“Forward ever, backward never: onwards with Breaking Through”

POSTAL NEWS
No 31-2020

Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector


1.   Amazon closes French warehouses after court ruling on coronavirus. April 16, 2020.

3.   Australia Post considered once-a-week letter deliveries in confidential review. April 14, 2020.

4.   Posti: Items are delivered to the intended recipients, but they are not carried inside – installation services are also temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus. April 14,  2020.

5.   Post office helps self-isolating customers access cash.

April 13, 2020.

 

 


POSTAL NEWS
No 32-2020

Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector

1.   DPD staff donate 45,000 care items to NHS hospitals nationwide. April 16, 2020.

2.   Federal Government must put on emergency supply flights for regional/rural Australia: posties.April 15, 2020.

3.   PostNL provides update on Q1 performance amidst Covid-19 pandemic.April 14, 2020.

4.   UPS Expedites Global Deliveries Of QIAGEN Coronavirus Testing Kits. April 14, 2020.

 

5.   China's first train of new postal rail service to Europe arrives in Lithuania.  April 13, 2020.

 

 

1.  DPD staff donate 45,000 care items to NHS hospitals nationwide


April 16, 2020
Parcel delivery firm DPD has helped turn a palliative care nurse’s idea into a nationwide initiative to provide much needed welfare and treat packs for patients and NHS staff.

The new initiative – called NHS Thursday – will see thousands of welfare packs and food and treat packs collated and distributed by DPD, to 160 NHS hospitals nationwide.  The items have been donated by DPD staff, either extra items that they had at home, or things they have been able to pick-up while doing their usual shopping.

The list of items has been agreed with the NHS and deliveries coordinated with DPD’s existing NHS contacts.  The welfare pack includes cosmetics and toiletries such as shampoo, shower gel, sanitary products, toothpaste, make-up, shaving foam and disposable razors.  The food and treat packs contain instant noodles, energy drinks, biscuits, crisps, tea and coffee.

The idea came from Nikitta Jones, a palliative care nurse at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, the Cynon Valley Hospital, near MerthyrTydfil.  Nikitta’s partner is Nikos Minadakis, who is a DPD driver, based in the Cardiff depot. Nikitta had explained to him that families are no longer allowed to visit the ward under the current Covid-19 restrictions, and in addition to the loss of contact, patients also aren’t getting supplies and treats from home.

Nikitta commented: “The whole team on Ward 6 are amazing and I’m so proud of the work they do, but it is very difficult at the moment to give our patients everything they need.  It is important to be able to maintain their dignity and give them the kind of home comforts their families would normally bring in. So, partly this is about providing essential items for personal hygiene and partly it is about being able to treat our patients the way their families would.”

Nikos spoke to colleagues who suggested Nikitta email DPD CEO Dwain McDonald direct.  As a result, all 68 DPD depots up and down the country got involved in collecting, collating and delivering the packs.  Staff were encouraged to work with local hospitals using existing contacts and friends to verify requirements.  Each depot has been helping up to six different hospitals in their area and the hospital’s regular DPD driver will then deliver the packs to their contact at a prearranged time.

Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO commented: “When Nikitta explained the issue, it was a no-brainer.  But neither of us were expecting it to turn into a nationwide initiative.  We have been blown away by the response from staff.  We are incredibly busy at the moment, but everyone we spoke to within DPD wanted to help.

“Nikitta originally only asked for a bag of shopping for her own ward, but in talking to her and the team it has turned into something far bigger.  Everyone has jumped on this and we still have more donations coming in.  I can see us running this again next week and for as long as it is required.  The packs are designed for patients and the NHS staff themselves.  We wanted to help people like Nikitta look after everyone, but we also wanted to say a massive thank you to NHS workers and help keep their energy levels up too.”


 

2.  Federal Government must put on emergency supply flights for regional/rural Australia: posties



The Federal Government needs to urgently intervene to ensure Australia’s vulnerable – particularly those in regional and rural communities – are not left without vital supplies during the COVID-19 crisis, the union representing postal workers said today.

CEPU Communications Union National President, Shane Murphy, is calling on the Federal Government to put on emergency freight flights to ensure the country’s regional and rural communities can get access to the vital goods they need in a timely manner. 

The call follows revelations that massive cuts to Qantas flights is hampering Australia Post’s ability to deliver goods to local communities. 

The union says it’s also critical the government intervenes to ensure Australia Post can continue with five-day a week deliveries. 

“Australians are in the middle of a crisis. It’s never been more important that people have access to an efficient postal system,” Mr Murphy said.

