POSTAL NEWS
No 45 -2019
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
Omniva was awarded the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility and the gold level Quality Label. June 6, 2019.
The new lockers in question. June 5, 2019.
3,100,000,000 parcels processed over a period of 20 years.
June 3, 2019.
Royal Mail launches new app features including purchasing and printing postage. June 3, 2019.
FINNS Can Now Pick Up Parcels And Groceries From Automated Parcel Machines. May 31, 2019.
FedEx to Deliver Packages 7 Days a Week. May 30, 2019.
Omniva was awarded the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility and the gold level Quality Label
June 6, 2019
Omniva was awarded the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility and the gold level Quality Label. Over the past year, the company has made great progress and contributed to solutions that value a clean natural environment and make life better for people. Omniva has successfully launched an economical driving programme that, in addition to reducing air pollution, also saves fuel and maintenance costs.
In 2018, we started using electric vans in both Estonia and Latvia and installed a solar park on the roof of the new logistics centre. We are constantly working to make Omniva’s work environment more family-friendly as well as employee-friendly.
It is important for us to act responsibly. We care about the nature, people, and world around us. We are committed to honest and sustainable development and are working to make the impact of our business as positive as possible everywhere.
This year, 78 companies earned the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility. Since March 2019, Omniva is also a member of the Estonian Corporate Social Responsibility Association.
The Quality Label is awarded to companies that have participated in the Estonian Corporate Social Responsibility Index, value sustainable development, and consistently work to increase their positive impact on the surrounding environment.
In 11 years, the bronze, silver, or gold level of the Corporate Social Responsibility Index has been awarded to several hundred different companies operating in Estonia. The Corporate Social Responsibility Labels for 2018 were handed over at the gala held on 22 May at the Tallinn Creative Hub, where the Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid also participated.
Omniva is the leader of e-commerce and plays an important role in advancing the economic life of Baltic States. We lead the parcel terminal market of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Omniva group employs 2,300 people across the Baltics, and the turnover in 2017 was 99.8 million euros.
Source: https://www.ipc.be/news-portal/general-news/2019
The new lockers in question
June 5, 2019
After the failure of previous preparatory bins, created to limit musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) linked to the repeated actions of the factors during the preparation of mail, La Poste reviews its copy.
Indeed, today, La Poste is setting up a new prototype, ETF (Work Environment Factors) on new sites, after Limoges and Bry sur Marne. ETFs are supposed to allow two rounds to be sorted instead of one. La Poste hopes to deploy a thousand of these prototypes within three years.
These new lockers should be used in a sitting position, since the factors are used to the standing position, they tend to use them as well. The risks of MSD are therefore still existing. Two screens are located above the bin which can cause poor neck positions and eye discomfort. This new tool is not yet deployed, but it would be soon.
FO Com asks for the results of these ETF tests on Limoges and Bry-sur-Marne (8 have already been implemented since 16 April 2019). The pace of work has still not been measured to date. What will she be? What are the measures taken by La Poste to provide officers with proper training?
FO Com requires that the members of CHSCT (Commission for Hygiene, Health and Safety at Work) be informed of the arrival of these machines on the sites in order to frame their use.
Source : http://www.focom-laposte.fr/
3.1 billion parcels processed over a period of 20 years
June 3, 2019
The Swiss Post parcel centers in Härkingen (SO), Daillens (VD) and Frauenfeld (TG) are a genuine success story. Their belt conveyors have been running for 20 years. More than 3.1 billion parcels have been processed by our employees during this time – setting new records year after year. Now, the centers are celebrating their 20th anniversary – and the course is set for the future.
Beaming Swiss Post employees form the number 20. This is the image on giant posters currently hanging in the three main Swiss Post parcel centers in Härkingen (SO), Daillens (VD) and Frauenfeld (TG). And for good reason: the three centers are celebrating their 20th anniversary. When they were officially brought into operation on 31 May 1999, it was a once-in-a-lifetime logistics event in Switzerland. Swiss Post had invested some 450 million francs in cutting-edge technology and an expandable infrastructure. From that day on, parcels were processed in three central locations. For the very first time, parcels delivered in Switzerland were sorted automatically right down to the parcel carriers’ individual delivery rounds. This was a revolutionary development for the time and one of the reasons why Swiss Post was subsequently able to keep pace with the growing parcel market and changing customer needs.
Between 2014 and 2016, Swiss Post invested a further 60 million francs in its parcel centers, increasing their capacity by 25 percent – while maintaining the quality of services and reliability. Now, around 800,000 parcels are processed on average every day, with up to 1.3 million parcels being handled on peak days during Christmas.
A success story thanks to employees
It is clear that the rapid growth of recent years and the challenges of parcel processing would have been unmanageable without the employees. “For that reason, I would like to express my sincerest thanks,” said Dieter Bambauer, Member of Executive Management and Head of PostLogistics. He added that Swiss Post recognized the potential of online retail years ago and geared its logistics business towards this change at an early stage. “That is why we have been able to maintain our position throughout all these years, even in a highly competitive market with no monopoly. It’s a testament to the quality of the work being performed,” said Bambauer, paying tribute to his employees. “We want to remain number one in the future.”
Keeping pace with customer requirements
Now, 20 years and 3.1 billion parcels later, Swiss Post is once again setting its course for the future. Three new regional parcel centers are being built in Vétroz (VS), Cadenazzo (TI) and Untervaz (GR). This is in response to the continuing parcel boom driven by globalization and online retail. It is also a reaction to the increasing demand for Priority parcels. Customers increasingly want to place orders and receive their parcels the next day.
While centralizing operations in three large parcel centers offered huge advantages in 1999, the future of parcel processing lies in a decentralized structure. In the future, parcel processing will be more of a regional affair. This approach will cut transport times and journeys, which will in turn facilitate faster processes and be more ecological. As a result, Swiss Post will be able to meet its customers’ desire to receive their parcels as quickly as possible.
By 2020, Swiss Post will invest approximately 190 million francs in the construction of the three new regional parcel centers in Graubünden, Ticino and Valais, with the aim of enhancing the service quality on both sides of the supply chain (sender/recipient) in the long term. And additional parcel centers are already in the pipeline for other regions.
Source : https://www.post.ch/en/about-us/company/media/press-releases/2019
Royal Mail launches new app features including purchasing and printing postage
June 3, 2019
Royal Mail has launched a range of new convenient features in its mobile app to help senders and recipients manage their deliveries more effectively.
Senders can now check a price and buy one-off postage directly through the app. When buying postage on the app, they receive a QR code allowing them to print postage labels for free at a Royal Mail Customer Service Point*.
The app will also keep customers updated with automatic notifications as their parcel moves through Royal Mail’s network. This means there is no need to check back for information on a delivery because customers will be updated every step of the way.
Royal Mail Tracked** is now available to buy on the app. Customers can ensure an item is tracked all the way through. Within the app, senders can also enable SMS and email notifications to be sent to the recipient for peace of mind.
Since its launch last year, there have been several updates including:
The ability to see the estimated delivery window of a parcel.
When an item has been delivered, see an image of the signature if someone has signed for it, or a photograph of the safe place an item has been delivered to.
