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

 

POSTAL NEWS No 83-2021

Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector

 1.Australia Post opens A$30m parcel facility in Adelaide Airport. October 22, 2021.

2.New CEO for Sorted. October 21, 2021.

3.Environment: in Avezzano the new "low emissions" thermal tricycles by Poste. October 19, 2021.

4.Norway Post orders 439 new cars for renewable energy. October 19, 2021.

5.Forty (40) years of Canada Post Corporation: Looking back on a CUPW victory with long-term effects on our working conditions. October 15, 2021

1.Australia Post opens A$30m parcel facility in Adelaide Airport October 22, 2021

 Australia Post (AusPost) has opened its first major dedicated parcel facility in South Australia at Adelaide Airport.

The new A$31.4m (US$23.5m) Adelaide Parcel Facility is AusPost’s biggest operational investment in South Australia (SA) to date, with a total of A$450m (US$337m) invested into the network last year. Covering more than 15,000m2 the facility can process 8,000 small and large parcels each hour and a total of around 170,000 in a day.

The new site has created more than 180 jobs, with an expected additional 100 casual team members to join in the lead up to the busy Christmas period. This investment forms part of the company’s response to the considerable increase in demand over the past year as last December was AusPost’s biggest on record, as 52 million parcels were delivered around the country. In September alone, parcel volumes grew more than 7% in South Australia year-on-year. Rob Clothier, head of operations SA (deliveries), AusPost, said, “We had more than 344,000 South Australian households shopping online in September and we know how busy the festive season can be after last year’s record-breaking Christmas. This new facility will help us get those high volumes of parcels moving quickly and to people’s doors faster than ever before.”

Source : https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/news

2.New CEO for Sorted October 21, 2021

 Sorted, the delivery experience platform, has announced Carmen Carey as its new CEO to lead the company into the next stage of its growth.

Carmen, who has been a Non-Executive Director on Sorted’s board of directors for the past two years, joins from city-based commodity trading and risk management software solutions provider Brady Technologies (where she held the position of CEO), and was previously CEO at Big Data Partnership, Apica and ControlCircle. The next stage of Sorted’s growth will see Carmen and founder and previous CEO, David Grimes, unify their expertise to level up the company’s transformation. Carmen has previously been recognised with the Bronze Stevie Award for Most Innovative Woman of the Year in Technology, one of the top honours for female executives, and was COO at Unbabel, MetaPack, and MessageLabs. Her new position at Sorted reflects the significant changes underway within the business, which includes the move into new Manchester headquarters to accommodate a new hybrid working model, and the expansion to London with new offices.

Sorted has also announced changes to its executive leadership team, including Iain Greig as Non-Executive Director and interim COO, Steve Langley as Vice President of Product, and Axel Lagerborg as Vice President of Sales.

Carmen Carey, CEO at Sorted, commented: “After being part of the Sorted team as NonExecutive Director over the past two years, I’m pleased to be migrating into the role of CEO to lead Sorted on the next stage of its growth. The last 18 months has completely re-written the rules for online retail and delivery, making this period as one of the most exciting times to be leading the industry as it undergoes significant change.” David Grimes, Founder at Sorted, added: “Carmen brings a wealth of experience to Sorted and our joint expertise in the industry will elevate Sorted as the company continues to grow and hire fantastic talent. With a strong leadership team and brilliant customers, Sorted will continue to set the standard for the rest the industry.”

 Source : https://postandparcel.info/143772/news/e-commerce

3.Environment: in Avezzano the new "low emissions" thermal tricycles by Poste October 19, 2021

The environmental commitment of Poste Italiane continues: new green vehicles in operation for the delivery of parcels and correspondence in Avezzano, in Abruzzo

Ecological vehicles for "greener" and safer deliveries in Avezzano for Poste. In fact, 6 new low-emission thermal tricycles went into operation for the delivery of mail and parcels in the city. The new vehicles will ensure greater safety in travel and greater load capacity for postmen, for an even more efficient delivery service.

Features

 The new thermal tricycles are equipped with a low-emission 125cm3 Euro - 5 engine that allows a maximum speed of about 74 km / h, for a range of about 270 km, and a load compartment of 250 liters. The particular three-wheeled conformation increases stability and safety for the driver and allows the installation of a special trunk that increases the quantity of packages and letters that can be transported, an even more important feature given the constant increase, even in Marsica, of packages. to be delivered thanks to the important development of e-commerce recorded following the lockdown.