“Our posties are delivering essential items to the most vulnerable in our community – people who can no longer just duck down to the shop to pick up the medicine or other essential items they urgently need. 

“If passenger flights aren’t viable, we need emergency freight flights to ensure our mail and essential packages can continue to get to those who need it most.  

“Now is not the time to be cutting access to our postal service. We need to be ramping it up and its up to the Federal Government to ensure that happens. Australians need it and so do the local businesses who are currently relying on our postal service to keep themselves afloat.

“We can’t have Australians, particularly our more vulnerable Australians, sitting at home hoping their essential parcel will come in time. Cutting services back is simply not an option at this time – people’s lives rely on it.”


 

3.  PostNL provides update on Q1 performance amidst Covid-19 pandemic


April 14,  2020

The Hague, 14 April 2020 - Today, PostNL provides an update regarding the impact of Covid-19 on its performance in the first quarter of 2020. PostNL is fully operational and has been able to continue its primary business activities during these unprecedented circumstances. It is serving consumers, customers and society at large by maintaining its vital infrastructure, allowing people to remain connected and to do business while staying at home.

 

HernaVerhagen, CEO of PostNL, commented: “Ensuring a safe and healthy environment for our people, partners, clients and consumers is and will remain our key priority. We are proud of our people, who are fully focused on the ongoing delivery of mail, parcels and other shipments such as medical goods and food, allowing people to stay at home. We are actively monitoring developments and have had a comprehensive business continuity plan in place since early March.”

 

Health and safety come first

PostNL applies all social distancing guidelines and health regulations to protect its people and consumers as much as possible. We have implemented additional measures in our operations and facilities to support social distancing and to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. We have introduced contactless delivery to ensure that our deliverers can keep the required 1.5 metre distance to customers. Flow patterns, protective plexiglass walls, floor stickers and other communications aim to raise awareness and to help people to stay safe.

Covid-19 impact visible in March

Governments in the Netherlands and Belgium took additional health and safety measures early in March. Since then, e-commerce growth has picked up and parcels volumes have increased, compared with low growth levels in January and February. With many retail stores forced to close, small and mid-sized webshops showed good growth in volumes, leading to a positive price mix effect at Parcels. At Mail in the Netherlands, people are sending considerably more greeting cards to pay attention to family and friends. However, bulk mail volumes declined significantly in March, as many direct mail campaigns were postponed. The additional volume decline will be partially offset by a positive price mix effect, which is expected to continue in the second quarter. Despite restrictions in certain countries and reduced air freight capacity, the impact of Covid-19 at Spring is expected to be limited in Q1.

Solid Q1 performance expected; strong financial position

Based on current developments, PostNL expects to report a solid normalised EBIT and strong cash flow development for Q1 2020. Operational measures to protect its people and clients, combined with an increased level of absenteeism, are expected to impact operational costs. Meanwhile, the combination of the two postal networks of PostNL and Sandd has progressed according to plan during the quarter. PostNL is on track to deliver the projected benefits and synergies of the consolidation. At 31 March 2020, PostNL had €485 million in cash (31 December 2019: €480 million) and a credit facility of €400 million, fully undrawn, with no covenants.

Limited visibility going forward

The duration and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the social and economic situation are difficult to predict. There are challenges, such as the impact of social distancing measures on efficiency as well as on our ability to realise planned cost savings in Mail in the Netherlands, and the negative impact on the overall business environment. At the same time, there are also opportunities, as e-commerce activity has picked up and consumer mail is more popular now. Building on its solid first quarter performance, PostNL continues to be committed to achieve the stated 2020 outlook for normalised EBIT between €110 million and €130 million. However, the uncertainties regarding the duration and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic may impact PostNL’s ability to achieve this result. Q1 2020 results will be published as scheduled on 4 May 2020.

 

 

4.  UPS Expedites Global Deliveries Of QIAGEN Coronavirus Testing Kits

 

April 14, 2020

·       QIAGEN dramatically ramping up production capacity to get testing solutions to labs and hospitals across the world via UPS’s smart global logistics network

·       UPS helping QIAGEN deploy products worldwide, including the first syndromic testing solution that can differentiate novel Coronavirus from 20 other serious respiratory infections in approximately one hour

UPS (NYSE:UPS), a global leader in logistics, today announced that it is working with QIAGEN, a leading global provider of molecular diagnostics and sample preparation technologies, to deliver nucleic acid extraction kits critical to COVID-19 testing, as well as its novel QIAstat-Dx Coronavirus testing cartridges to destinations around the world. With governments and public authorities classifying UPS as an essential service provider, the company is combining the flexibility of its global network with QIAGEN’s increased production capacity for COVID-19 testing kits produced at their facility in Hilden, Germany to help healthcare workers curb the spread of the disease.