Save postage receipts – customers can take a photo of their receipt and store it to the app.
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said “The Royal Mail app is a great tool that helps recipients manage their deliveries more effectively. The latest updates to the app are bringing more functionality to the fingertips of users.
The new features of the Royal Mail app are part of our investment in technology that improves customer and recipient convenience.”
The app is available for download for free on both the App Store and Google Play store.
Source : https://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/royal-mail
FINNS Can Now Pick Up Parcels And Groceries From Automated Parcel Machines
May 31, 2019
Smartmile has teamed up with the Finnish retail chain K-Group to deliver online grocery orders into automated parcel machines.
Finns can pick up their groceries from a Smartmile parcel machine by using K-Group’s K-Ruoka app.
The new service is available in K-Supermarket Nekala, Tampere and K-Supermarket Torikulma, Iisalmi, in Finland. This means people can pick up their parcels and groceries at the same time from a Smartmile machine.
Smartmile is one of the first companies in Finland offering such service. Smartmile and K-Group plan to expand the network of parcel machines offering grocery delivery in the near future.
The groceries are kept in thermo boxes inside the parcel machines which enables the food – whether warm, cold or frozen – to stay fresh. The robot inside the machine then brings the thermo box to the customer. The robotic parcel machines are manufactured by Konecranes.
”K-Group aims to develop innovative future solutions for service offerings in K-stores and Smartmile’s automated parcel machines are a great example of these new services. Our preliminary experiences of parcel machines that enable food delivery are very positive. The customer benefits of picking up all of their online purchases and pre-ordered groceries simultaneously from the same machine. The customer can also choose a pickup time that is suitable for them according to the store’s opening hours” says Kesko’s Service Director Petri Toivonen.
“We constantly develop our services to respond to our customers’ needs to make everyday life easier. Our customers’ wish has been to pick up their groceries and online purchases simultaneously. Therefore, we are really excited to start delivering groceries with K-Group,” says Smartmile’s CEO and co-founder Aku Happo.
Source : https://postandparcel.info/105362/news/e-commerce
FedEx to Deliver Packages 7 Days a Week
May 30, 2019
FedEx Corp. said it would start offering Sunday deliveries to most U.S. homes, the latest sign that the U.S.’s online shopping habits are pressuring companies to revamp their operations to fulfill orders almost as fast as they are placed.
With people ordering everything from saunas to sandwiches online and expecting to have them quickly appear at the door, retailers and carriers are racing to adapt to service the so-called last mile.
McDonald’s Corp. is working with Uber Technologies Inc. drivers to bring Big Macs to a city park. Kroger Co. is testing an unmanned vehicle to ferry groceries in some markets. Drizly, a delivery startup, promises to deliver beer or wine in under an hour.
And Amazon.com Inc., whose endless virtual aisles and sprawl of warehouses has upped the ante, is promising one-day delivery on many items later this year. At the same time, the web giant is looking to recruit hundreds of local-delivery firms to bring items from its hubs to homes.
“Online shopping is seven days a week,” FedEx President and Chief Operating Officer Raj Subramaniam said in an interview. “So there is increasing demand from online shoppers and e-commerce shippers for seven-day service.”
The package giant, which only recently added Saturday ground deliveries, plans to offer seven-day residential delivery in the U.S. next year as it seeks to capture more of the e-commerce surge.
With the change, FedEx plans to bring to customers’ doorsteps many of the packages it currently drops at local post offices. The shift will seek to lower costs by building density along FedEx Ground routes, while also shifting some two million packages daily out of the U.S. Postal Service’s network.
FedEx and rival United Parcel Service Inc. have invested heavily in recent years to manage the volume of e-commerce packages moving through their sorting facilities and long-haul networks.
Until recently, the companies have taken steps to outsource last-mile delivery to the Postal Service or others, worried that home deliveries would be less profitable than shipments between businesses. But as the volumes climb—to an estimated 50 million domestic packages a day—the companies are adjusting their operations to boost market share and
handle weekend deliveries. They are also experimenting with more immediate delivery options. UPS has tested drone deliveries, while FedEx recently showed off a robot that would carry a pizza across town.
At the same time, FedEx’s traditional Express business of rushing deliveries by jet across the country or globe has slowed. Amazon, Walmart Inc. and many other retailers have expanded their warehouse networks, adding locations near more U.S. cities where they can store goods and ship them shorter distances.
Retailers are also building out their own local delivery efforts or pushing shoppers to pick up web purchases at their stores. Target Corp. acquired Shipt, a service that uses contractors to bring orders from stores, and Walmart has rolled out a curbside pickup service that would sidestep a delivery company.
“FedEx could have been on the cusp of just being ignored, not having delivery options for Sundays,” said Charles Dimov, vice president of marketing at OrderDynamics Corp., which sells order-management software.
FedEx plans to shift to seven-day-a-week operations in January for a majority of the U.S. population, following the holiday shopping season—when it typically delivers packages every day to handle the seasonal increase.
The added day wasn’t made with any one retailer in mind, Mr. Subramaniam said, as FedEx expects to deliver packages on Sundays for everyone from smaller shippers to the largest retailers. “E-commerce is much larger than any one company,” he said.
The company didn’t disclose the financial impact of its plan. FedEx said it won’t charge extra fees for Sunday delivery. It currently provides Saturday delivery for no additional charge.
Mr. Subramaniam declined to say whether FedEx plans to add staff to run Sunday operations. The company uses independent contractors to handle Ground deliveries in the U.S.
FedEx this year shifted to six-day-a-week delivery operations after the recent holiday season, an expansion that has added significant costs. In March, the company cut its profit outlook for the year, citing declining revenue in its Express unit and higher costs in the Ground operations. It has switched CEOs at the Express unit twice in the past year.
Rival UPS in recent years has shifted to six-day-a-week delivery. During last year’s contract bargaining with unionized workers, UPS added lower-tier pay for delivery drivers to work on weekends, although it doesn’t currently deliver on Sundays.
UPS spokesman Glenn Zaccara said the company is “constantly assessing when it makes sense to expand current capabilities and operations.”
Source : https://www.wsj.com/articles
POSTAL NEWS
No 46 -2019
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
DHL report reveals: e-Commerce will have a significant impact on how companies will shape their transport strategies in the future. June 6, 2019.
Posti to increase the number of service points up to 2,800 – some of Posti’s own shops to be closed. June 5, 2019.
A Glimpse Of Singpost’s Future: Smart Postboxes And Postmen Rating . June 3, 2019.
Seat belts save lives – mine saved me. May 31 2019.
Poste Italiane to digitise excess truck capacity. May 30, 2019.
DHL report reveals: e-Commerce will have a significant impact on how companies will shape their transport strategies in the future
June 6, 2019
The DHL survey found out that the impact of e-commerce on markets, in general, and ground transportation in particular, varies by region.
A recent survey commissioned by DHL has revealed that companies are facing a fast changing market environment, be it in terms of geopolitical changes or technological transformation.
But in terms of their ground transportation operations, by far the biggest issue on companies' minds is e-commerce and its implications on service and ground transportation requirements.
