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

POSTAL NEWS
No 09-2020

Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector

1.  UPS accelerates fleet electrification. January 30, 2020.

 

2.  Last year, Omniva delivered a record number of parcels.

January 29, 2020.

3.  Swiss Post’s no packaging same-day delivery trial. January 29, 2020.

4.  Gig workers await historical decision from Labour Board. January 29, 2020.

5.  Royal Mail introduces more electric vehicles in London. January 28, 2020.

 

1.  UPS accelerates fleet electrification


January 30, 2020 

UPS has announced its commitment to purchase 10,000 electric vehicles to be built for the organisation, with priority access to purchase additional electric vehicles.

UPS has also said its venture capital arm, UPS Ventures, has completed a minority investment in Arrival, which makes electric vehicle (EV) platforms and purpose-built vehicles that offer a highly competitive value proposition when compared with both traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, as well as existing EVs.

UPS will collaborate with Arrival to develop a wide range of electric vehicles with Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS). The technology is designed to increase safety and operating efficiencies, including the potential for automated movements in UPS depots. UPS will initiate testing ADAS features later in 2020. Future vehicle purchases are contingent on successful tests of initial vehicles. Vehicle purchase prices will not be disclosed.

“UPS continues to build an integrated fleet of electric vehicles, combined with innovative, large-scale fleet charging technology,” said Juan Perez, UPS chief information and engineering officer. “As mega-trends like population growth, urban migration, and e-commerce continue to accelerate, we recognise the need to work with partners around the world to solve both road congestion and pollution challenges for our customers and the communities we serve. Electric vehicles form a cornerstone to our sustainable urban delivery strategies. Taking an active investment role in Arrival enables UPS to collaborate on the design and production of the world’s most advanced electric delivery vehicles.”

Arrival takes a ground-up approach to the design and production of its electric vehicles, enabling an efficient path toward mass adoption. The company produces its own major core vehicle components – chassis, powertrain, body and electronic controls. Importantly, Arrival vehicles also use a modular design with standardised parts, a method that reduces maintenance and other costs of ownership.

“UPS has been a strong strategic partner of Arrival’s, providing valuable insight into how electric delivery vans are used on the road and, importantly, how they can be completely optimised for drivers,” said Denis Sverdlov, Arrival chief executive. “Together, our teams have been working hard to create bespoke electric vehicles, based on our flexible skateboard platforms that meet the end-to-end needs of UPS from driving, loading/unloading and back-office operations. We are pleased that today’s investment and vehicle order creates even closer ties between our two companies.”

Arrival will build the vehicles in micro-factories, using lightweight, durable materials the company designs and creates in-house. As an investor, UPS has the option to fast-track orders as necessary. UPS expects to deploy the EVs in Europe and North America.

“Our investment and partnership with Arrival is directly aligned with UPS’s transformation strategy, led by the deployment of cutting-edge technologies,” said Carlton Rose, president of UPS Global Fleet Maintenance & Engineering “These vehicles are the world’s most advanced package delivery vehicles, redefining industry standards for electric, connected and intelligent vehicle solutions.”

Arrival is the first commercial vehicle manufacturer to provide purpose-built electric delivery vehicles to UPS’s specifications and with a production strategy for global scale. Since 2016, UPS and Arrival have collaborated to develop concepts of different vehicles sizes. The companies previously announced they would develop a state-of-the-art pilot fleet of 35 electric delivery vehicles to be trialed in London and Paris. Additionally, UPS announced a pioneering new approach to electric charging and storage that has now been deployed in UPS’s central London facility.




2.  Last year, Omniva delivered a record number of parcels


January 29, 2020
Last year, Omniva issued a record number of 11.4 million parcels, more than half of which were deliveries from foreign online stores and markets.

While in the first half of the year the parcel volumes were quite stable, in autumn we saw an anticipated increase that peaked before the holidays. During the Christmas month, Omniva delivered in total one and a half million parcels. The most popular date for receiving a parcel was 18 December, when nearly 90 thousand parcels reached their recipients.

“This time, we were well prepared for the record volumes and we had planned our work so all parcels sent properly and on time would reach their destinations before the holidays. Thanks to the new logistics centre, expanded parcel machine network and additional lockers, we managed to deliver a remarkably larger parcel volume to our clients and handled the increased volumes smoothly. During the week before Christmas, the parcel machines were filled and emptied multiple times a day,” said Omniva head of parcel business Andre Veskimeister.