“Customers and governments around the world are turning to the reliability of UPS’s smart global logistics network to help fight this pandemic,” said Lou Rivieccio, president, UPS Europe. “Business continuity has never been more important for our customers and that is what we continue to deliver whether it be for delivery or storage of medicines, testing kits or medical supplies. And when it comes to ensuring that increased production volumes of testing kits reach vital destinations around the world such as hospitals and labs, our teams are here to help customers navigate complexity and focus on fighting this pandemic. Agility, flexibility and fast response in the supply chain arena are helping to combat this outbreak as it shifts from Asia to Europe and North America.”

In Europe, UPS has recently invested $2 billion in its network and services. This investment has allowed the company to implement dynamic contingency plans that can adapt to the rapidly changing business environment. Despite recent border closures, UPS is continuing to serve the needs of its customers. Through its European air hub at Cologne-Bonn Airport, the company is able to ensure swift and efficient transportation of essential shipments in Europe and to destinations around the world.

“We have and continue to increase our production of reagents and COVID-19 testing kits to meet the current extraordinary demand for our products worldwide. Our supply chains, both to our production facilities as well as to our customers in laboratories and hospitals are crucial at this time,” said BartholdPiening, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Operations at QIAGEN. “Just as our teams at QIAGEN are working 24/7 to ensure production we know we can rely upon UPS as our logistics partner to make sure these kits and components arrive on time and in the right condition to where they’re needed most. We share our ambition with UPS, with its flexible global network, to make our solutions as widely available as possible.”

These efforts to support QIAGEN’s global needs to respond to a global challenge with sophisticated supply chain management are in line with UPS’s support of governments and other private sector customers working to curb the Coronavirus pandemic. UPS is a significant part of the world economy, transporting three percent of global GDP every day, and its employees are proud of the critical role the company plays for its customers, communities and the economies in countries where it operates. The company is supporting public health bodies around the world with the shipment of crucial healthcare equipment, including the recent shipment of ventilators to the UK’s National Health Service. To support the global relief effort in response to the novel Coronavirus, the UPS Foundation announced new grant allocations to United Nations agencies, humanitarian relief partners and international non-government organizations. In the United States, UPS is supporting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with “Project Airbridge”, a coordinated effort to expedite the arrival of critical supplies needed in US hospitals.

UPS Healthcare provides extensive services ranging from healthcare-licensed distribution space, supply chain management, to temperature-control packaging and shipping, storage and fulfillment of medical devices, labs and clinical trial specimens. With capabilities for GDP- and GMP-compliant warehousing and transport of critical shipments, UPS Healthcare’s global infrastructure, monitoring and tracking capabilities, and private data protection are well-suited to help those on the front lines to flatten the curve of this virus’s impact.

 

 

5.  China's first train of new postal rail service to Europe arrives in Lithuania

 

April 13, 2020


The first train of a new postal rail service to Europe, loaded with much-needed medical supplies, arrived early Sunday in Vilnius, according to the Chinese Embassy in Lithuania.

Launched by Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, it is the first of its kind to Lithuania. The rail service aims to meet the rising demand for international parcel delivery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rail service "opened up new, reliable and efficient logistics channel for China to transport anti-epidemic materials in large quantities to Europe," said Chinese Ambassador to Lithuania Shen Zhifei on Sunday.

The ambassador highlighted that the service came "at the critical moment when the world joins efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic."

Departing from Chongqing on April 3, the "China Post" CR Express 1st block train carries 44 TEUs of relief supplies and parcels, which will be transferred later to other European countries.

Following the first postal train, seven more bound for Lithuania are scheduled to depart in the near future.


As of the end of March, the China-Europe cargo trains operated from Chongqing have provided postal service to 36 European countries since 2014.

Source : http://english.chinapost.com.cn/html1/report/2004/9163-1.htm

 

 

1.  Amazon closes French warehouses after court ruling on coronavirus




April 16, 2020

Court said firm not doing enough to protect staff and told it to stop selling non-essentials

Amazon has closed its six French distribution centres, two days after a French court ruled it was not doing enough to protect workers from the coronavirus pandemic.



The company is facing mounting scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic as it tries to deal with a surge in online orders during lockdowns while keeping employees safe.



On Tuesday a court in Nanterre, Paris, issued an emergency ruling requiring the company to stop selling non-essential goods for a month while it works out new safety measures.



