UNI Apro Post & Logistics
1 POSTAL NEWS No 71-2022
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
1.Women, greens and training: Poste's economic and social value is growing in a sustainable way. September 09, 2022.
2.USPS enters busy fall mail season with strong, steady service performance across all mail categories. September 08, 2022.
3.UPS hiring for the holiday rush holds steady above 100,000. September 07, 2022.
4.Teamsters launch new Amazon Division. September 06, 2022.
5.PHLPost celebrates 60 years of Asian-Pacific Postal Union. September 05, 2022
1.Women, greens and training: Poste's economic and social value is growing in a sustainable way
Poste Italiane focuses on human capital, inclusion, gender equality and attention to the environment to increase its economic and social value.
Not just business: Poste Italiane focuses on human capital, inclusion and elimination of gender diversity to increase its economic and social value . But also through the push for green mobility to reduce CO2 emissions and protect the balance of the planet. Thus begins an in-depth study that Il Tempo dedicates to the 2024 Sustain & Innovate Plus Plan of the largest company in the country, the main employer in Italy, with over 120,000 employees.
People at the center
People, Il Tempo recalls, are a fundamental resource and the company is perfectly aware of this, so much so that the "Enhancement of people" and "Diversity and inclusion" are two of the pillars of the group's growth strategy defined in the plan presented by CEO Matteo Del Fante. With the "24SI Plus" Business Plan, Poste Italiane aims to activate a process of change that adds value through the involvement of people to allow the full expression of everyone's potential through listening and trusting relationships, inclusive work environments and improving organizational functioning through participation and disintermediation.
Gender equality
In particular, the plan aims to strengthen management systems for the professional development of women and to remove potential obstacles to gender equality, including those related to sexual orientation and the effects of gender-based violence. The company also guarantees equal treatment and condemns any form of discrimination, including gender andsexual orientation, writes Il Tempo citing the many initiatives promoted by Poste in these areas.
Female presence
Today more than half of Poste Italiane's workforce is represented by women, 53%, with a female presence of 44.4% among the members of the board of directors, 46% among middle managers and executives and 59% among office managers postal. Poste Italiane's gender equality policies were rewarded with entry into the global Top 100 ranking on gender equality drawn up by Equileap , the world's leading organization in the processing of data and in-depth analyzes on gender equality in the corporate sphere.
Green fleet
Then there is the environmental chapter. Poste Italiane distributes home-based services to citizens through the country's largest corporate fleet, explains the Roman daily. Today it is strongly committed to reducing the environmental impact linked to its activities with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Even becoming a zero-emission company is in fact one of the objectives of the four-year strategic plan that brings sustainability together innovation, at the heart of the corporate strategy with the aim of achieving responsible growth and accompanying Italy's sustainability path.
Source : https://tgposte.poste.it/2022/09/09/valore-economico-e-sociale-di-poste/
Note: The original article was written in Italian and the above article is an automatic translation
2.USPS enters busy fall mail season with strong, steady service performance across all mail categories September 08, 2022
WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service reported new delivery performance metrics for the ninth week of the fiscal fourth quarter showing the average time for the Postal Service to deliver a mailpiece or package across the postal network was consistent at just 2.4 days. As the Postal Service heads into the busy fall mailing season, service performance remains strong and steady across all mail categories.
FY2022 fourth quarter service performance scores covering July 1 through Sept. 2 included: • First-Class Mail: 93.2 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal third quarter. • Marketing Mail: 94.6 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal third quarter. • Periodicals: 87.0 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal third quarter.
One of the goals of Delivering for America, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan for achieving financial sustainability and service excellence, is to meet or exceed 95 percent on-time service performance for all mail and shipping products once all elements of the plan are implemented. Service performance is defined by the Postal Service as the time it takes to deliver a mailpiece or package from its acceptance into our system through its delivery, as measured against published service standards.