Compared to December 2018, in 2019 Omniva delivered in the same period 66% more local market parcels using the parcel machine network. “This year’s Christmas season was successful firstly thanks to all the clients who shipped their parcels on time and later picked them up quickly, but secondly also thanks to the committed employees who kept delivering the parcels even during the weekend before Christmas. The company’s new logistics centre and the expanded parcel machine network played an important role in tackling the record volumes as well,” said Veskimeister. “The extraordinarily rapid increase in parcel machine volumes at the end of the year concerning local market parcels shows that both Estonian merchants and consumers trust our service quality, which also remained at a high level during the Christmas season.”

Last year, 15 new parcel machine locations were added to the Omniva parcel machine network and the 30 most popular parcel machines were supplemented with new lockers. Brand new parcel machines were installed in new locations in Tallinn, Rakvere and Jõhvi, as well as in smaller places like Muraste, Aravete and Suure-Jaani that now have their own parcel machines.

In total, Omniva has more than 250 parcel machines in Estonia, and along with post offices, there are over 500 pick-up points. According to Omniva the parcel volumes continue to grow nearly 20% each year and the global trends show that the increase of e-commerce volumes will also continue in the coming years.




3. Swiss Post’s no packaging same-day delivery trial

 

January 29, 2020

Swiss Post is kicking off a new same-day delivery trial in Zurich. Starting from late January 2020, Swiss Post subsidiary notime will deliver individual orders from online retailer DigitecGalaxus in their original packaging - without an address label, box and filler material.


Eliminating packaging


Packaging is an area of increasing focus in e-commerce from an environmental perspective. Packaging adds weight and bulk to shipments, and not all packaging is easily recyclable.

According to the Swiss Online Retailer Survey 2019, 86 per cent of e-commerce shoppers want size-optimised packaging, 76 per cent want to dispense with unnecessary packaging material, and 80 per cent consider environmentally friendly packaging and filling material to be important.

But, just in case the customer is buying something as a surprise, customers can opt for a packaged delivery using Swiss Post’s regular delivery services.

 

Emissions? What emissions?


Under the trial, deliveries will be made using CO2-neutral small electric vehicles (cargo bikes and trikes). Not drones, one hopes.

Orders made by 1pm will be delivered between 6:30pm and 10pm. For around 2,000 products stocked at the digitec store in Zurich's Technopark the cut-off time is 3pm. All at no extra cost.

Hand-held technology


The lack of packaging poses a conundrum for parcel labelling. During the trial, couriers will use the information on their scanners as a guide. The system will clearly assign identification of articles (such as item barcode, serial number, etc.), which is linked to the recipient's delivery address.
Customers are notified about the delivery time window by text message and have the opportunity to communicate with the courier by mobile phone, adjust the time window and track the courier in real time. If the customer isn’t at home, the purchase is placed in the mailbox storage compartment. (If Swiss Post hasn’t already delivered bread there, I suppose.)

Local same-day delivery makes it possible


An unlabelled no-packaging delivery service might not work for parcels being processed at giant parcel hubs. But for locally fulfilled same-day delivery it could work.

“This idea will be difficult to manage for anything other than point-to-point and/or very limited parcel routes unless some kind of small label/barcode or reusable packaging is applied to each parcel by the courier. A key risk will be damage to fragile items or rain damage to any unprotected packaging, which sometimes leads to consignee refusals.” – Marek Różycki, Managing Partner, Last Mile Experts


Source :http://www.thepostalhub.com/blog


4.  Gig workers await historical decision from Labour Board


January 29, 2020
Final arguments made in hearings to determine the classification of Foodora workers 

The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) today heard final arguments from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Foodora Inc. in a case that will set precedents for gig workers in Ontario.

The misclassification of gig workers as independent contractors instead of dependent contractors or employees is being fought by Foodora couriers who are unionizing with CUPW.

“This is a historical moment for gig workers, not only in Ontario, but across the country and around the world,” says Jan Simpson, CUPW national president. “The labour board has the chance to do the right thing, end the misclassification of Foodora couriers, and allow these workers to join a union and fight for their rights.”

Foodoracourriers and drivers announced their plans to unionize with CUPW in May 2019. In July, CUPW filed for union certification with the OLRB. A vote was held in August but the results remain sealed as contested issues, like the classification of workers, are now being discussed with the Board.

Since then, other gig workers have joined the struggle. Uber Black drivers at the Toronto airport recently voted to unionize with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and have stood side by side with the foodsters during OLRB hearings.

“Our campaign was just the beginning,” says Ivan Ostos, a Foodora courier and union organiser. “We’ve already inspired other workers like the Uber drivers in Toronto to stand up for their rights, and we will not stop until all gig and precarious workers have the rights and protections that all workers deserve.”