Especially the extraordinarily high service expectations born of e-commerce are impacting businesses. Just to name a few: Customers are expecting same or next day delivery, variable last-mile delivery options, high in-transit visibility, as well as flexible or free return policies and always in-stock inventories. Services that are increasingly challenging.
Paul Stone, CEO DHL Supply Chain Nordics and Head of Transport for MLEMEA explains: "Our European customers look for first-class capabilities in enabling last mile deliveries, which is why technology will be central to navigating this new era for ground transportation. The capability of AI and data analytics to manage the order profile and shipping patterns of customers' increasingly complex and demanding operating models while optimizing cost and service, means that they are now viewed as essential services, rather than added benefits."
The DHL survey "The Logistics Transport Evolution: The Road Ahead" found out that the impact of e-commerce on markets, in general, and ground transportation in particular, varies by region. For example, when comparing the impact of e-commerce over the next one to two years versus three to five years, U.S. respondents expect the impact to slightly decrease, from 63% to 60% while, in Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America, that same impact number increases from 65% to 69%.
Paul Stone, CEO DHL Supply Chain Nordics and Head of Transport for MLEMEA explains: "Here in Europe, transport is undoubtedly a critical aspect of the global business environment, and our findings indicate that companies across sectors and markets now recognize its strategic value. That's reflected by our customers' C-suite executives becoming more involved in transportation discussions. We undertook this study to gain an insight into exactly what companies expect from their transportation service providers, both today and tomorrow. Our research has shown us that customers are increasingly looking for complete solutions with a global reach as they can solve a wide range of transportation issues and requirements. In Europe, particularly, environmental commitments are increasingly important to our customers."
Here the research showed that throughout Europe, the United States and Asia, more and more mega-urban centers are deploying congestion pricing and tolls on vehicles entering urban areas during peak business times - or, in some cases, at any time. Environmental concerns about transportation's significant carbon footprint will grow as an issue and a potential constraint in delivering goods into these highly populated urban areas. Today, 76% of respondents stated legislation around mandatory carbon reporting is having a big impact on their transportation decision making.
Broader societal factors were also highlighted as presenting associated challenges, with 61% of companies referencing the increase in urbanization as a factor that will significantly impact their future business. Technology and its ability to help manage this complex environment are increasingly seen as a standard requirement of 3PLs: more than two thirds (67%) of companies believe that big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are services that are essential for 3PLs to offer their shipper customers
Source : https://www.dpdhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2019
Posti to increase the number of service points up to 2,800 – some of Posti’s own shops to be closed
June 5,2019
Posti is in the process of updating its retail network. The number of service points and Posti Parcel Lockers will increase by more than 700 service points this year and next year, totaling up to 2,800 service points. As part of the change, Posti will close 18 of its own shops in phases. The personnel reduction need decreased as the cooperation negotiations went on, ending up at 108 employees (124 permanent employees at the beginning of the negotiations).
The cooperation negotiations related to the updating of the retail network have been completed. The cooperation negotiations were motivated by the need to meet the requirements imposed by intense e-commerce growth and changing customer needs.
Customers have been asking for Posti’s service points to have extended opening hours and be located near other services. Posti outlets and Posti Parcel Lockers operated by Posti’s partners are located on the premises of service providers that are also open in the evenings and on weekends.
During the negotiations, it was agreed that an external partner would be found to provide the services or another service model would be adopted for the 18 stores subject to the change. The planned changes would be carried out in phases until March 2021.
In the future, the six shops operated by Posti itself will be located in Helsinki (Postitalo, Kasarmitori and Töölö), Espoo (Matinkylä), Jyväskylä (city center) and Rovaniemi (the Arctic Circle).
The following shops will be closed in phases by March 2021: Helsinki (Punavuori, Etu-Vallila, Hakaniemi and Herttoniemi), Espoo (Tapiola), Vantaa (Tikkurila), Lahti, Turku, Pori, Tampere, Kouvola, Mikkeli, Lappeenranta, Lemi, Vaasa, Kuopio and Rovaniemi. Further information will be given to customers closer to the time of the change. Posti’s operations will continue in all the aforementioned municipalities. Going forward, the goal is that in these municipalities, postal services will be operated by Posti’s local partner with the exact same range of services as Posti’s own shops.
The number of service points has doubled in 10 years
Overall, Posti’s retail network will increase by over 700 new service points and Posti parcel lockers. With a total of 2,062 service points at the end of March, it is planned that
Posti will have more than 2,800 service points next year. Approximately 97 percent of the Posti’s retail network consists of service points.
“Over the past decade, the number of Posti's service points has more than doubled, mostly due to parcel lockers which our customers like. As the number of lockers continues to grow and customers have constant access to our digital services, Posti’s services will be even closer to customers than before,” says Lasse Huttunen, Director, Retail Network at Posti.
Posti’s services will remain available in every municipality.
Cooperation negotiations motivated by customer needs and the savings target
In addition to changes in customer needs and the use of time, the cooperation negotiations were also motivated by Posti’s need to reduce costs by at least approximately EUR 150–200 million over the next three years. These cost savings would be required due to the steep decline in letter and publication volumes alone.
The need for savings is based on changing customer needs as well as the costs of Posti’s own shops—central shop locations and extended opening hours cannot be maintained in a cost-effective way. The cooperation negotiations did not concern service points operated by partners.
Source : https://www.posti.com/en/media/media-news/2019
A Glimpse Of Singpost’s Future: Smart Postboxes And Postmen Rating
June 3, 2019
SingPost is reportedly working with government agencies to introduce smart letterboxes and other infrastructure upgrades that will make receiving mail and parcels more convenient and efficient, reports Strait Times.
In the meantime SingPost will be launching a new product that will allow customers to be notified when an item is delivered to their letterbox and a system so residents can rate postmen in a bid to win back the public’s trust after a spate of service lapses.
A new feedback channel will let residents read short biographies of their neighbourhood postman and leave a rating and comments.
“The main motive is to have community engagement between postmen and residents, to put a face to a name,” head and chief executive of postal services Vincent Phang told the media when he announced the initiatives on Friday (May 31) at the SingPost Centre.
A microsite will be launched in July, when the feedback programme will be on trial in Bukit Timah and Yishun. It will be rolled out nationwide in October, and residents will be given QR codes that can be scanned for quick access to the site.
The new “trackable mail” product due to roll out in the same month will provide an alternative to registered mail, which requires a signature to acknowledge receipt.
“A good proportion of customers that require high confidence deliveries use registered articles… a tracked letterbox product would essentially improve on that experience. So if it goes into the letterbox it’s scanned, and there’s verification that it’s delivered,” said Mr Phang.
Shifting some demand to this service would lead to fewer overall doorstep deliveries that postmen need to make, and fewer missed encounters, he added.
To make deliveries more efficient, postmen will specialise in either letterbox or doorstep deliveries, instead of doing both currently. This will entail a pre-sorting process “to segregate what’s doorstep and what’s letterbox”, said Mr Phang.
