert Premium Forwarding Service
(PFS) from an experiment into a permanent offering. PFS would retain the
existing application and weekly prices,1 and would continue to offer
postal customers the option to have all their mail reshipped to a
temporary address. PFS shipments are sent via Priority Mail® once a week
to the customer’s temporary address. The Postal Service requests that
the Postal Regulatory Commission submit to the Governors of the Postal
Service a recommended decision to make PFS permanent.
From
the
Federal Register: "Representatives of U.S. regulators and the
private sector will present a briefing on Wednesday, August 1, 2007,
beginning at 11:30 a.m., in the Postal Regulatory Commission's main
conference room. The briefing will address issues raised by the sale of
financial services by international postal operators."
CEP News
(Courier-Express-Postal), published by the
MRU Consultancy, has reported that:
Apparently the Canadian government intends to push foreign mail service providers such as the TNT-Royal Mail joint venture Spring and DHL Global Mail from the market. CEP News learned exclusively that Canada plans to take legal action against international mail operations by foreign CEP businesses. Apparently several EU member states are therefore currently anxious for the European Commission to intervene.
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The EU Commission believes that the German practice of exempting most Deutsche Post services from VAT violates EU legislation.
A spokesperson for Germany’s Minister of Finance Peer Steinbrück told »Reuters« news agency (24.7) that Deutsche Post was legally entitled to the VAT exemption as long as it provided a universal service. Therefore, the government took a relaxed attitude to the possibility of legal action before the European Court of Justice.
The French La Poste is a new member of the Kahala Posts Group. The French postal operator and the American USPS (27.7) announced that John- Paul Bailly, CEO of La Poste, signed a corresponding agreement at the Kahala members’ annual general meeting in San Francisco.
A majority of the Dutch parliament appears to be in favour of granting the government a so-called "Golden Share" in the post again.
Support for the industrial action against Royal Mail could be dwindling among union members.
After much toing and froing, Poste Italiane’s planning contract for 2006 - 2008 has been finalised. Under the agreement, the post must considerably improve its service quality. Next year, 89 per cent of first class letters ("Posta Prioritaria") must be delivered the next day and 99 per cent within three days (CEP News 4/07). Severe penalties will follow if the post fails to achieve the targets. Penalty rates have gone up by 10 per cent, and the Ministry for Communication can issue Poste Italiane with fines of up to 500,000 euros.
The Maltese government announced on Monday that it will sell all its shares still held by the post. 25 per cent of shares will be transferred to Lombard Bank Malta, Malta’s third-largest bank, which already holds 35 per cent of shares in the post.
According to information from »Financial Times Germany« (31.7), Köln/Bonn Airport is set to become the site for a new FedEx hub.
TNT suffered an unexpected drop in profits during the second quarter.
On the financial side, things are getting better and better for Gruppo Poste Italiane.
Customers of Mexico’s CEP and logistics giant Estafeta will be able to send invoices, tax documentation and other documents electronically in future.
To finance the universal service the post in Luxemburg must retain a reserved area even after liberalisation. This is the result of an officially commissioned study by Professor Gonzales d’Alcantara, a Belgian expert in economic planning. d’Alcantara is convinced that a liberalised market would see P&T Luxembourg lose around two thirds of its mail volume to rival companies offering lower prices.
Japan’s three largest parcel and transport companies apparently intend to safeguard themselves against Japan Post before the impending privatisation.
"The contractor model is a large-scale fraud!" Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer from Connecticut, is in no doubt of her opinion. She is one of the lawyers in 36 US states who are taking legal proceedings against the FedEx Ground subcontractor model.
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China’s economic boom would also ensure that Hong Kong Post would see an increase in global letter and parcel volumes.
In the tariff and pension negotiations for UPS employees, Scott Davis, company CFO, has expressed confidence that his business can ink a new labour deal with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters by the end of the year.
TNT took over China’s Hoau Logistics Group as planned (CEP News 39/06) and now operates the biggest road express network in China.
In the view of Frederick W. Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx, it would be bad policy if the US government were to exclude the company from the scope of the "Railway Labor Act" (RLA) in the future.
Mark Vaile, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, has ruled out a privatisation of Australia Post.
The Royal Mail strikes are apparently pushing TNT in Britain to develop its own network.
In the future, customers of Poste Italiane will be able to carry out bank transfers by SMS.
Things are going downhill. In the first half of 2007, Österreichische Post had the weakest stock out of all in the Austrian stock market index ATX. »Börse Express« (2.7) reported that the stock dropped in value by almost 9 per cent since 2006.
DHL Express is expanding its network in the Czech Republic.
In the next four years TNT plans to invest 7m euros in the development of a Domestic service in Vietnam.
The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News. (We appreciate the courtesy extended by CEP News to help whet your appetite for more of what CEP offers.)
The Scotsman has noted that "Today, little arrives by "snail mail" -
a more than appropriate term considering the Post Office's recent strike
record. E-mail rules, and has made the world a much greener place. So
what, if anything, does the future hold for the Royal Mail and our ever
shrinking post office network - a business set up in a era when letters
were delivered by coach and sealed with a blob of hot wax? Visit the
British Postal Museum and Archive website, www.postalheritage.org.uk and
you'll find the Post Office described as "the heart of the community"
and a place that has "played a vital role in the social history of
Britain".
The
Glasgow Evening Times has reported that "urgent talks were being
held today in a bid to end a wildcat strike by thousands of Glasgow
postal workers. Workers at the main Glasgow Mail Centre in Springburn
are on strike for a second day in a bitter dispute with Royal Mail,
which now covers 13 centres across west Scotland. It's believed around
6000 postal staff are staging unofficial strikes today." See also the
Evening Times.
According to
The
Sun, "Royal Mail bosses clashed with postal unions last night over
how successful the latest strike has been. The Communication Workers
Union claimed the stoppages — withdrawal of labour in mail centres and
cash handling — had been backed by 98 per cent of staff involved. And it
said there was a backlog of 80 million items of mail. But Royal Mail
insisted more than 80 per cent of staff were working normally — with
only 1.4million letters delayed out of a daily 82million mailbag." See
also the CWU press
release.
AMEInfo has reported
that "Emirates Post has announced that its portal has been enhanced to
offer a wide range of postal and non-postal services, backed by a secure
online payment system."
Economic Times has reported that "Vietnam has banned strikes in key
public services and in sectors that are "of extreme importance to the
national economy," the communist government said on its website on
Wednesday. Industrial action will be prohibited in power stations, the
oil and gas sectors, airports and train stations, the
postal service, newspaper
delivery, and water supply, irrigation and drainage services."
ReporterNet.com has reported that "The national Postal Corporation
raises tariffs as of Wednesday for domestic universal postal services by
RON 0.3-0.4, depending on the weight of postal remittances, Thus, a
simple postage stamp will cost RON 0.8 as against RON 0.5 at present."