Environmental sustainability

The adoption of low-emission thermal tricycles confirms, also in Avezzano, the will of Poste Italiane to guarantee greater environmental sustainability throughout the national territory and to allow an ever greater diffusion of its “green” fleet in all Italian regions . In fact, since February a new supply of “ecological” vehicles has been launched throughout Italy to make the delivery of correspondence ever closer to the environment, easier and safer. The renewal of the company fleet is one of the objectives of Poste Italiane which will continue throughout 2021, involving numerous locations throughout the Abruzzo and national territory.

 

A complete fleet

With the new thermal tricycles, Poste Italiane's mobility becomes even more sustainable, in line with the ESG - Environmental Social and Governance, the action plan on environmental and social sustainability which aims to ensure the definition of Group addresses with positive effects on the environment and the territory. The new thermal tricycles available to the Avezzano Distribution Center are added to a company fleet that is completed with another 64 vehicles and 14 motor vehicles.

Source : https://www.postenews.it/2021/10/19/Italian translated

4.Norway Post orders 439 new cars for renewable energy October 19, 2021

Norway Post is now implementing its largest order ever for vehicles for renewable energy. In the coming months, 439 new vehicles running on gas and electricity will be taken into use. The new vehicles will be put into operation throughout the country.

This procurement is an important step in Norway Post's green shift. We are making big cuts in climate emissions. At the same time, we get a more modern and environmentally friendly vehicle park, which is important for the environment and in line with the wishesof both our drivers and customers. These are major changes that include both smaller electric vans and large gas-powered trucks with a permissible total weight of up to 60 tonnes, says Tone Wille, CEO of Norway Post.

The cars are put into operation all over the country

 Norway Post has Norway's largest vehicle fleet with about 3050 vans and mopeds and around 780 trucks. In the first half of the year, just over 30 per cent was spent on renewable energy. Norway Post has been working for a long time to restructure the vehicle fleet to use more environmentally friendly cars. The investment is now being further intensified. Of the order for 439 new cars for renewable energy, 323 electric vans will replace fossil-powered vans, 18 of the electric vans will replace existing electric vans and 37 new electric vans will meet new needs. Norway Post began the year by testing the first heavy vehicles for renewable energy. Now this investment is also being strengthened with 61 new trucks on renewable energy, which will replace fossil trucks. 42 of the trucks will run on biogas, while 19 are electric. 14 of the gas-powered trucks are container trucks with a permissible total weight of as much as 60 tonnes. Enova has contributed support to Norway Post's vehicles on electricity and biogas.

- To succeed in the transition to a low-emission society, the transport sector must choose climate-friendly solutions. Here, Norway Post takes the lead and shows that there are good alternatives to diesel-powered vehicles, says Øyvind Leistad, marketing director at Enova

- PWC's climate index for 2020 showed that Norway Post was one of only four Norwegian companies to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. The new procurement shows that we are working hard on the environmental ambitions to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says Wille

The new vehicles on renewable energy will be continuously put into operation in all parts of the country. The largest trucks on liquefied biogas will be put into regular service and transport letters, parcels and goods between the terminals in Oslo and Fredrikstad, Stokke and Hamar.

Source :https://www.postennorge.no/presse/arkiv/3137661/norwegian translated

5.Forty (40) years of Canada Post Corporation: Looking back on a CUPW victory with long-term effects on our working conditions October 15, 2021

October 16 is the 40th anniversary of the creation of Canada Post Corporation under the Canada Post Corporation Act, intended to make the postal service more autonomous: to help it compete against other parcel and courier services, to maintain financial self-sufficiency, and to improve labour relations in the postal service after several conflicts in the 1970s and 80s.

Among other things, the Act defines a letter, and grants Canada Post its “exclusive privilege” to deliver letter-mail, while leaving it to compete with private-sector operators in other products and services. The CPC Act was actually passed unanimously in the House of Commons! CUPW, with the Canadian Labour Congress' support, had campaigned for many years for the creation of Canada Post as an independent crown corporation, and expected to be able to achieve more in bargaining than we could bargaining directly with the Post Office Department, including to negotiate for service expansion and job creation. CUPW played a part in negotiating the text of the Act. There are many things in the Act that, while they still affect us today, today's members may not be familiar with:

RSMCs (Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers) The new Canada Post Corporation came with a stipulation that rural route couriers (now known as RSMCs) were deemed contractors, without the right to join the union. This set up our decades-long struggle for inclusion and gender equity within the postal service (as seen in last year's documentary “Justice and Dignity for All”). At the same time, rural routes over $10,000 no longer went up for tender after the Corporation was created.