Companies like Foodora promise flexibility to couriers, saying that they’re independent contractors - their own boss. In doing so, they skirt standard labour rights, protections and avoid paying for even the most basic employment benefits like employment insurance. The couriers and drivers argue that they are dependent contractors since the companies control much of their work and administer discipline like any other boss.

“The labour movement is united in calling for decent work for all. The Ford Conservatives took away increased protections on misclassification that could have helped thousands of workers when he cut Bill 148,” said Janice Folk-Dawson, executive vice-president at the Ontario Federation of Labour. “We need provincial legislation that will protect all precarious workers including temporary, contract, and gig workers.” 



5.  Royal Mail introduces more electric vehicles in London


January 28, 2020 
Royal Mail is introducing 87 new electric vehicles to Mount Pleasant, one of its largest mail centres in London, as it seeks to reduce its emissions of its fleet in the capital. Mount Pleasant Mail Centre now operates one of the largest commercial electric vehicle charging points in London.

Londoners will see more of Royal Mail’s iconic red vans turn green and red this month, as the Company announces a further deployment of zero-emission, electric vans. The vehicles will deliver letters and parcels across selected locations in the capital and surrounding areas.

With 30 electric vehicles already in operation, the rest of the vans will roll out over the next two months. Once operational, electric vans will make up a little under half of the mail centre’s total fleet of 216 small vehicles. The initiative supports and accelerates Royal Mail’s shift to zero emission technologies.

Charged via wall or floor mounted charging posts, the mix of Mercedes-Benz eVito and Peugeot Partner vans are specially designed to help postmen and women deliver letters and parcels in a secure and environmentally-friendly way. With load capacities ranging from 3.7m3 to 6.3m3, the vehicles will operate as part of the Mail Centre’s usual delivery routes.

The initiative forms part of Royal Mail’s involvement in the Optimise Prime project1, which aims to bring together leading power, technology, fleet and transport companies.

Led by Hitachi Vantara and UK Power Networks, Optimise Prime is the world’s biggest electric vehicle demonstrator project, and brings together leading power, technology, fleet and transport companies to test and implement the best approaches to the Electric Vehicle roll out for commercial enterprises.

A Responsible Company

Royal Mail has already reduced its overall carbon emissions by 29% since 2004, and with the UK's largest "Feet on the Street" network of 90,000 postmen and women, the Company already plays a key role in keeping its emissions low. The expansion of its fleet of electric vans and trial launch of e-Trikes2 earlier this year serve as recent examples of the Company’s efforts to continue to reduce emissions associated with its operations

Paul Gatti, Royal Mail Fleet Director said: “As a Company, we are committed to making changes to our operations that reduce our environmental impact, while ensuring we continue to meet customer expectations. We are delighted that we can expand our fleet in London with more electric vehicles. This will allow the business to continue to deliver letters and parcels safely, efficiently and in the most environmentally-friendly way possible as we continue to shift to low emission technologies.”

Source : https://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases

POSTAL NEWS
No 10-2020

Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector

1.  DPD on target to have over 500 EVs by the end of the year.　January 30, 2020. 


2.  Poste Italiane presents new innovation strategy.

January 29, 2020.

 

3.  Better bonus arrangement on the agenda for RM Customer Experience members. January 28, 2020.

4.  Posti's service points in Helsinki city center. January 27, 2020.

5.  FedEx Pledges Transportation Support to Aid in Coronavirus Emergency. January 27, 2020.

 

1.  DPD on target to have over 500 EVs by the end of the year


January 30, 2020 

The UK’s parcel delivery company DPD has confirmed it will take delivery of 300 new electric Nissan e-NV200 vans by May 2020.

Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO commented: “This is a real landmark day in the move to a more sustainable future for the parcel industry.  These vehicles are changing the way we work.  It isn’t just a case of plugging them in and saying, ‘job done’.  We are rethinking and re-engineering how we deliver parcels now and in the future with different route networks and new types of depots.  It is an all-encompassing revolution for our industry and electric, emission-free vehicles are at the heart of that vision.

“Credit to Nissan who have stepped up and made affordable righthand drive vehicles available in significant numbers, but we can take far more, if other manufacturers do the same.  These vehicles have been proven in the one of the harshest environments.  They are quiet, reliable and they get the job done for us, day in, day out.  This enables us to say to more and more customers, ‘we’re delivering your parcels emission-free’, which is a key selling point when we are talking to retailers.”