Roughly two-thirds of SingPost’s more than 1,000 postmen will focus on letterbox deliveries. Together with the current doorstep delivery hours of 9am to 6pm being extended to 9pm beginning in August, delivery success rates will hopefully increase, said Mr Phang.
The new initiatives come as part of a longer-term review of SingPost’s operations, which include discussing with the authorities the possibility of making letterboxes bigger to accommodate the changing profile of mail items.
“I do foresee that in a country like Singapore, there’s potential for us to have all deliveries tracked. Just think of a day that without some level of authentication you cannot retrieve that letter from a letterbox.
“All that is within our grasp…whether it’s cost-effective is another thing, but we certainly have to discuss some of these areas to build the infrastructure so it can sustain the future,” he added.
Source : https://postandparcel.info/105375/news/e-commerce
Seat belts save lives – mine saved me
May 31 2019
“Please never forget your seat belt, it can save your life – it certainly saved mine,” says Parcelforce driver Carl Prendergast, who suffered a broken wrist in a recent road incident.
But it could have been so much worse, his 7.5-tonne delivery lorry dropped some 30 feet from a Reading flyover onto the road below, landing on its roof and in his own words: “If I hadn’t been wearing my seat belt, I’d have been catapulted out of the front windscreen and crushed on the road.”
The incident – which was widely reported in local news on the day – occurred on a late May afternoon, when Carl was driving, below the speed limit, through the centre of Reading, Berkshire.
When he reached the A329 flyover, which passes the town’s ‘Oracle’ shopping mall, a car in front braked suddenly, forcing Carl into evasive action.
“I put the brakes on and thought: ‘It’s not going to stop’, so I turned left and my vehicle hit a kerb and a barrier and that spun me right over the central reservation and then onto the barrier on the other side of the flyover,” he recalls.
The momentum of his large vehicle caused the barrier to give way and lorry and driver plunged straight over the edge and dropped onto the road below, landing on its roof.
Photographs from the immediate aftermath show the lorry completely overturned.
Carl says that he was possibly out cold for some moments, as his next memory is of people opening his door to help him out of the vehicle and of everyone’s surprise that he was able to walk away.
“It all happened so quick – but I know if it hadn’t been for my seatbelt, I wouldn’t be here now.
“And I’m just so glad no-one else was injured.”
Paramedics and police were on the scene promptly and Carl was taken to Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital, where a broken wrist was confirmed – and plastered up.
“That was nearly two weeks ago – and they say the plaster will be on for another couple of weeks at least.
“It’ll be sometime before I can drive again, but I want to get back to work as soon as possible,” he says, adding: “I’ve asked if I can come in on perhaps non-driving duties.”
CWU national health, safety and environment officer Dave Joyce said: “With Royal Mail Road Safety Week coming up (3-9 June), Carl’s story is an important example of the absolute necessity of wearing a seatbelt at all times while driving.
“Without a seatbelt, Carl would not be with us today – that’s the honest truth of the matter.
“Please everyone, it only takes a second for another driver perhaps to make a small mistake and as we can see from the Reading incident, the consequences are potentially catastrophic,” Dave urged.
“Seatbelts save lives and in this case it certainly did! Those who don’t wear their seatbelts whilst behind the wheel put themselves in mortal danger. We’re all extremely relieved that Carl survived this horrific accident and walked away with minor injuries.
“I’m hoping that during Royal Mail/CWU Road Safety Week, that Carl Prendagast’s story and the photographs of his accident will help raise awareness of the vital importance of Seat Belts.”
During the Road Safety Week – Seat belts Campaign, Royal Mail and the CWU will be working together to raise awareness and promote the importance to CWU members who drive as part of their job, the importance or wearing their seat belts, through posters on workplace noticeboards, in work time briefing sessions, via website articles, through road safety video clips and case studies like Carl’s case – in order to get the message across how important this message is.
Dave concluded with a salient warning message to all CWU members: “Seat Belts have been a legal requirement in the UK since 1983 and contrary to a common urban myth that still prevails, Royal Mail and Parcel force Drivers are NOT exempt from this Law – so don’t get caught out!”
Source : https://www.cwu.org/news
Poste Italiane to digitise excess truck capacity
May 30, 2019
Italian postal operator Poste Italiane is setting up a joint venture with digital freight forwarder sennder, aimed at improving the post’s long-haul road efficiency writes Ian Kerr.
The partnership with sennder will focus on the full truck load market, allowing Poste Italiane to drive efficiencies and leverage surplus capacity in its trucking network.
“Empty space in a truck means you’re leaving money on the table,” says Cathy Morrow Roberson, lead consultant and founder of Logistics Trends & Insights.
The joint venture will target transport demand coming from third parties inside and outside of Italy.
Poste Group currently employs around 800 third-party vehicles for long-haul alone, making approximately 2,300 journeys and covering 450,000km on an average day.
Based in Berlin, digital freight start-up sennder last month raised an undisclosed amount in its Series B financing, which followed a headline-grabbing seven-digit euro investment from Scania Growth Capital (Scania’s corporate venture capital fund) in 2017. Earlier this month sennder was announced as a participant in logistics startup accelerator Dynamo’s latest incubator programme.
The sennder software platform comprises mobile apps for drivers, fleet management tools for carrier managers and logistics management solutions for shippers.
To this point, the platform has focused on connecting large enterprise clients to small fleets. With the Poste Italiane JV, sennder will be involved with a national fleet that is grappling with the growth demands of e-commerce.
Poste Italiane CEO Matteo Del Fante said that the post is aiming for operational efficiencies and reduced emissions as a result of the JV.
Amazon’s role
Amazon is a big part of Poste Italiane’s push to deliver e-commerce. Poste Italiane is accommodating Amazon’s last mile needs by offering evening delivery, delivery to post offices, parcel lockers, and a PUDO partnership with tobacconists.
More recently, it seems that Poste Italiane’s air cargo subsidiary Mistral Air has been expanded to meet Amazon’s domestic demands in Italy.
Which leaves road transport. Could this partnership be a way for Poste Italiane to gain a share of Amazon’s LTL and FTL domestic freight? It’s a competitive market – but of late Poste Italiane has shown that it is prepared to compete in the last mile against the likes of DHL.
Major competitors in this market
Other companies have recognised an opportunity to digitise their fleets – in particular in the European market. Europe provides a special challenge to fleet managers, with trucks capable of crossing multiple borders in a day.
In 2017, DB Schenker invested US$25m in online shipping marketplace uShip. At the time, DB Schenker said it planned to use the platform for land transport, connecting its 30,000 or so transport partners in the European land transport network to their freight.
DHL launched online road freight platform Saloodo! in January 2017 for Europe, which was expanded to the Middle East earlier this year. Another global giant, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, acquired Freightquote.com for $365 million in 2015.
Meanwhile digital freight forwarder InstaFreight has been building an experienced management team following its Series A funding round of €8 million in late 2017. The German startup has digitised the entire freight booking process from quoting prices to invoicing.
What’s next?
Poste Italiane and sennder are still in the process of setting up the joint venture, with the aim of commencing operations in Q3 2019. Will that be enough time for sennder to come to grips with the quirks of the Italian transport, postal, and labour markets?