Sales of food, medicine and hygiene supplies are still allowed under the ruling. However, Amazon France said that given the “inherent complexity” of its activities, and the potential €1m (£870,000) fine for each violation of the ruling, the risk was too high.



Amazon France’s chief executive, Frédéric Duval, denounced the court’s order on Thursday, saying the company had spent “colossal amounts” on health precautions including sanitary gels and face masks. He said the firm would appeal.



Duval said that rather than limiting its activities, Amazon had temporarily suspended trade through the warehouses because the court order was too vague.



“There is a huge ambiguity,” he told RTL radio. “Is a nail clipper a hygiene product? Is a condom a medical item? I’m not able to define that.”



He said the company would work with unions to ensure the sites could reopen quickly, but added: “I cannot confirm at this stage on what date they will reopen.”



Amazon’s vice-president for the EU, Roy Perticucci, has stepped down, the company confirmed on Wednesday, a day after the ruling.



The six warehouses in France employ 10,000 permanent and temporary employees. Amazon will tap a state partial unemployment scheme to pay its employees, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.



The shutdown plays into a public war of words between Amazon and the French unions that represent its warehouse workers. In a statement, the company squarely laid the blame for the shutdown on the union complaint that led to the ruling.



The Solidaires union, which brought the complaint, said it was merely asking Amazon to enforce a ban on non-essential items that the company “has been claiming for weeks”, and said a similar judgment had been levied against La Poste, the French state postal service, the week before.



Amazon insisted it was providing adequate security measures for staff, noting the implementation of temperature checks and mask distribution.



The company claimed it had sent more than 127,000 packets of disinfectant wipes and 27,000 litres of sanitising gel, as well as 1.5m masks, to the distribution centres.



But the court found Amazon had not done enough to enforce physical distancing, to ensure that turnstiles and locker rooms were virus-free, or to increase cleaning of its warehouses. Unions said one worker infected with the virus was in intensive care.



Customers who order from third-party companies that use the Amazon website but send items directly will still receive their goods.



Amazon is no stranger to using shutdowns as a political weapon. In 2018 the company blocked shipments to Australia from its overseas stores after a sales tax was imposed on imported goods. But that standoff came to an end when Amazon backed down six months later, reopening overseas shipments in time for the Black Friday sales.



The French labour minister, Muriel Pénicaud, told LCI radio on Thursday: “I hope, for the sake of Amazon employees and French clients, that business can resume as soon as possible, but with security protocols in place.”








2.    Catering: Exceptional premium for meal expenses and meal vouchers






In this health context, many Inter-Business Restaurants (RIE) had to close. A large number of postal workers found themselves without a catering aid solution. FO Com insisted with La Poste to set up an alternative measure.



As a transitional measure, postal workers may be eligible via KDS for an "exceptional bonus" for meal expenses linked to the lunch break of 5 euros net per day worked. It also applies to agents who benefited from a collective catering service in the evening. In all cases, this bonus does not apply in the event that the catering establishment has set up a system other than that of eating out in a group, such as the delivery of meal trays for example.



 The cumulative conditions are as follows:



§  no longer have access to an EIR because of the Covid-19;

§  work face-to-face on a postal site;

§  have a lunch and lunch break in their work day at the workplace;

§  not benefit from restaurant vouchers or the catering allowance.



For meal vouchers, there is no exceptional plan for teleworkers due to the Covid-19 crisis. Only staff already under telework agreement and who have requested meal vouchers continue to benefit from it under the usual conditions for calculating rights.





 


3.    Australia Post considered once-a-week letter deliveries in confidential review




April 14, 2020

Australia Post considered slashing letter deliveries to just once a week and replacing full-service post offices with "automated kiosks", with the company's own financial projections showing it could lose more than $400 million next year.



The forecasts, contained in a confidential strategic review dated May 2018 and obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, note an analysis by consulting firm PwC found "without significant transformation, Australia Post faces a transition into loss as early as [2019], escalating to a loss of $426 million by 2021".

 


The review, led by Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate and submitted to the company's board, was scathing about how the business was managed, concluding it was "unnecessarily complex" and that "business customers are not being adequately served and find Australia Post hard to do business with".


 


"This has resulted in missed opportunities as customers are not accessing the full range of products and services, and their customer experience is poor," it reads.



Communications Minister Paul Fletcher announced in November last year that a separate strategic review was to be conducted by Boston Consulting Group.



It is not clear what proposals contained in the 2018 review are still under consideration. An Australia Post spokeswoman declined to provide details but said "any assumptions made at that point in time would now be comprehensively outdated".



However, the document shows the extreme financial pressure Australia Post has been facing.