The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. Source: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2022/0908-usps-enters-busy-fallmail-season-with-strong-steady-service-performance
3.UPS hiring for the holiday rush holds steady above 100,000
September 07, 2022 NEW YORK – UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 workers to help handle the holiday rush this season, in line with hiring the previous two years.
Holiday season volumes usually start rising in October and remain high into January. While online shopping has slowed from the height of the pandemic, it's still well above historic norms. UPS said Wednesday that there will be job openings for full- and part-time seasonal positions, primarily package handlers, drivers and driver helpers. UPS promotes seasonal jobs as positions that can lead to year-round employment. In recent years, according to UPS, roughly 35% of people hired for seasonal package-handling jobs land permanent positions. Seasonal drivers with UPS start at $21 per hour, with tractor-trailer drivers making as much as $35 per hour. Package handler starting wages can range from $15 – $21 per hour. The company continues to streamline its job hiring process and most hires require only 25 minutes – from filling out of an online application to receiving an offer, according to Danelle McCusker Rees, the president of human relations at UPS. That's down five minutes from last year. Rees started at UPS as a seasonal worker. The job market remains just as competitive as it was last year, said Rees in an interview this week with The Associated Press. Employers added 315,000 jobs in August, about what economists had expected, down from an average 487,000 a month over the past year, according to a government report last week. The jobless rate reached 3.7%, its highest level since February. But it increased for a healthy reason: Hundreds of thousands of people went back to the job market, and some didn’t find work right away, which boosted the government’s count of unemployed people.
Source : https://www.news4jax.com/business/2022/09/07/ups-to-hire-more-than-100000- workers-for-the-holidays
4.Teamsters launch new Amazon Division
1.2 Million-Member Union Forms National Program to Protect Logistics Workers (WASHINGTON) – The Teamsters Union on Tuesday formally launched its Amazon Division, a new arm of North America’s strongest union dedicated to uniting Amazon employees, securing more workplace protections in the warehouse and logistics industry, and defending workers from the unchecked exploitation of one of the world’s most dangerous employers. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien announced Randy Korgan as director of the new Amazon Division. As Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 1932, Korgan brings three decades of industry expertise and organizing leadership to the national program, which immediately establishes a sophisticated Teamster infrastructure of union officers, seasoned organizers, and volunteer coordinators across the U.S. and Canada. The Teamsters Union is home to 1.2 million workers, including 340,000 UPS employees, most of whom perform the same roles as Amazon workers. The wages, benefits, and retirement security of UPS Teamsters are protected by the union’s national master agreement, the single largest union contract in the world. “For 120 years, the Teamsters have proudly and ferociously protected transportation, logistics, and delivery workers, and we refuse to allow Amazon to continue to abuse and disrespect the more than one million Americans it employs,” O’Brien said. “The Teamsters are best positioned to coordinate and secure guaranteed protections for these workers, and Amazon knows it. Our new division affords a nationwide network of resources to all Amazon workers, behind the wheel of any truck or hard at work in any facility, to strategize with the union, mobilize in their communities, and succeed together.” As workers around the country continue to rise up and collectively demand better workplace standards, communities are increasingly rejecting Amazon’s lack of accountability and its overwhelming worker injury rate. In coordination with the Teamsters, passionate community partners have succeeded in limiting Amazon’s expansion on both coasts, as the corporate giant’s growth threatens good-paying jobs and environmental protections. Amazon employs one third of the warehouse workers in the U.S. but is responsible for half of all workplace injuries in the sector as its employees sustain serious injury at five times the national average. Injury rates at Amazon facilities are nearly 80 percent higher than all other employers in the warehousing industry. “For Teamsters, and the labor movement as a whole, Amazon poses an existential threat to the rights and standards that our members have fought for and won for over 100 years,” Korgan said. “The new Amazon Division is ready to create and support direct action by workers across the country to beat back this corporate threat
to working people.” In addition to his longstanding partnership with community organizers and Teamster affiliates nationwide, Korgan offers exclusive insight into Amazon’s national expansion efforts. Local 1932 represents 14,000 Teamsters across Southern California and in San Bernardino, Amazon’s most consequential logistics hub in North America.