Source : https://www.eft.com/freight
No 45 -2019
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
Omniva was awarded the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility and the gold level Quality Label. June 6, 2019.
The new lockers in question. June 5, 2019.
3,100,000,000 parcels processed over a period of 20 years.
June 3, 2019.
Royal Mail launches new app features including purchasing and printing postage. June 3, 2019.
FINNS Can Now Pick Up Parcels And Groceries From Automated Parcel Machines. May 31, 2019.
FedEx to Deliver Packages 7 Days a Week. May 30, 2019.
Omniva was awarded the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility and the gold level Quality Label
June 6, 2019
Omniva was awarded the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility and the gold level Quality Label. Over the past year, the company has made great progress and contributed to solutions that value a clean natural environment and make life better for people. Omniva has successfully launched an economical driving programme that, in addition to reducing air pollution, also saves fuel and maintenance costs.
In 2018, we started using electric vans in both Estonia and Latvia and installed a solar park on the roof of the new logistics centre. We are constantly working to make Omniva’s work environment more family-friendly as well as employee-friendly.
It is important for us to act responsibly. We care about the nature, people, and world around us. We are committed to honest and sustainable development and are working to make the impact of our business as positive as possible everywhere.
This year, 78 companies earned the Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility. Since March 2019, Omniva is also a member of the Estonian Corporate Social Responsibility Association.
The Quality Label is awarded to companies that have participated in the Estonian Corporate Social Responsibility Index, value sustainable development, and consistently work to increase their positive impact on the surrounding environment.
In 11 years, the bronze, silver, or gold level of the Corporate Social Responsibility Index has been awarded to several hundred different companies operating in Estonia. The Corporate Social Responsibility Labels for 2018 were handed over at the gala held on 22 May at the Tallinn Creative Hub, where the Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid also participated.
Omniva is the leader of e-commerce and plays an important role in advancing the economic life of Baltic States. We lead the parcel terminal market of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Omniva group employs 2,300 people across the Baltics, and the turnover in 2017 was 99.8 million euros.
Source: https://www.ipc.be/news-portal/general-news/2019
The new lockers in question
June 5, 2019
After the failure of previous preparatory bins, created to limit musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) linked to the repeated actions of the factors during the preparation of mail, La Poste reviews its copy.
Indeed, today, La Poste is setting up a new prototype, ETF (Work Environment Factors) on new sites, after Limoges and Bry sur Marne. ETFs are supposed to allow two rounds to be sorted instead of one. La Poste hopes to deploy a thousand of these prototypes within three years.
These new lockers should be used in a sitting position, since the factors are used to the standing position, they tend to use them as well. The risks of MSD are therefore still existing. Two screens are located above the bin which can cause poor neck positions and eye discomfort. This new tool is not yet deployed, but it would be soon.
FO Com asks for the results of these ETF tests on Limoges and Bry-sur-Marne (8 have already been implemented since 16 April 2019). The pace of work has still not been measured to date. What will she be? What are the measures taken by La Poste to provide officers with proper training?
FO Com requires that the members of CHSCT (Commission for Hygiene, Health and Safety at Work) be informed of the arrival of these machines on the sites in order to frame their use.
Source : http://www.focom-laposte.fr/
3.1 billion parcels processed over a period of 20 years
June 3, 2019
The Swiss Post parcel centers in Härkingen (SO), Daillens (VD) and Frauenfeld (TG) are a genuine success story. Their belt conveyors have been running for 20 years. More than 3.1 billion parcels have been processed by our employees during this time – setting new records year after year. Now, the centers are celebrating their 20th anniversary – and the course is set for the future.
Beaming Swiss Post employees form the number 20. This is the image on giant posters currently hanging in the three main Swiss Post parcel centers in Härkingen (SO), Daillens (VD) and Frauenfeld (TG). And for good reason: the three centers are celebrating their 20th anniversary. When they were officially brought into operation on 31 May 1999, it was a once-in-a-lifetime logistics event in Switzerland. Swiss Post had invested some 450 million francs in cutting-edge technology and an expandable infrastructure. From that day on, parcels were processed in three central locations. For the very first time, parcels delivered in Switzerland were sorted automatically right down to the parcel carriers’ individual delivery rounds. This was a revolutionary development for the time and one of the reasons why Swiss Post was subsequently able to keep pace with the growing parcel market and changing customer needs.
Between 2014 and 2016, Swiss Post invested a further 60 million francs in its parcel centers, increasing their capacity by 25 percent – while maintaining the quality of services and reliability. Now, around 800,000 parcels are processed on average every day, with up to 1.3 million parcels being handled on peak days during Christmas.
A success story thanks to employees
It is clear that the rapid growth of recent years and the challenges of parcel processing would have been unmanageable without the employees. “For that reason, I would like to express my sincerest thanks,” said Dieter Bambauer, Member of Executive Management and Head of PostLogistics. He added that Swiss Post recognized the potential of online retail years ago and geared its logistics business towards this change at an early stage. “That is why we have been able to maintain our position throughout all these years, even in a highly competitive market with no monopoly. It’s a testament to the quality of the work being performed,” said Bambauer, paying tribute to his employees. “We want to remain number one in the future.”
Keeping pace with customer requirements
Now, 20 years and 3.1 billion parcels later, Swiss Post is once again setting its course for the future. Three new regional parcel centers are being built in Vétroz (VS), Cadenazzo (TI) and Untervaz (GR). This is in response to the continuing parcel boom driven by globalization and online retail. It is also a reaction to the increasing demand for Priority parcels. Customers increasingly want to place orders and receive their parcels the next day.
While centralizing operations in three large parcel centers offered huge advantages in 1999, the future of parcel processing lies in a decentralized structure. In the future, parcel processing will be more of a regional affair. This approach will cut transport times and journeys, which will in turn facilitate faster processes and be more ecological. As a result, Swiss Post will be able to meet its customers’ desire to receive their parcels as quickly as possible.
By 2020, Swiss Post will invest approximately 190 million francs in the construction of the three new regional parcel centers in Graubünden, Ticino and Valais, with the aim of enhancing the service quality on both sides of the supply chain (sender/recipient) in the long term. And additional parcel centers are already in the pipeline for other regions.
Source : https://www.post.ch/en/about-us/company/media/press-releases/2019
Royal Mail launches new app features including purchasing and printing postage
June 3, 2019
Royal Mail has launched a range of new convenient features in its mobile app to help senders and recipients manage their deliveries more effectively.
Senders can now check a price and buy one-off postage directly through the app. When buying postage on the app, they receive a QR code allowing them to print postage labels for free at a Royal Mail Customer Service Point*.
The app will also keep customers updated with automatic notifications as their parcel moves through Royal Mail’s network. This means there is no need to check back for information on a delivery because customers will be updated every step of the way.
Royal Mail Tracked** is now available to buy on the app. Customers can ensure an item is tracked all the way through. Within the app, senders can also enable SMS and email notifications to be sent to the recipient for peace of mind.
Since its launch last year, there have been several updates including:
The ability to see the estimated delivery window of a parcel.
When an item has been delivered, see an image of the signature if someone has signed for it, or a photograph of the safe place an item has been delivered to.