The order will take DPD’s electric fleet to 450 vehicles in total, with plans in place to exceed the firm’s stated target of 500 EVs by the end of the year, making it the largest EV parcel delivery fleet in the UK.  DPD is aiming for 10% of its van fleet to be electric in each of its 68 UK depots by that point.

The Nissan e-NV200 can cover a WLTP-approved 124-187 miles on one charge and can be rapid charged to 80% in around 60 minutes, or to full in less than eight hours with a wall box. The e-NV200 boasts 4.2m2 load space and two sliding doors for easy access.

DPD has been using the Nissan e-NV200 successfully for deliveries over the last 18 months. Feedback from drivers so far has been extremely positive, and the company has developed its own in-house training to help drivers adapt to electric vehicles, as part of a comprehensive vehicle handover programme.

Source: https://postandparcel.info/118317/news/parcel

 

 

2.  Poste Italiane presents new innovation strategy

 

 January 29, 2020


Poste Italiane has revealed its strategic innovation focus as part of its Deliver 2022 program.

The operator plans to enhance its offering across the financial, insurance, payments, mobile and logistics sectors. It will combine internal developments with external solutions to best address market opportunities.

Matteo Del Fante, Poste Italiane CEO and general manager, said, “Innovation is essential for a diversified business of our scale to remain competitive at a time when established markets are being disrupted. Through strategic investment in physical and digital infrastructure, we can better serve our 35 million customers, now and in the future.”

“Poste Italiane is successfully combining internal innovations, like our CodicePostepay QR code solution to drive Italy’s transition from cash to digital payments, with specialist tech startup partnerships made possible by our new Open Innovation IT platform. We see a clear and present opportunity to capitalize on Poste’s trusted status and track record in delivering innovations to the entire population to become more central in our customers’ digital world.”

Poste Italiane is investing €2.8bn (US$3bn) as part of the Deliver 2022 program. Investments will be made in areas such as cloud technology, data management and application programming interfaces (APIs).

The operator has partnered with innovative Italian and international companies in logistics, last-mile delivery, financial services and payments, to develop new services. For example, in 2019, the group partnered with Sennder, which uses technology to maximize saturation and flexibility in long-haul road transportation.

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

 

 

3.  Better bonus arrangement on the agenda for RM Customer Experience members

 

January 28, 2020
‘Better and fairer’ bonus arrangements could be on the way for over 900 workers in Royal Mail’s Customer Experience (CE) Division, after the union secured a joint review of targets & measures for the current scheme.

A small joint working group (JWG), consisting of senior management and 2 union nominees, is meeting this week and is aiming to have its recommendations agreed and set in motion within an eight-week period.

“While there is the possibility under the present system for a CE worker to earn up to £1,000 in bonus pay over a year – in reality, this rarely happens,” explains CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey.

“Last November’s payout, for example, was exceptionally low. Whilst this was clearly disappointing for our members on a positive note this provided evidence that it really is time for change.”

The union’s representations on this matter have now been accepted in principle and the company has agreed to enter the formal review process.

In a joint statement issued, Andy Furey and CE director Susan Howlet explain the reasoning, the timescale and the respective JWG objectives.

CWU reps Steve Keeley and Sara Wright will be joined by Susan Harvey CE head of central operations and the company’s commercial programme manager David Willows in the task of investigating the bonus scheme, looking at its weaknesses and putting together a series of recommendations for reform with the aim of delivering better bonus payments.

These JWG proposals will then be submitted to the CWU assistant secretary and CE director for their consideration with the plan being to introduce changes by agreement to apply from the start of the new financial year.

“Bonus payments should fairly reward all employees for their endeavours and offer a real incentive to drive up performance and productivity – while also being achievable and realistic, currently this is not the case hence the establishment of the Joint Working Group” says Andy.

“It’s our sincere hope that any new arrangements agreed will meet these key criteria and deliver a better and fairer bonus payment system to our hard-working members.”

 

 

4.     Posti's service points in Helsinki city center


January 27, 2020
Posti is planning to close its shop in Elielinaukio in Helsinki during 2020. The shop would close in the summer at the earliest. Customers will be informed of any changes well in advance. The planned change may affect the employment relationships of the shop’s personnel. However, the change will not affect mail delivery or any other Posti services.

“As e-commerce grows and digital services are used more, the role of traditional physical stores has changed. Due to falling letter volumes, nowadays up to 80% of customers visiting the shop come to either drop off or pick up a parcel. Most Finns are already increasing their use of parcel lockers and digital channels,” says Lasse Huttunen, Director, Retail Network of Posti.