Source: https://teamster.org/2022/09/teamsters-launch-new-amazon-division/
5.PHLPost celebrates 60 years of Asian-Pacific Postal Union September 05, 2022
Postmaster General Norman N. Fulgencio of the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) delivered his message as guest speaker in celebration of the 60th founding Anniversary of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) held at Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.
In his speech attended by more than 100 delegates and participants from Asian-Pacific region, he said, “This event is very special for all of us. First, we celebrate this historic and momentous occasion in solidarity with each of our country’s postal services. Secondly, we appreciate yourrecognition of the role of the Philippine Government in the foundation of APPU 60 years ago. It is our pride and honour that for the first 40 years of its history, the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) was based in Manila with the Postmaster General as Director”. Other speakers include Mr. Masahiko Metoki, Director General of Universal Postal Union (UPU) International Bureau; Mr. Lin Hongliang, Secretary General, Asian-Pacific Postal Union and Ms. Ajarin Pattanapanchai, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand. The APPU is an intergovernmental organization and a Universal Postal Union (UPU) restricted union that aims to extend, facilitate and improve postal relations among 32 member countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The 32 member- countries are the Philippines, Australia, China, Korea, New Zealand, Thailand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Lao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam. The APPU started from a postal roundtable in Manila in 1961. At that meeting, 18 countries met to draw up the Asian-Oceanic Postal Convention, which came into force on April 1, 1962. In 2002, the APPU moved to Bangkok and the Director position was opened to election by the member countries. Fulgencio also presented the gains of the Philippine Post Office in pushing for the digital innovation and modernization of the Philippine Postal Corporation (Post Office). He added, “under the new administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., he prioritized the digitalization of public services towards greater efficiency and accountability of public services including the Post Office. In these ever-changing times, digital innovation is the only way to go for businesses to be relevant”. “The e-commerce revolution presents a vast economic potential for the Asia-Pacific being one of the largest regions in the Universal Postal Union. There is a need for each country to collaborate and cooperate effectively amid the rapid advancement in technology and globalization”, Fulgencio said.
Source : https://postandparcel.info/149894/news/post/phlpost-celebrates-60-years-of-asianpacific-postal-union/
UNI Apro Post & Logistics
1 POSTAL NEWS No 72-2022
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
1.Pos Indonesia bolsters partnerships to broaden services to 3T areas. September 10, 2022.
2.Self-driving delivery robot for the first time in Estonia. September 09, 2022.
3.Arbitrator Sharnoff issues national-level award on ADUS craft jurisdiction. September 09, 2022.
4.UPU rolls out a new undeliverable mail remuneration solution. September 08, 2022.
5.NZ Post profits increase by more than 200%. September 07, 2022
1.Pos Indonesia bolsters partnerships to broaden services to 3T areas September 10, 2022
Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned postal company PT Pos Indonesia continues to enhance partnerships with individuals and business entities in a bid to expand its logistics services to underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas.
Director of Courier and Logistics Business of Pos Indonesia Siti Choiriana noted that Pos Indonesia is expanding its network by increasing the number of agents, women couriers, and drop points as a form of empowerment for micro-businesses. "We are doing it, so that 514 districts and cities, with nine thousand sub-districts and 73 thousand villages, can be covered. That is why we are collaborating," she noted in a statement here on Saturday. Choiriana explained that Pos Indonesia, as part of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), had reached an agreement with all world postal companies to provide services to the public to send letters and packages. If there is a letter or package from Washington, D.C., the United States, to Puncak Jaya in Papua, then Pos Indonesia must send it, although it is considered as a 3T area.