Save postage receipts – customers can take a photo of their receipt and store it to the app.
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said “The Royal Mail app is a great tool that helps recipients manage their deliveries more effectively. The latest updates to the app are bringing more functionality to the fingertips of users.
The new features of the Royal Mail app are part of our investment in technology that improves customer and recipient convenience.”
The app is available for download for free on both the App Store and Google Play store.
Source : https://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/royal-mail
FINNS Can Now Pick Up Parcels And Groceries From Automated Parcel Machines
May 31, 2019
Smartmile has teamed up with the Finnish retail chain K-Group to deliver online grocery orders into automated parcel machines.
Finns can pick up their groceries from a Smartmile parcel machine by using K-Group’s K-Ruoka app.
The new service is available in K-Supermarket Nekala, Tampere and K-Supermarket Torikulma, Iisalmi, in Finland. This means people can pick up their parcels and groceries at the same time from a Smartmile machine.
Smartmile is one of the first companies in Finland offering such service. Smartmile and K-Group plan to expand the network of parcel machines offering grocery delivery in the near future.
The groceries are kept in thermo boxes inside the parcel machines which enables the food – whether warm, cold or frozen – to stay fresh. The robot inside the machine then brings the thermo box to the customer. The robotic parcel machines are manufactured by Konecranes.
”K-Group aims to develop innovative future solutions for service offerings in K-stores and Smartmile’s automated parcel machines are a great example of these new services. Our preliminary experiences of parcel machines that enable food delivery are very positive. The customer benefits of picking up all of their online purchases and pre-ordered groceries simultaneously from the same machine. The customer can also choose a pickup time that is suitable for them according to the store’s opening hours” says Kesko’s Service Director Petri Toivonen.
“We constantly develop our services to respond to our customers’ needs to make everyday life easier. Our customers’ wish has been to pick up their groceries and online purchases simultaneously. Therefore, we are really excited to start delivering groceries with K-Group,” says Smartmile’s CEO and co-founder Aku Happo.
Source : https://postandparcel.info/105362/news/e-commerce
FedEx to Deliver Packages 7 Days a Week
May 30, 2019
FedEx Corp. said it would start offering Sunday deliveries to most U.S. homes, the latest sign that the U.S.’s online shopping habits are pressuring companies to revamp their operations to fulfill orders almost as fast as they are placed.
With people ordering everything from saunas to sandwiches online and expecting to have them quickly appear at the door, retailers and carriers are racing to adapt to service the so-called last mile.
McDonald’s Corp. is working with Uber Technologies Inc. drivers to bring Big Macs to a city park. Kroger Co. is testing an unmanned vehicle to ferry groceries in some markets. Drizly, a delivery startup, promises to deliver beer or wine in under an hour.
And Amazon.com Inc., whose endless virtual aisles and sprawl of warehouses has upped the ante, is promising one-day delivery on many items later this year. At the same time, the web giant is looking to recruit hundreds of local-delivery firms to bring items from its hubs to homes.
“Online shopping is seven days a week,” FedEx President and Chief Operating Officer Raj Subramaniam said in an interview. “So there is increasing demand from online shoppers and e-commerce shippers for seven-day service.”
The package giant, which only recently added Saturday ground deliveries, plans to offer seven-day residential delivery in the U.S. next year as it seeks to capture more of the e-commerce surge.
With the change, FedEx plans to bring to customers’ doorsteps many of the packages it currently drops at local post offices. The shift will seek to lower costs by building density along FedEx Ground routes, while also shifting some two million packages daily out of the U.S. Postal Service’s network.
FedEx and rival United Parcel Service Inc. have invested heavily in recent years to manage the volume of e-commerce packages moving through their sorting facilities and long-haul networks.
Until recently, the companies have taken steps to outsource last-mile delivery to the Postal Service or others, worried that home deliveries would be less profitable than shipments between businesses. But as the volumes climb—to an estimated 50 million domestic packages a day—the companies are adjusting their operations to boost market share and
handle weekend deliveries. They are also experimenting with more immediate delivery options. UPS has tested drone deliveries, while FedEx recently showed off a robot that would carry a pizza across town.
At the same time, FedEx’s traditional Express business of rushing deliveries by jet across the country or globe has slowed. Amazon, Walmart Inc. and many other retailers have expanded their warehouse networks, adding locations near more U.S. cities where they can store goods and ship them shorter distances.
Retailers are also building out their own local delivery efforts or pushing shoppers to pick up web purchases at their stores. Target Corp. acquired Shipt, a service that uses contractors to bring orders from stores, and Walmart has rolled out a curbside pickup service that would sidestep a delivery company.
“FedEx could have been on the cusp of just being ignored, not having delivery options for Sundays,” said Charles Dimov, vice president of marketing at OrderDynamics Corp., which sells order-management software.
FedEx plans to shift to seven-day-a-week operations in January for a majority of the U.S. population, following the holiday shopping season—when it typically delivers packages every day to handle the seasonal increase.
The added day wasn’t made with any one retailer in mind, Mr. Subramaniam said, as FedEx expects to deliver packages on Sundays for everyone from smaller shippers to the largest retailers. “E-commerce is much larger than any one company,” he said.
The company didn’t disclose the financial impact of its plan. FedEx said it won’t charge extra fees for Sunday delivery. It currently provides Saturday delivery for no additional charge.
Mr. Subramaniam declined to say whether FedEx plans to add staff to run Sunday operations. The company uses independent contractors to handle Ground deliveries in the U.S.
FedEx this year shifted to six-day-a-week delivery operations after the recent holiday season, an expansion that has added significant costs. In March, the company cut its profit outlook for the year, citing declining revenue in its Express unit and higher costs in the Ground operations. It has switched CEOs at the Express unit twice in the past year.
Rival UPS in recent years has shifted to six-day-a-week delivery. During last year’s contract bargaining with unionized workers, UPS added lower-tier pay for delivery drivers to work on weekends, although it doesn’t currently deliver on Sundays.
UPS spokesman Glenn Zaccara said the company is “constantly assessing when it makes sense to expand current capabilities and operations.”
Source : https://www.wsj.com/articles
POSTAL NEWS
No 46 -2019
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
DHL report reveals: e-Commerce will have a significant impact on how companies will shape their transport strategies in the future. June 6, 2019.
Posti to increase the number of service points up to 2,800 – some of Posti’s own shops to be closed. June 5, 2019.
A Glimpse Of Singpost’s Future: Smart Postboxes And Postmen Rating . June 3, 2019.
Seat belts save lives – mine saved me. May 31 2019.
Poste Italiane to digitise excess truck capacity. May 30, 2019.
DHL report reveals: e-Commerce will have a significant impact on how companies will shape their transport strategies in the future
June 6, 2019
The DHL survey found out that the impact of e-commerce on markets, in general, and ground transportation in particular, varies by region.
A recent survey commissioned by DHL has revealed that companies are facing a fast changing market environment, be it in terms of geopolitical changes or technological transformation.
But in terms of their ground transportation operations, by far the biggest issue on companies' minds is e-commerce and its implications on service and ground transportation requirements.