Despite the losses forecast by PwC, Australia Post's own projections showed a forecast $109 million profit last year, growing to $161 million in 2021.



Since the review, Australia Post has disclosed it made only $41 million in 2019.



The review noted that Australia Post's letters business remained a "high risk", area with the amount of mail sent continuing to decline and with the top 10 customers "accounting for 24 per cent of letter volume and all to some extent attempting to migrate away from physical communication".



The most aggressive proposal contained in the strategy – marked "future options for change, not recommended at this time" – was increasing the delivery time for regular letters by three days. "This option would enable Australia Post to deliver regular letters to delivery points once a week only," the document reads. This could save $184 million per year, but would only be practical when the annual number of letters sent dropped to 1.2 billion. Just over 2 billion letters were sent last year, down 45 per cent since 2008. (The letters business is separate to Australia Post's parcel delivery business.)



"The customer impact from such a change would be dramatic. For Australians living in rural and remote areas, this change would mean a delivery standard of up to 10 days," the document says.



But the review also proposed more immediate changes, including for Australia Post to push for alterations to the legislated rules about how it operates. One proposed change would be to allow street posting boxes not to be cleared on Sundays as they currently are, saving $7.4 million a year.



It also urged changes to rules which force Australia Post to maintain at least 4000 retail outlets, with half of them — and no fewer than 2500 — in regional and remote areas. It currently has 4343 post offices. The review recommended Australia Post ask that the 50 per cent rule be removed "to avoid unintended consequences if Australia Post sought to expand its metro network access" and to "amend [the] description from retail outlet to access point" to remove "the possibility of consumer misperception re the definition of a retail outlet".



"Downsizing the network may involve a transition over time to smaller-footprint locations, moving back-of-house delivery activity to centralised locations and replacing full-service locations to small-footprint automated kiosks with parcel lockers," the document reads, noting the network lost $130 million every year.




 


 


4.          Posti: Items are delivered to the intended recipients, but they are not carried inside – installation services are also temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus




April 14, 2020

To prevent the coronavirus infection chain, Posti complies with the common precautions prevalent in the sector.



The items are delivered to the intended recipients, but they are not carried into the residence. The installation services are also temporarily suspended.



This measure has been taken to prevent potential infection chains as well as mutual exposure.



In accordance with the new guidelines, Posti adheres to the following procedure:

·       We will arrange the delivery with the customer in advance by phone, explaining that the item will be left in front of the customer’s front door, but that it will not be carried into the residence. If the customer does not agree to this operating model, the item will be returned to the sender.



·       The recipient will receive and inspect the item while the driver is present but both parties will maintain a safe distance from each other. The driver will sign the item as received on behalf of the customer and enter a reservation in the waybill, if necessary.



·       Machine recycling, returns, dismantling and other additional services will be carried out as before, as long as they can be conducted without entering the residence. For example, when returning equipment for recycling, the customer must put the equipment outside of their residence for the driver to pick up.



·       Previously arranged installations will be carried out and recycled machines will be picked up.




 


 


5.    Post office helps self-isolating customers access cash


 


April 13, 2020





Post Office, a retail post office company in the United Kingdom, is making two of its products – ‘Payout Now’ and ‘Fast PACE’ (a pre-authorised cheque encashment service) available to all UK’s banks, building societies and credit unions so they can be offered to any of their customers who are most in need of access to cash simply and speedily during this national emergency.



The improved services mean that self-isolating or vulnerable citizens affected by the coronavirus pandemic can now contact their financial institution to see if they choose to offer these and arrange to withdraw cash quickly from their normal accounts through any local Post Office branch, with the help of a friend, family member, carer or local support worker.



‘Payout Now’ is the Post Office’s one time voucher service that is available to all banks, building societies and credit unions to enable them to send a barcode voucher to their customers via text, email or in the post and which can be exchanged for cash in any Post Office branch.



The Post Office has always run a pre-authorised cheque encashment (PACE) service that enabled vulnerable customers to contact their bank and arrange to cash a cheque at a Post Office branch. Working with HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and UK Finance, the Post Office has launched its ‘Fast PACE’ service. Customers can now name an individual, such as carer or family member, to cash a pre authorised cheque on their behalf at a Post Office branch.



Martin Kearsley, Banking Director at the Post Office, said: “Being able to easily access cash is a vital service for older people and those self-isolating.



Our Payout Now and Fast PACE services mean they can access cash quickly and securely to repay someone for a helpful service like shopping, or simply manage their finances, providing peace of mind that cash can be securely sourced with the help of any trusted helper.”