"We, as a company that has an obligation to the UPU international agreement, must carry out that task," she stressed. As of late July 2022, more than one million MSMEs and 4,700 corporations have used Pos Indonesia's courier and logistics services, and Pos Indonesia held 7.1 percent of the national market share. The company currently has national and international networks that guarantee the delivery of goods to remote areas of the country and up to 228 destination countries in the world. In addition, Pos Indonesia has more than 50 thousand agents, 27,600 drop points, around 10 thousand couriers, 4,594 post offices, 151 warehouses, and up to 510 billers of financial services. Choiriana said there are almost two thousand post office points located in 3T areas. "We continue to collaborate with other parties, including the community, private parties, and MSME players, to add service points," she affirmed.
Source : https://en.antaranews.com/news/249109/pos-indonesia-bolsters-partnerships-tobroaden-services-to-3t-areas
2.Self-driving delivery robot for the first time in Estonia September 09, 2022
Starting this Thursday, all Viljandi residents who bought a domestic appliance from the Euronics store can order its delivery to their doorstep with Clevon's self-driving delivery robot – for the first time in Estonia. On Thursday, the delivery robot delivered the first package to Aage Õunap, a Viljandi resident who this year was awarded the title of the mother of the year and who is the president of the Estonian Association of Large Families.
This is the first time that the delivery robots created by Clevon (formerly Cleveron Mobility) are used in the retail trade and for the delivery of packages to private individuals. What makes Clevon's delivery courier CLEVON 1 unique is the fact that it is a vehicle resembling a smaller car which takes the goods to the customer while driving on a roadway. This is why Clevon's robots are able to deliver goods quickly, and the robot can pick up medium-sized domestic appliances and electronics. The project was realized in cooperation between Euronics, the largest electronics retailer in Estonia, international courier company DPD, and Clevon, a manufacturer of autonomous robots. The delivery robot will work for Euronics customers in Viljandi until 23 September, and during that time every customer will be able to order delivery of the goods purchased from the Euronics store within the city limits of Viljandi with a self-driving autonomous robot, which will take the goods to the customer’s doorstep. The service can be used for smaller and medium-sized home electronics, the outer dimensions of the package of which are up to 140x65x85cm and the weight of which does not exceed 100kg – for example, vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens and the like. However, to deliver large household appliances such as washing machines or refrigerators, the customer will need to order a standard transport service. The time required for one delivery is estimated to takeabout half an hour – 15 minutes to pick up the package and 15 minutes to deliver it to the customer. Automation of the journey of the goods is one of the long-term goals of Euronics, Estonia's largest seller of home appliances and electronics. “The robot warehouse that opened in the spring, in the light of ever-increasing sales volumes has made it possible to save a significant amount of electricity and time, while simultaneously speeding up the order picking and shipping process many times over,” said Kaidi Kelt, retail sales manager of Euronics. “While today the first mile in our central warehouse is already covered by robots, with the Viljandi pilot project we are also automating the so-called last mile, i.e. the transport of goods to the end customer, in order to further speed up delivery of goods to customers.” DPD Estonia, which already today delivers all parcels in a carbon-neutral manner, sees delivery robots as an opportunity to further reduce the environmental footprint and to encourage consumers to choose package transport options that are less burdensome to the environment. “The decision about the last mile of package transport, or how the package reaches the customer, is usually up to the customer. The test period allows consumers to get to know the new innovative solutions more closely, while we can collect feedback necessary for the development of the service,” added Remo Kirss, CEO of DPD Estonia. Clevon delivery robots that will be driving on the streets of Viljandi are street legal and 100 percent electric, traveling up to 100 kilometres on a single charge. Electric autonomous vehicles of the last mile make it possible to reduce the noise and pollution level of the urban environment in a modern and sustainable way, without forcing the customers to abandon the already common comforts of ordering packages and food to their home or office. “Estonia is an ideal country for the development and testing of unique new technology solutions, and so far, our delivery robots have integrated into everyday traffic very well,” added Arno Kütt, chairman of the board of Clevon. “Today we are starting a test period on the streets of Viljandi, but the ultimate goal is to make our technology available to the entire society and for it to be used as a preferred delivery solution.” All Euronics customers within the city of Viljandi can order a delivery robot on weekdays from 12:30 to 15:30. The last shipment will reach the customer no later than at 16:30. The autonomous robot sends an SMS notification to the customer when the robot starts moving, and when it arrives at the customer’s address. Then it waits for 10 minutes after reaching the customer, following which the customer receives a call. If nobody can be reached, the robot returns to the store, and the package will have to be picked up from there.