Especially the extraordinarily high service expectations born of e-commerce are impacting businesses. Just to name a few: Customers are expecting same or next day delivery, variable last-mile delivery options, high in-transit visibility, as well as flexible or free return policies and always in-stock inventories. Services that are increasingly challenging.
Paul Stone, CEO DHL Supply Chain Nordics and Head of Transport for MLEMEA explains: "Our European customers look for first-class capabilities in enabling last mile deliveries, which is why technology will be central to navigating this new era for ground transportation. The capability of AI and data analytics to manage the order profile and shipping patterns of customers' increasingly complex and demanding operating models while optimizing cost and service, means that they are now viewed as essential services, rather than added benefits."
The DHL survey "The Logistics Transport Evolution: The Road Ahead" found out that the impact of e-commerce on markets, in general, and ground transportation in particular, varies by region. For example, when comparing the impact of e-commerce over the next one to two years versus three to five years, U.S. respondents expect the impact to slightly decrease, from 63% to 60% while, in Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America, that same impact number increases from 65% to 69%.
Paul Stone, CEO DHL Supply Chain Nordics and Head of Transport for MLEMEA explains: "Here in Europe, transport is undoubtedly a critical aspect of the global business environment, and our findings indicate that companies across sectors and markets now recognize its strategic value. That's reflected by our customers' C-suite executives becoming more involved in transportation discussions. We undertook this study to gain an insight into exactly what companies expect from their transportation service providers, both today and tomorrow. Our research has shown us that customers are increasingly looking for complete solutions with a global reach as they can solve a wide range of transportation issues and requirements. In Europe, particularly, environmental commitments are increasingly important to our customers."
Here the research showed that throughout Europe, the United States and Asia, more and more mega-urban centers are deploying congestion pricing and tolls on vehicles entering urban areas during peak business times - or, in some cases, at any time. Environmental concerns about transportation's significant carbon footprint will grow as an issue and a potential constraint in delivering goods into these highly populated urban areas. Today, 76% of respondents stated legislation around mandatory carbon reporting is having a big impact on their transportation decision making.
Broader societal factors were also highlighted as presenting associated challenges, with 61% of companies referencing the increase in urbanization as a factor that will significantly impact their future business. Technology and its ability to help manage this complex environment are increasingly seen as a standard requirement of 3PLs: more than two thirds (67%) of companies believe that big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are services that are essential for 3PLs to offer their shipper customers
Source : https://www.dpdhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2019
Posti to increase the number of service points up to 2,800 – some of Posti’s own shops to be closed
June 5,2019
Posti is in the process of updating its retail network. The number of service points and Posti Parcel Lockers will increase by more than 700 service points this year and next year, totaling up to 2,800 service points. As part of the change, Posti will close 18 of its own shops in phases. The personnel reduction need decreased as the cooperation negotiations went on, ending up at 108 employees (124 permanent employees at the beginning of the negotiations).
The cooperation negotiations related to the updating of the retail network have been completed. The cooperation negotiations were motivated by the need to meet the requirements imposed by intense e-commerce growth and changing customer needs.
Customers have been asking for Posti’s service points to have extended opening hours and be located near other services. Posti outlets and Posti Parcel Lockers operated by Posti’s partners are located on the premises of service providers that are also open in the evenings and on weekends.
During the negotiations, it was agreed that an external partner would be found to provide the services or another service model would be adopted for the 18 stores subject to the change. The planned changes would be carried out in phases until March 2021.
In the future, the six shops operated by Posti itself will be located in Helsinki (Postitalo, Kasarmitori and Töölö), Espoo (Matinkylä), Jyväskylä (city center) and Rovaniemi (the Arctic Circle).
The following shops will be closed in phases by March 2021: Helsinki (Punavuori, Etu-Vallila, Hakaniemi and Herttoniemi), Espoo (Tapiola), Vantaa (Tikkurila), Lahti, Turku, Pori, Tampere, Kouvola, Mikkeli, Lappeenranta, Lemi, Vaasa, Kuopio and Rovaniemi. Further information will be given to customers closer to the time of the change. Posti’s operations will continue in all the aforementioned municipalities. Going forward, the goal is that in these municipalities, postal services will be operated by Posti’s local partner with the exact same range of services as Posti’s own shops.
The number of service points has doubled in 10 years
Overall, Posti’s retail network will increase by over 700 new service points and Posti parcel lockers. With a total of 2,062 service points at the end of March, it is planned that
Posti will have more than 2,800 service points next year. Approximately 97 percent of the Posti’s retail network consists of service points.
“Over the past decade, the number of Posti's service points has more than doubled, mostly due to parcel lockers which our customers like. As the number of lockers continues to grow and customers have constant access to our digital services, Posti’s services will be even closer to customers than before,” says Lasse Huttunen, Director, Retail Network at Posti.
Posti’s services will remain available in every municipality.
Cooperation negotiations motivated by customer needs and the savings target
In addition to changes in customer needs and the use of time, the cooperation negotiations were also motivated by Posti’s need to reduce costs by at least approximately EUR 150–200 million over the next three years. These cost savings would be required due to the steep decline in letter and publication volumes alone.
The need for savings is based on changing customer needs as well as the costs of Posti’s own shops—central shop locations and extended opening hours cannot be maintained in a cost-effective way. The cooperation negotiations did not concern service points operated by partners.
Source : https://www.posti.com/en/media/media-news/2019
A Glimpse Of Singpost’s Future: Smart Postboxes And Postmen Rating
June 3, 2019
SingPost is reportedly working with government agencies to introduce smart letterboxes and other infrastructure upgrades that will make receiving mail and parcels more convenient and efficient, reports Strait Times.
In the meantime SingPost will be launching a new product that will allow customers to be notified when an item is delivered to their letterbox and a system so residents can rate postmen in a bid to win back the public’s trust after a spate of service lapses.
A new feedback channel will let residents read short biographies of their neighbourhood postman and leave a rating and comments.
“The main motive is to have community engagement between postmen and residents, to put a face to a name,” head and chief executive of postal services Vincent Phang told the media when he announced the initiatives on Friday (May 31) at the SingPost Centre.
A microsite will be launched in July, when the feedback programme will be on trial in Bukit Timah and Yishun. It will be rolled out nationwide in October, and residents will be given QR codes that can be scanned for quick access to the site.
The new “trackable mail” product due to roll out in the same month will provide an alternative to registered mail, which requires a signature to acknowledge receipt.
“A good proportion of customers that require high confidence deliveries use registered articles… a tracked letterbox product would essentially improve on that experience. So if it goes into the letterbox it’s scanned, and there’s verification that it’s delivered,” said Mr Phang.
Shifting some demand to this service would lead to fewer overall doorstep deliveries that postmen need to make, and fewer missed encounters, he added.
To make deliveries more efficient, postmen will specialise in either letterbox or doorstep deliveries, instead of doing both currently. This will entail a pre-sorting process “to segregate what’s doorstep and what’s letterbox”, said Mr Phang.