Temps

 Once the CPC was created, postal workers were under the Canada Labour Code instead of the Public Service Labour Relations Act. That meant we could negotiate better wages and conditions for temporary workers at Canada Post, which we quickly did. It also enabled us in later rounds to get opportunities, based on seniority, for temps to gain regular employment status.

Pension

Postal workers belong to the Canada Post Corporation Pension Plan rather than the Public Service Pension Plan (aka Public Service Superannuation), meaning CUPW is the biggest union representing members of the plan – that is, negotiating our pension – and all the worker representatives on the joint Pension Advisory Committee are postal workers, who are committed to defend our Defined Benefit pension plan.

Bargaining Conditions and Expanded Services

 Bargaining with a crown corporation instead of the Post Office Department means that we're working within the budget of Canada Post operations – and its mandate to be financially self-sustaining and to meet the population's changing needs – and not the complex ins and outs of the entire government's finances. In our first bargaining round with the Corporation, we got our job security provisions, increased pay for seasonal casuals, employer-paid dental and vision coverage, night recovery leave, and transfers and promotions by seniority. In that first round, we also negotiated new services at PO counters and more retail outlets with expanded services.

Financial Self-Sustainability

 Are you tired of correcting residents who say “my taxes pay your salary”? They would be more correct to say their postage pays your salary – but the point is that Canada Post Corporation is self-funding and operates at arm's length from the federal government, not on tax revenues. And there are many other implications: for instance, if Canada Post were still a direct government agency, we could have been caught up in the Phoenix payroll fiasco which the public service unions are still trying to get resolved.

Today

We may not always be satisfied with the way our employer behaves, but CUPW believes that there is better potential with CPC for greening the postal service, expanding services (including postal banking), and improving working conditions than there would be if we were still under the Post Office Department. Just as we played a historic role in shaping the destiny of the public postal service, we continue to do so with our major campaigns and we recognize all the past efforts that established the context for the gains we're campaigning for today.

Source : https://www.cupw.ca/en

POSTAL NEWS No 84-2021

Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics

Sector 1. Cargo Force wins $100 million postal service contract for Priority Mail. October 22, 2021.

2. Home work allowance Team leaders Delivery. October 21, 2021.

3. France's GeoPost buys 20% stake in Middle East's largest courier Aramex. October 20, 2021.

4. More precise delivery times, real-time map tracking and faster deliveries for home-delivered parcels in Helsinki, Espoo, Turku, Tampere and Oulu. October 19, 2021.

5. An Post warns about charges for parcels coming from the UK. October 19, 2021.

1.Cargo Force wins $100 million postal service contract for Priority Mail October 22, 2021

Cargo Force, which provides terminal handling services for U.S. Postal Service parcels moving by air via FedEx Express said Friday it is opening four new facilities to support express mail service after winning a seven-year, $100 million contract.

The new facilities in Seattle, San Diego, Detroit, and Orlando, Florida, cover 173,000 square feet in total and will create 255 jobs across the four sites, the company said. The contract also renews service in Jacksonville, Florida, and Omaha, Nebraska. Last year, Cargo Force also won a large Postal Service contract to process Priority Mail in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Tampa, Florida. It now operates 14 airport facilities around the country to support the Postal Service. Cargo Force is owned by investment firms Audax Private Equity and Greenbrier Equity Group. Sister company Alliance Ground International manages cargo operations for airlines at airports around the country and provides other services, such as de-icing aircraft and staffing ticket counters in passenger terminals. Miami-based Cargo Force processes about 300 million pounds of Priority Mail, according to its website.

Source : https://archive.ph/HU1oE

2.Home work allowance Team leaders Delivery October 21, 2021

Finally, we still managed to make the home work allowance applicable to the team leaders!