In addition to changing customer needs, the plans for the shop in Elielinaukio are also affected by the costs associated with running Posti’s own shops—keeping central shop locations, large shops or extended opening hours profitable is very difficult. Posti has not owned the property in Elielinaukio known as Postitalo for 20 years. The shop’s premises were leased to Posti on a long-term lease, and a new tenant will be sought for the premises.

”The plans for the shop in Elielinaukio are part of a bigger change in our retail network. Last spring, we announced that we would close several of Posti’s own shops and, at the same time, increase the number of service points and parcel lockers. Our aim is that our services are easily available along everyday routes. That is why we have, over the past few years, expanded our retail network, which consists of Posti’s own shops, outlets run by our partners, parcel lockers and OmaPosti kiosks,” says Huttunen.

 

Services will still be available in the city center

Postal services are now available at more locations than before as the number of service points in Finland has doubled over the past 10 years. We have greatly increased the number of parcel lockers in particular as e-commerce has grown.

“Posti’s services will continue to be offered in Helsinki city center. By adding more parcel lockers and outlets run by partners, we have been able to bring our services even closer to our customers. There are now a total of 16 Posti service points within a kilometer of Helsinki Central Station,” says Huttunen.

Posti’s own shops in Helsinki are located inPunavuori (Annankatu 8), in Töölö (Linnankoskenkatu 14) and in Kaartinkaupunki (Kasarmikatu 19). In addition, there are 26 full-service Posti outlets run by partners as well as 13 pickup points in Helsinki. Stamps are sold in the city center by dozens of shops, including grocery stores and bookstores as well as most kiosks. Parcel lockers are located in Helsinki Central Station and the city center’s shopping malls.

“Last fall, Posti also opened Box, a space meant for e-commerce activities, in the city center (Keskuskatu 3). We have received a lot of positive feedback about Box from our customers. Box has parcel lockers, and it can be used to send both parcels and letters,” says Huttunen.

The planned change starts cooperation negotiations

The cooperation negotiations on the planned changes will begin in February 2020. According to a preliminary estimate, the reduction need is a maximum of 10 permanent employees. The change is set to take place in summer 2020 at the earliest.

“Naturally, it is very unfortunate that this change is estimated to also have personnel effects,” says Huttunen.

Posti needs to cut costs by approximately EUR 150–200 million in 2019–2021, as has been reported earlier. These cost savings are required due to the steep decline in letter and publication volumes.



5.  FedEx Pledges Transportation Support to Aid in Coronavirus Emergency


January 27, 2020
Company Leveraging its Global Network to Assist in Crisis

FedEx Corp. is committing transportation and logistics support to humanitarian relief agencies as they respond to the coronavirus outbreak. As part of these efforts, FedEx Express will ship today more than 200,000 surgical masks and personal protective equipment such as gowns and gloves to its Asia Pacific Hub in Guangzhou, China to assist the humanitarian work of Direct Relief. FedEx is working closely with China Post which will deliver the aid from Guangzhou to Wuhan Union Hospital.

“Direct Relief is deeply thankful to FedEx for enabling this rapid response to fulfill a very specific order that the medical staff in Wuhan’s largest hospital selected from our current stockpile, “said Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief President & CEO. “In rapidly unfolding situations such as this, it’s obviously important to move fast but with precision and proper coordination with all the relevant authorities – which FedEx’s extraordinary team has made possible.”

This collaboration is part of the FedEx Cares  “Delivering for Good” initiative.  The company uses its expertise in shipping and logistics to connect organizations, communities and individuals with the resources they need through charitable shipping and cash donations.

“FedEx is proud to mobilize its global network to deliver aid, comfort and care to people suffering in the wake of this unprecedented health emergency,” said Raj Subramaniam, president and chief operating officer, FedEx Corporation. “We will continue to work closely with humanitarian and disaster relief organizations to provide support and deliver supplies, doing what we do best to help those who need it most.”

FedEx is working closely with Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Customs as well as the China Post on these relief shipments to swiftly complete clearance and get the critical supplies to Wuhan. China Post is coordinating the movement of the supplies into Wuhan to deliver the relief as quickly as possible.

FedEx has a long history of working with nonprofit and government entities to support communities and economies during times of crisis. The company has donated $6 million in cash and in-kind assistance to support humanitarian organizations so far this fiscal year, which began on June 1, 2019. These contributions have helped with other crises such as the wildfires in Australia, the Taal volcano eruption in the Philippines, Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas and the earthquake in Puerto Rico.

The delivery of these critical supplies is part of the company’s FedEx Cares 50 by 50 goal to positively impact 50 million people around the world by the company’s 50th anniversary in 2023.

 

 


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