Source: https://www.dpd.com/group/en/news/self-driving-delivery-robot-estonia/
3.Arbitrator Sharnoff issues national-level award on ADUS craft jurisdiction September 09, 2022
On September 1, 2022 Arbitrator Joseph M. Sharnoff issued his latest national-level RI399 award, this one concerning the Automated Delivery Unit Sorter (ADUS). The ADUS award was the last in a series of four RI-399 craft jurisdiction awards that the APWU, NPMHU (Mail Handlers Union) and the Postal Service had presented at the national-level.
In the ADUS case, Arbitrator Sharnoff found that the Postal Service had “acted appropriately and within its right to exercise discretion in making craft determinations in accordance with the RI-399 guidelines and principles”.
Sharnoff rejected both the Mail Handlers’ and APWU’s challenges to the Postal Service’s craft determinations. Sharnoff, as he has done in his recent previous awards, upheld the Postal Service’s jurisdiction decisions and left the status quo in place. This means that both the APWU and Mail Handlers will continue to perform certain duties on the ADUS that were originally awarded to the craft in the Postal Service’s initial craft jurisdiction determination. The arbitrator did, however, conclude that in facilities where Mail Handlers are not present, the Postal Service properly designated the Clerk Craft as the primary craft for operation of the ADUS. The NPMHU had argued that the addition of an ADUS in a facility with no Mail Handlers would result in four consecutive hours of Mail Handler work, but Sharnoff rejected that assertion. In facilities with both Clerks and Mail Handlers, Sharnoff confirmed that both crafts would continue to perform specific duties as initially decided by the Postal Service. It should also be noted that the Postal Service has taken the position that craft jurisdiction for the ADUS applies to the Small Delivery Unit Sorter (SDUS) and the Single Induction Package Sorter (SIPS). This was the last in a string of four RI-399 decisions in recent years that the parties arbitrated at the national level. These awards were on the Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS), the Universal Sorting System (USS), the Small Parcel Sorting System (SPSS), and now the ADUS. For the first time, there are no remaining RI-399 cases pending at the national level.
Source : https://apwu.org/news/arbitrator-sharnoff-issues-national-level-award-adus-craft-jurisdiction
4.UPU rolls out a new undeliverable mail remuneration solution September 08, 2022
As the e-commerce sector continues to grow, so too does the number of small packets in the mail stream. This, and increasingly stricter customs rules worldwide, is putting extra strain on Posts, especially for undeliverable mail. Up until January 2022, Posts were not remunerated when returning undeliverable letters and small packets under 2kg, to the origin post. This meant that the receiving post bore the handling and processing costs of sending mail back to its origin.
In August 2021, UPU Congress adopted a new resolution which would see Posts remunerated when returning non-deliverable letter mail, including small packets. Congress also put in place a tight deadline – the new remuneration stream was to take effect from January 1, 2022. With such a tight deadline in place, the UPU went to work on developing operational and accounting procedures to assist Posts worldwide in reporting undeliverable mail. The Operations and Accounting Review Group (OARG), a standing group of the Postal Operations Council (POC) committee 2, chaired by Australia and vice-chaired by Norway, oversaw the set-up of an accounting tool to handle the new remuneration stream. For the operational part, a new mail subclass code was created: UV. “Posts needed to make sure they could recognize the new code in their operations and IT solutions by 2022. The accounting part was, however, more challenging to implement,” explains Jean-Marc Coëffic, Secretary of the OARG. Traditionally, Posts prepare remuneration accounts for things like terminal dues per partner and send them individually. For the new undeliverable mail remuneration stream, the UPU International Bureau (IB) proposed to centralize the accounting process. “The concept for the solution is quite simple: instead of having each operator preparing and sending paper accounts to each partner, the IB generates the accounts and distributes them to all Posts,” explains Coëffic. The centralized approach was made possible thanks to the fact that Posts exchange data (PREDES messages) on mail streams electronically. “Catching this data, storing it centrally, and ensuring that all calculations for the new remuneration stream were done correctly was challenging,” Coëffic continues. “With the first distribution of accounting forms for the first quarter in June, we proved that we had overcome these challenges,” he adds, noting that several challenges still need to be addressed to make the process even smoother. Once the UPU has generated and distributed the UV accounts, Posts are then responsible for paying each other individually. The UPU has a solution which can assist operators with the settlement of their accounts: UPU*Clearing. It is used by 49 designated postal operators today and the UPU hopes many more operators will adopt it in coming years. The successful roll out of the new remuneration stream for undeliverable mail has provided a great example of how the UPU could offer more centralized services in the future, enabling postal operators to maximize their efficiency through cost and time savings. According to Coëffic, “The new approach brings benefits to the postal community larger than the new remuneration for returned mail, and this is a good motivation to face all the hurdles ahead.”
Source : https://www.upu.int/en/News/2022/9/UPU-rolls-out-a-new-undeliverable-mail-remuneration-solution
5.NZ Post profits increase by more than 200%
September 07, 2022 NZ Post has made a net profit of NZ$102m (US$61.5m) after tax for the year ended 30 June 2022 – a NZ$70 (US$42.2m) or 219% increase over the previous year.
To capitalize on these profits, the company’s Wellington Super Depot is scheduled to be formally opened in October 2022. A new processing center in Wiri, Auckland, is also scheduled to commence operations in 2023. These openings follow NZ Post’s Christchurch Processing Centre, which officially opened in August 2022. These investments are intended to improve customer experience through delivery efficiency and greater digital parcel transparency. According to the company, this profit has been driven by an increase in earnings from NZ Post’s share in Kiwi Group Holdings and growth in NZ Post’s parcel segment. Since this announcement, NZ Post has agreed to sell its 53% shareholding in Kiwi Group Holdings Limited (the parent company of Kiwibank) to the Crown. The company reportedly expects this transaction to settle in the first half of this new financial year. Additionally, parcel revenue for the company grew to NZ$658m (US$396m), up NZ$137m (US$82.6m) from the previous year. This reflected a volume growth of 93 million parcels delivered, which was an increase of eight million on the previous year, including pricing adjustments and the acquisition of Fliway. Furthermore, in the 2021/2022 financial year, NZ Post signed a financing agreement with New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) to accelerate the transition of the NZ Post fleet and those of its delivery contractors to low-emission vehicles. The company also acquired Fliway Group to broaden its product and service offering, extending into larger items and broadening its logistics and supply chain capability. David Walsh, CEO of NZ Post, said, “Reflecting on the last year, given all the factors we had to navigate, our financial performance was pleasing, but we have much higher expectations on long-term performance. The next couple of years will be extra challenging as we face into rising costs and a tight labor market. In the shorter term, we’ve prioritized our people. We will also have costs impacting our earnings until our network investments and a mail solution begin to deliver the expected benefits. “Revenue from our parcel segment continues to perform strongly, in line with the growth in online shopping seen during the 2021/2022 financial year. This revenue growth was driven by volume increases, including Covid-19 lockdown-related volume surges and large peaks of online spending during holiday and event shopping days. Letter volumes continue to decline as New Zealanders choose to communicate more online. “In the 2022 financial year there were 238 million letters delivered, a decrease of 36 million (or 13%) on the previous year, contributing to an overall NZ$45m (US$27m) decline in revenue in the mail segment. We are continuing to progress work on a sustainable long-term solution for mail services, which will include pricing, cost and operating model changes. We note that volume growth in the parcel segment has since returned to more normal levels since New Zealand’s lockdowns of 2021. During the year, the investment into our parcel processing infrastructure has continued at pace.”