It took some time to convince the management that, as far as we are concerned, the team leaders who deliver are also entitled to the homework allowance agreed in the collective labor agreement. It took a while, but finally justice. The collective labor agreement stipulates that employees must work from home for at least 2 full days in order to be eligible for the homework allowance; delivery team leaders do not meet this requirement because they also have to take to the streets every working day to contact their mail deliverers and our customers. On balance, however, they work at least two whole days at home because they start their work at home in the morning and finish their work at home in the afternoon. That is why we are pleased that our Works Council group in particular has also been able to convince the management that the team leaders deliver are indeed entitled to a homework allowance and the director has already decided that the team leaders deliver will receive this compensation from 1 October. However, the director has decided to cancel the printer allowance, this must then be paid from the home work allowance if necessary, because you can of course continue to print at work.

Source : https://bvpp.nl/sectors/overige/nieuws/2021-10-21/Dutch translated

3.France's GeoPost buys 20% stake in Middle East's largest courier Aramex October 20, 2021

France's parcel delivery company GeoPost, a holding company owned by Le Groupe La Poste, bought 20.15 per cent of Dubai-listed courier Aramex, sending the UAE company's shares surging on Wednesday. The acquisition of 295 million shares values the transaction at Dh1.4 billion ($381m), according to a filing on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). After the announcement, Aramex's shares jumped as much as 14 .92 per cent to Dh4.39, its biggest intraday gain since January 2009. With this gain, the stock erased its losses since January and was up 0.2 per cent for the year. “Some of the potential benefits could include opportunities to strengthen presence across the networks of both parties and a more seamless and connected network across the globe for the provision of transport and logistics services," Aramex said in a statement, adding that there are several knowledge sharing possibilities that could help unlock further value for all stakeholders. European parcel delivery network GeoPost, which was created as unit of the French government’s postal arm, delivers about 1.9 billion parcels a year through the brands DPD, Chronopost, SEUR and BRT. It reported sales of €11bn ($12.8bn) in 2020, according to its website. The company has a long-standing relationship with Aramex in Europe that goes back nearly a decade and half. “The investment in Aramex is part of GeoPost’s international development. Aramex is already a key partner of GeoPost. Our two companies have been working together for 10 years, leveraging on GeoPost/DPDgroup’s strong presence in the European parcel deliverymarket and Aramex’s powerful international network in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Oceania," Boris Winkelmann, chairman and chief executive of GeoPost/DPDgroup, said in a separate statement. Aramex was founded in Jordan by Fadi Ghandour in 1982 and was the first company from the Arab world to list on the Nasdaq. It later delisted in 2002, went public again in 2005 and is currently listed on the Dubai Financial Market. Mr Ghandour sold his remaining shares in Aramex in 2016. The courier company employs more than 15,500 people in more than 600 locations across more than 65 countries, according to its website. Aramex's second-quarter revenue rose 21 per cent to Dh1.57bn, compared to Dh1.29bn in the same period last year, driven by increased demand for cross border e-commerce services and significant growth in the freight-forwarding and logistics business, it said in August. Net profit for the second quarter decreased 31 per cent to Dh65.5m compared to Dh94.4m in the same quarter last year, "as the business continued to invest in its digital transformation to drive further operating efficiencies and adapt to evolving consumer and industry trends", it said. Last month, Aramex said it adopted a new operational structure where it split its core businesses into Aramex Express and Aramex Logistics to capture a greater market share of the global logistics industry. As part of the reorganisation, it appointed Johannes Distler as chief strategy officer, a newly created role to ensure the development and execution of Aramex’s corporate strategy, as well as the group’s international expansion and mergers and acquisitions agenda. Mr Distler joins Aramex from Roland Berger, where he was a partner in the firm’s Dubai office.

Source : https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/markets/2021/10/20

4.More precise delivery times, real-time map tracking and faster deliveries for home-delivered parcels in Helsinki, Espoo, Turku, Tampere and Oulu  October 19, 2021