Roughly two-thirds of SingPost’s more than 1,000 postmen will focus on letterbox deliveries. Together with the current doorstep delivery hours of 9am to 6pm being extended to 9pm beginning in August, delivery success rates will hopefully increase, said Mr Phang.
The new initiatives come as part of a longer-term review of SingPost’s operations, which include discussing with the authorities the possibility of making letterboxes bigger to accommodate the changing profile of mail items.
“I do foresee that in a country like Singapore, there’s potential for us to have all deliveries tracked. Just think of a day that without some level of authentication you cannot retrieve that letter from a letterbox.
“All that is within our grasp…whether it’s cost-effective is another thing, but we certainly have to discuss some of these areas to build the infrastructure so it can sustain the future,” he added.
Source : https://postandparcel.info/105375/news/e-commerce
Seat belts save lives – mine saved me
May 31 2019
“Please never forget your seat belt, it can save your life – it certainly saved mine,” says Parcelforce driver Carl Prendergast, who suffered a broken wrist in a recent road incident.
But it could have been so much worse, his 7.5-tonne delivery lorry dropped some 30 feet from a Reading flyover onto the road below, landing on its roof and in his own words: “If I hadn’t been wearing my seat belt, I’d have been catapulted out of the front windscreen and crushed on the road.”
The incident – which was widely reported in local news on the day – occurred on a late May afternoon, when Carl was driving, below the speed limit, through the centre of Reading, Berkshire.
When he reached the A329 flyover, which passes the town’s ‘Oracle’ shopping mall, a car in front braked suddenly, forcing Carl into evasive action.
“I put the brakes on and thought: ‘It’s not going to stop’, so I turned left and my vehicle hit a kerb and a barrier and that spun me right over the central reservation and then onto the barrier on the other side of the flyover,” he recalls.
The momentum of his large vehicle caused the barrier to give way and lorry and driver plunged straight over the edge and dropped onto the road below, landing on its roof.
Photographs from the immediate aftermath show the lorry completely overturned.
Carl says that he was possibly out cold for some moments, as his next memory is of people opening his door to help him out of the vehicle and of everyone’s surprise that he was able to walk away.
“It all happened so quick – but I know if it hadn’t been for my seatbelt, I wouldn’t be here now.
“And I’m just so glad no-one else was injured.”
Paramedics and police were on the scene promptly and Carl was taken to Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital, where a broken wrist was confirmed – and plastered up.
“That was nearly two weeks ago – and they say the plaster will be on for another couple of weeks at least.
“It’ll be sometime before I can drive again, but I want to get back to work as soon as possible,” he says, adding: “I’ve asked if I can come in on perhaps non-driving duties.”
CWU national health, safety and environment officer Dave Joyce said: “With Royal Mail Road Safety Week coming up (3-9 June), Carl’s story is an important example of the absolute necessity of wearing a seatbelt at all times while driving.
“Without a seatbelt, Carl would not be with us today – that’s the honest truth of the matter.
“Please everyone, it only takes a second for another driver perhaps to make a small mistake and as we can see from the Reading incident, the consequences are potentially catastrophic,” Dave urged.
“Seatbelts save lives and in this case it certainly did! Those who don’t wear their seatbelts whilst behind the wheel put themselves in mortal danger. We’re all extremely relieved that Carl survived this horrific accident and walked away with minor injuries.
“I’m hoping that during Royal Mail/CWU Road Safety Week, that Carl Prendagast’s story and the photographs of his accident will help raise awareness of the vital importance of Seat Belts.”
During the Road Safety Week – Seat belts Campaign, Royal Mail and the CWU will be working together to raise awareness and promote the importance to CWU members who drive as part of their job, the importance or wearing their seat belts, through posters on workplace noticeboards, in work time briefing sessions, via website articles, through road safety video clips and case studies like Carl’s case – in order to get the message across how important this message is.
Dave concluded with a salient warning message to all CWU members: “Seat Belts have been a legal requirement in the UK since 1983 and contrary to a common urban myth that still prevails, Royal Mail and Parcel force Drivers are NOT exempt from this Law – so don’t get caught out!”
Source : https://www.cwu.org/news
Poste Italiane to digitise excess truck capacity
May 30, 2019
Italian postal operator Poste Italiane is setting up a joint venture with digital freight forwarder sennder, aimed at improving the post’s long-haul road efficiency writes Ian Kerr.
The partnership with sennder will focus on the full truck load market, allowing Poste Italiane to drive efficiencies and leverage surplus capacity in its trucking network.
“Empty space in a truck means you’re leaving money on the table,” says Cathy Morrow Roberson, lead consultant and founder of Logistics Trends & Insights.
The joint venture will target transport demand coming from third parties inside and outside of Italy.
Poste Group currently employs around 800 third-party vehicles for long-haul alone, making approximately 2,300 journeys and covering 450,000km on an average day.
Based in Berlin, digital freight start-up sennder last month raised an undisclosed amount in its Series B financing, which followed a headline-grabbing seven-digit euro investment from Scania Growth Capital (Scania’s corporate venture capital fund) in 2017. Earlier this month sennder was announced as a participant in logistics startup accelerator Dynamo’s latest incubator programme.
The sennder software platform comprises mobile apps for drivers, fleet management tools for carrier managers and logistics management solutions for shippers.
To this point, the platform has focused on connecting large enterprise clients to small fleets. With the Poste Italiane JV, sennder will be involved with a national fleet that is grappling with the growth demands of e-commerce.
Poste Italiane CEO Matteo Del Fante said that the post is aiming for operational efficiencies and reduced emissions as a result of the JV.
Amazon’s role
Amazon is a big part of Poste Italiane’s push to deliver e-commerce. Poste Italiane is accommodating Amazon’s last mile needs by offering evening delivery, delivery to post offices, parcel lockers, and a PUDO partnership with tobacconists.
More recently, it seems that Poste Italiane’s air cargo subsidiary Mistral Air has been expanded to meet Amazon’s domestic demands in Italy.
Which leaves road transport. Could this partnership be a way for Poste Italiane to gain a share of Amazon’s LTL and FTL domestic freight? It’s a competitive market – but of late Poste Italiane has shown that it is prepared to compete in the last mile against the likes of DHL.
Major competitors in this market
Other companies have recognised an opportunity to digitise their fleets – in particular in the European market. Europe provides a special challenge to fleet managers, with trucks capable of crossing multiple borders in a day.
In 2017, DB Schenker invested US$25m in online shipping marketplace uShip. At the time, DB Schenker said it planned to use the platform for land transport, connecting its 30,000 or so transport partners in the European land transport network to their freight.
DHL launched online road freight platform Saloodo! in January 2017 for Europe, which was expanded to the Middle East earlier this year. Another global giant, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, acquired Freightquote.com for $365 million in 2015.
Meanwhile digital freight forwarder InstaFreight has been building an experienced management team following its Series A funding round of €8 million in late 2017. The German startup has digitised the entire freight booking process from quoting prices to invoicing.
What’s next?
Poste Italiane and sennder are still in the process of setting up the joint venture, with the aim of commencing operations in Q3 2019. Will that be enough time for sennder to come to grips with the quirks of the Italian transport, postal, and labour markets?
Source : https://www.eft.com/freight