In the spring, Posti started a new operating model in Vantaa, where the recipient of a parcel receives a narrower delivery window and real-time map tracking for their delivery. At the same time, the parcel delivery times were made a day faster. The same features are now being adopted in Helsinki, Espoo, Turku, Tampere and Oulu. In Helsinki, parcel home delivery is fully electric.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically increased the popularity of home deliveries, and Posti continues its work to improve them. Ordering a parcel delivered home is an easy and convenient way to receive a parcel. It is a particularly popular option when time is an issue or the item is large or heavy. A delivery window narrowed down to +-30 minutes on the morning of the day of delivery as well as real-time item tracking have been used in Helsinki, Espoo and Tampere since September. In Turku and Oulu, parcel recipients will get access to these features by the end of October. Parcels will also be delivered to homes a day faster in all of the above cities from the start of October onward. For the recipient of the parcel, the faster delivery is palpable in that if the recipient receives a delivery time inquiry in the evening, they can choose a delivery for as early as the following morning. “With the new features, the feedback we have received regarding home deliveries has been excellent: so far 11 000 customers have given feedback and the average is an incredible 4.8 on a scale from 1 to 5. Our drivers have received high praise for their friendliness and professional attitude. Online shopping is becoming more and more popular, and we want to make receiving online purchases as easy and convenient as possible. For online retailers, we are a trusty nationwide partner who delivers parcels reliably even during the busiest peak periods, such as at Christmas,” says Tommi Kässi, Vice President, Large Domestic Customers, Parcel and eCommerce, Posti. The new features will become part of OmaPosti, that is, you can select and narrow down the delivery time as well as track your item on the map in OmaPosti. The OmaPosti application is free to download, and you can use it either via the application or the website. “The development work related to parcel deliveries continues actively. We’ve been building a more extensive and comprehensive service point network the whole year, and we have opened 5–10 parcel lockers per week this year. Our service point network is the most comprehensive one in Finland, with nearly 3,300 service points serving customers around the country. What’s more, we will introduce temporary additional capacity to our network to ensure smooth parcel deliveries also during Christmas time,” says Kässi.

In Helsinki, parcel home delivery is fully electric

 From the end of October on, Posti will deliver parcels to recipients’ homes electrically in Helsinki. Posti has acquired 18 new electric vans for electric deliveries in the region. Therefore, all home deliveries in Helsinki using narrower delivery windows and map tracking will be 100% electric in the future. All electricity used by Posti is renewable, so parcel home deliveries in Helsinki are completely emission-free. However, during the busiest weeks around Christmas, we may have to use our traditional fleet for home deliveries. “Our goal is to make all home deliveries completely emission-free in the future. Electric delivery in Helsinki is one step toward this goal. In the near future, we will be announcing new regions where we will implement fully electric deliveries,” says Noomi Jägerhorn, Head of Sustainability at Posti.

 Source : https://www.posti.com/en/media/media-news/2021

5.An Post warns about charges for parcels coming from the UK October 19, 2021

 AN POST has warned consumers that they may have to pay customs charges on packages received from the UK.

The sender must also provide electronic customs information for each parcel, following customs changes that took effect in the summer. The post office company here is launching a customer information campaign to advise people on the new European Union Customs Rules for parcels originating from non-EU countries, including Britain. It warned that customs charges may also apply, and these fees must be paid by customers before An Post is allowed to deliver their items. The changes came into effect on July 1, but many are expected to be unaware of them ahead of the busy pre-Christmas buying season. An Post said more than 90pc of all parcels enter Ireland and go straight out on delivery.

Most of the large non-EU retailers, including British brands such as M&S, River Island and Boots, have worked with An Post to provide what it said was a clear “duty paid” facility at the online checkout. This prompts customers to pay all Vat and customs charges up front so these parcels can be delivered straightaway. But An Post warned: “More problematic are parcels which come in via other postal services such as Royal Mail because the senders, typically a small business or individual personal customers, are unaware of the new complex data and tax requirements.” An Post said it has limited ways of advising personal customers or small businesses posting parcels to Ireland from outside the EU on the required customs data and the new list of prohibited items. EU Customs rules now restrict a range of goods and substances from being posted into the EU from non-EU countries and the rules dictate that these items must be returned to sender. These include certain medicines, foodstuff and plants. “Despite these issues not being of our making or within our direct control, An Post is making every effort to communicate directly with non-EU customers, trade organisations and SME representatives in order to get the message out, particularly in Britain,” An Post said. It said it has developed a range of process solutions to facilitate parcels through customs and on to delivery, and it is working closely with Royal Mail and other postal services to help inform their customers. It wants to ensure there are ‘duty-paid’ solutions on sellers’ website so people pay all charges at the online check-out. An Post said gifts below the value of €45 (including postage) from non-EU countries require electronic customs data, but do not require any customs or VAT to be paid. Gifts over €45 are charged a customs fee, paid by the receiver. When sending an item to a non-EU country, consumers were advised to use An Post’s Click & Post facility or to fill out forms in their post office to capture all the necessary electronic data. “Insufficient data can result in the application of additional charges by the international postal carrier, payable by the addressee,” An Post warned.

Source : https://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance