POSTAL NEWS No 50- 2022
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
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1. FedEx Q4: As we move forward, our focus will be on revenue quality
June 24, 2022
FedEx Corp. has reported the following consolidated results for the quarter ended May 31 (adjusted measures exclude the items listed below for the applicable fiscal year):
This year’s and last year’s quarterly and full-year consolidated results have been adjusted for:
“Our fiscal 2022 financial performance was a result of our team’s ability to adapt to a
number of unexpected challenges and is
a testament to the FedEx value proposition and the execution of our long-term strategy,” said Raj Subramaniam, FedEx Corp. president and chief executive officer. “Our foundational investments have set the stage for a strong fiscal 2023. As we move forward, our focus will be on revenue quality and lowering our cost to serve. I am honored to lead our dedicated global team who enable FedEx to lead the industry from a position of strength.”
Fourth Quarter Results
Fourth quarter
operating income improved
primarily due to revenue management actions, including the favorable net impact of fuel
at each
transportation segment, and lower variable compensation expense.
These factors were partially
offset by lower shipment demand due to slower economic growth and supply chain disruptions, as well as higher purchased transportation and wage rates.
Fourth quarter net income included a tax benefit of $46 million ($0.18 per diluted share) related to revisions of prior year estimates for actual tax return results.
FedEx Express
operating results improved in the fourth quarter driven by revenue management actions, including increased
fuel surcharges. Global volume softness,
driven by COVID
lockdowns, geopolitical uncertainty, and slower economic
growth, partially offset the year-over-
year improvement.
FedEx Ground operating results declined primarily due to higher self- insurance accruals and increased
purchased transportation and wage rates. These costs were partially offset by higher revenue per package, including increased fuel surcharges. Average daily volume declined primarily due to yield management actions affecting the FedEx Ground Economy service.
FedEx Freight operating results sharply increased, with operating margin improving 570 basis points to 21.8%. The improved results were driven by a 28% increase in revenue per shipment from the continued focus on revenue quality and profitable growth.
Source : https://postandparcel.info/148843/news/e-commerce/fedex-q4-as-we-move-forward- our-focus-will-be-on-revenue-quality/
2. Poste Italiane promotes a voluntary totalitarian takeover bid on shares and warrants of Sourcesense SpA
June 24, 2022
The Board of Directors of Poste Italiane SpA ("Poste Italiane"), which met today under the chairmanship of Maria Bianca Farina, approved the promotion, in agreement with some shareholders of Sourcesense SpA ("Sourcesense"), a company with exchanged shares on the multilateral trading system called Euronext Growth Milan ("EGM"), organized and managed by Borsa Italiana SpA, of a voluntary cash tender offer on all the ordinary shares of Sourcesense and on all the warrants called "Warrant Sourcesense 2021 -2024 "(the" Transaction "), as per the communication issued today pursuant to article 102, paragraph 1, of the Legislative Decree of February 24, 1998 (TUF), no. 58
and article 37 of Consob Regulation 11971 of 14 May 1999.
Sourcesense, a company listed since August 2020, is an innovative SME operating in the IT sector in Italy and Great Britain with high expertise in the development of cloud-native solutions, based on open source technology. In 2021 the Company achieved revenues of €
22.6 million (+ 31% compared to 2020) and an EBITDA of € 3.0 million (+ 44% compared to 2020) with a margin of 13%.
The Transaction provides for a consideration offered for each share equal to € 4.20 (corresponding to a premium of 24.0% on the weighted average of the daily official prices of Borsa Italiana in the last month) and a consideration offered for each warrant equal to € 0.78 (corresponding to a premium of 75.4% on the weighted average of the daily official prices of the Italian Stock Exchange for the last month). The consideration offered for each warrant corresponds to the intrinsic value of the warrants calculated on the basis of the consideration offered for each share.
Following the completion of the Transaction, aimed at delisting the shares and warrants, it is envisaged that Poste Italiane will hold a controlling interest in Sourcesense equal to 70%, and that the current controlling shareholders of Sourcesense (acting in concert with Poste Italians in the launch of the offers) maintain a minority stake of 30%.
The Transaction will allow Poste Italiane, in line with the objectives of the 2024 Sustain & Innovate business plan, to strengthen its internal development capabilities of applications based on cloud and open source technology, significantly increasing the level of internalisation of activities and evolving towards a “product factory” model, limiting the use of external personnel to specialized technology support activities and non-core activities.
Thanks to its ability to leverage market trends, Poste Italiane has become the largest Italian user of cloud services and digitization engine in the country, physically and digitally connecting customers, citizens, businesses and the Public Administration. Poste Italiane will make use of Sourcesense's contribution in the development of new generation cloud native solutions to support business innovation in the Public Administration channel, and in particular in Healthcare, also leveraging the initiatives envisaged in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The completion of the Transaction is expected by the end of 2022 and is subject to the occurrence of certain conditions, detailed in Communication 102.
Source : https://www.posteitaliane.it/it/comunicati/posteitalianepromu-1476565185921.html
Note: The original article was written in Italian and the above article is an automatic translation
3. Dante Genomics partners with Emirates Post to deliver advanced genomic services in UAE
June 22, 2022
Emirates Post, the official postal operator and leading express provider in the UAE, has partnered with Dante Genomics, a global leader in genomics and precision medicine, to facilitate the availability of advanced genomic services across the UAE in line with the nation’s vision of making healthcare testing accessible to everyone in the country.
The partnership
follows the recent launch of Dante Genomics’ office
and operations in the UAE.
According to the agreement, Emirates
Post will collect and drop off
testing kits from Dante Labs to customers
across the UAE, in addition to designating Emirates
Post Customer Happiness Centers as a point of sale and drop off/collection point for the testing kits. Genetic testing
provides personalized information about one’s
The partnership aims to enable universal access to genomic-driven wellness and longevity
overall wellbeing to empower them to live a healthier lifestyle.
Peter Somers, CEO of Emirates Post, said: “We are delighted that Dante Genomics entrusted us to support the expansion of their advanced genomic services across the UAE. This partnership further highlights the seamless services we provide to customers through our delivery network, which is the largest in the country. With its customer-centric and diverse choice of services, Emirates Post is an ideal delivery partner for companies looking for expansion and sustainable solutions to even the remotest parts of the country. Our exemplary services have enabled us to build trust and meet all the requirements of our customers and partners.”
Andrea Riposati, Group CEO of Dante Genomics, said that universal access to healthcare requires the universal operations that Emirates Posts has built. “Together, we can deliver advanced genomics everywhere. We are honored to partner with Emirates Post on logistics and distribution of advanced genomic services in the UAE. Emirates Post has proven a fantastic partner with a clear vision of how to democratize access to goods, services and technology for all people in the UAE,” he added.
Dante Genomics is a global leader in genome sequencing with the best technology in the healthcare industry to provide personalized preventive healthcare solutions by offering next- generation diagnostic tools direct to consumers and healthcare professionals. With the use of patented software and revolutionary technologies, including Novaseq 6000 Sequencing System and Pacbio, Dante Labs has achieved unprecedented performance in the field of genetic sequencing. Dante Labs through Novaseq 6000 Sequencing System has recorded an average Passing Filter ratio exceeding 80 per cent on each run performed, proving the lab as top performers within the industry. Passing Filter ratio measures efficiency in genomics.
Source : https://emiratespost.ae/Portal/Article?locale=en-us&pageid=15826
4. Update on management implementation of pay provisions of the 2021-2024 National Agreement
June 21, 2022
On June 4, 2022, many of the pay provisions of the 2021-2024 National Agreement were scheduled to be implemented. This included:
· 1.3% General Increase due November 20, 2021
· Additional 1.0% increase for Postal Support Employees -PSEs (for a total of 2.3%) due November 20, 2021
· Additional $0.50 for PSEs due April 9, 2022
· Grade 11 pay changes due September 21, 2021
· $1310 COLA (additional $0.63 per hour) due February 26, 2022
· Additional Pay for Part-Time Flexible-PTFs due to the addition of the Juneteenth holiday
Over the weekend it became apparent that an issue with the implementation had occurred when PSEs began reporting that the additional $0.50 was not included in their pay. Today, June 21, 2022, the Postal Service acknowledged the $0.50 was not included. The Postal Service acknowledged that they made an error, but management has not identified what caused the error or when it will be added to the hourly pay of the PSEs. The APWU is in communications with the Postal Service and when additional information is known, that information will be published.
Even though the additional $0.50 did not start, PSEs will be paid the additional monies in the retroactive payment that is forthcoming. The date for the retroactive payment has not yet been determined. As previously stated, once the date is known, it will be published.
Some things to remember for the check dated June 24, 2022:
· There are no retroactive payments in this check; Retro payments will be in a future check (date yet to be determined)
· The COLA of $1310 is not a lump sum payment. It is an amount that is added to the annual salary of career employees and reflected as an increase of the employee’s hourly rate and in this case increased career pay by 63 cents an hour (slightly more for PTFs).
All employees on the rolls during any of the period retroactive pay is owed will receive a retroactive payment. If an employee has separated from the Postal Service for any reason, including retirement, they will receive a retroactive payment for the hours they were paid while on the rolls for which retroactive pay is owed. Separated employees will receive their retroactive payment in a paper check. Employees on the rolls will have their retroactive payment included in their regular paycheck/direct deposit when the retroactive payment date has been established.
Source : https://apwu.org/news/update-management-implementation-pay-provisions-2021- 2024-national-agreement
5. Supreme Court rejects Royal Mail appeal against Ofcom fine
June 21, 2022
The UK’s Supreme Court has refused Royal Mail’s request to appeal against Ofcom’s 2018 decision to fine it £50m (US$61.4m) for breaching competition law.
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Supreme Court building, UK - credit: Gary Todd/flickr (CC0 1.0)
The Supreme Court’s decision concludes the appeal process, after Royal Mail was unsuccessful at both the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. The company must now pay the fine to Ofcom, plus interest and legal costs. The money will be passed on to HM Treasury.
Ian Strawhorne, interim director of enforcement at Ofcom, said, “We welcome the court’s decision. All companies must play by the rules, and Royal Mail had a special responsibility to ensure its behavior was not anti-competitive – its actions were unacceptable. We hope that our fine, which has been upheld in full by the courts, will ensure that Royal Mail and other powerful companies take their legal duties very seriously.”
In 2018, Ofcom fined Royal Mail for a serious breach of competition law, after the company abused its dominant position by discriminating against its only major competitor delivering letters.
The penalty followed an investigation into a complaint made to Ofcom by Whistl (one of Royal Mail’s wholesale customers). The complaint was about changes Royal Mail made to its wholesale customers’ contracts in early 2014, including wholesale price increases.
At the time, Whistl was expanding its business to compete directly with Royal Mail by delivering business letters (bulk mail) to addresses in certain parts of the UK – becoming the first company to challenge Royal Mail’s monopoly in the large-scale delivery of bulk mail.
The 2014 wholesale price increases meant that any of Royal Mail’s wholesale customers seeking to compete with the post by delivering letters in some parts of the country, as Whistl was, would have to pay higher prices in the remaining areas, where they used Royal Mail for delivery.
Following notification of these new prices, Whistl suspended plans to extend delivery services to new areas.
Ofcom’s investigation found that Royal Mail’s actions amounted to anti-competitive discrimination against customers such as Whistl that sought to deliver bulk mail.
Source : https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/news/mail/supreme-court- rejects-royal-mail-appeal-against-ofcom-fine.html
POSTAL NEWS No 49- 2022
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
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1. USPS sets improved
delivery times for commercial ground shipping
services June 24, 2022
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced that it will implement upgraded service standards for its USPS Retail Ground (RG) and Parcel Select Ground (PSG) products, effective August 1, 2022.
Within the contiguous USA, service standards for these products will be accelerated from two-to-eight days to two-to-five days for the same price. Items containing hazardous materials or live animals are not eligible for the upgraded service standards.
USPS RG is a ground shipping product for packages, thick envelopes and tubes (up to 70 lb) that are not required to be mailed via First Class Mail service and are available only through retail channels. USPS PSG is an economical ground delivery service similar to RG for commercial shippers.
The Postal Service is aligning the RG and PSG service standards with the current First Class Package Service (FCPS) standards within the contiguous USA. The postal service said that processing this mail with FCPS packages will enhance customer service and better optimize package processing and surface transportation networks.
Louis DeJoy, postmaster general, USPS, said “Upgrading service standards for RG and PSG products is another way we are improving delivery for our customers. Offering faster, affordable delivery is how we will become the best in the industry.”
Source : https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/news/operations/usps-sets- improved-delivery-times-for-commercial-ground-shipping-services.html
2. Cybersecurity for Posts: A global problem that requires a global approach
June 22, 2022
The global pandemic accelerated digital transformation by as much as 10 years, according to Rodney Taylor, Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), who spoke to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) about ICT and digitalization in the Caribbean earlier this month.
This is great news in terms of digital transformation, but in an increasingly digital world, companies, governments, and authorities are now even more at risk of cybercrime – a growing threat to organizations worldwide.
According to figures from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), data breaches caused by cyberattacks got off to a record start in 2022, following a record setting 2021. Q1 2022 data revealed that 90% of data breaches are cyberattack-related. Data breaches have increased for the third consecutive year.
Many Posts have suffered from cyberattacks in recent months.
Hellenic Post in Greece, for example, was subjected to a serious cyberattack in
late March, which brought down computer systems using malware. Meanwhile, in
New Zealand, post offices were shut down by a cyberattack late last year. Other
Posts including the Bulgarian Post, Correios Brazil, and Ukrposhta have all
been impacted by cybercrime.
These recent events and rising cybercrime figures in
general highlight the vital importance of Posts’ making cybersecurity a priority within their organizations. The CTU’s Rodney Taylor, who appeared in Episode 12 of the UPU’s Voice Mail podcast, believes that collaboration is key between countries, states, and organizations, to achieve cybersecurity.
“It is critical that we bring everyone together to cooperate on how cybercrime is addressed on a global scale,” he said. “We have leveraged this model in the Caribbean and developed an Internet governance policy framework to provide guidance to member states on various aspects of cybersecurity and policy guidelines.”
In the podcast episode, Rodney also highlighted the importance of raising the awareness of cyberthreats with the public and with governments to ensure that the right “legislative frameworks” are in place to deter cybercrime.
The UPU has developed several tools to help Posts tackle the challenge of cybercrime. Its .POST top-level domain, for example, provides a secure and trusted Internet space to serve the needs of the global postal community in the digital economy.
Furthermore, in May, .POST’s governance group launched a new tool to boost .POST members’ cyber resilience. The cybertrack.post solution is a fully automated, web-based dashboard tool, which provides real-time monitoring of .POST domains’ technical compliance with approved cybersecurity policies covering DNSSEC, secure e-mail authentication and secure online transactions. The tool supports access on an individual country basis, allowing nominated focal point(s) in this country receive email alerts in case of nonconformity events.
Cybertrack.post also provides access to the .POST Learning Platform where the UPU will be hosting cybersecurity training and capacity building activities. A self-paced bootcamp in
secure email authentication, which was developed by one of the UPU’s partners – the Global Cyber Alliance – has already been placed on the learning platform. The UPU has plans to work with partners to place additional materials on the platform over the next 6-12 months.
Tracy Hackshaw, .POST Projects Manager, who worked with the .POST Group to launch the new tool, said, “The tool is highly intuitive and requires minimal setup. Experience has shown that, even for high-level, executive, non-technical users, the onboarding process is done in minutes. All .POST domains are automatically added to the list of domains monitored in real- time by cybertrack.post.”
The UPU is currently working to onboard all the .POST Group members to use the tool. It will also be launching a series of webinars over the next 2-3 months highlighting and showcasing .POST Group members who have successfully launched solutions and services using .POST.
“We are also currently working on expanding the functionality of cybertrack.post in all aspects, including integrating elements of the .POST/UPU Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT), DNS abuse/security threat reporting and monitoring and several other aspects designed to improve the cyber-resilience of .POST Group members, in particular, UPU members, and indeed, the global postal sector as a whole,” Hackshaw concluded.
Source : https://www.upu.int/en/News/2022/6/Cybersecurity-for-Posts-A-global-problem- that-requires-a-global-approach
3. Post Office dispute – ‘marginally’ increased pay offer ‘still not enough’ June 22, 2022
CWU tells management to ‘get serious’ on wages, warns of further industrial action to come and condemns ‘provocative’ use of G4S strike breakers.
“An extra half a per
cent is not a meaningful offer and I’m not surprised our Postal Executive
rejected it immediately,” said CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey, when CWU News spoke with him this morning.
“It’s hard to tell whether they’re just playing games here or if they genuinely thought this marginal increase would be taken seriously by this union – anyway, we’ve said: ‘No’ and the Post Office leadership can expect more strikes in the period ahead.”
Crown Office counter staff, supply chain drivers, cash processors and admin workers have already taken two days of strike action in this dispute, which was called after a ballot in March returned a 97.3 per cent majority for action. In voting for strikes by such a huge margin, members were collectively expressing many months of built-up frustration and anger at the pay freeze instigated by senior management over the 2021/22 financial year.
“It’s worth reminding ourselves that not only has the Post Office insulted our key worker members with such a paltry offer for 2022/23, they also paid no pay rise whatsoever for the previous 12 months,” continued Andy, “and so, when comparing the revised pay offer to the
11.7 per cent RPI inflation for May, one also needs to take into account the compound effect of a wages standstill for the year before as well.
“And let’s also remind ourselves, that year was when our members were keeping Crown Offices open, delivering cash and other necessities to all of the UK’s 11,500 sub-post offices and continuing to serve the Great British public during the most challenging national crisis since WWII.”
Post Office has been engaging the services of private delivery company G4S during strike periods in order to break the strikes and this is seen by the CWU as a “highly provocative” step by management. Andy said: “This is clearly immoral and downright wrong. It’s also a major provocation by them and incredibly expensive too. Taken together with their various other ‘dispute-mitigation’ measures, it’s costing more for them to fight us than it would to settle this pay dispute.
“So, Post Office bosses, please don’t try to tell us you can’t afford a fair pay deal – frankly our members do not believe you.”
With rail workers starting their national strike yesterday, our own BT, Openreach and EE members balloting for action and Royal Mail workers set to start voting in their dispute soon, the Post Office situation is one of several pay fights taking place at the same time. And suspicions are growing that the Government could be pressing employers to keep wages low. “We send 100 per cent solidarity to RMT members striking this week, and of course to our fellow CWU members in other companies voting on or preparing to vote on industrial action,” says Andy. “What all of these disputes – as well as our dispute – have in common are managements refusing fair pay deals despite healthy profits, which does point to the strong possibility that there are external political pressures being brought to bear on the employers to repress wages.
“It would be good to see and hear our own Labour Party leadership standing up in Parliament more and exposing this, asking the tough questions that put the Government on the spot.
We’d like to hear more support and solidarity from our own party – there’s a serious political fight that needs to be waged at the same time as the frontline industrial struggle that we’re waging on the picket lines.
“Our own message is, we reject the derisory offer, we fight on and we fight to win.”
Source : https://www.cwu.org/news/post-office-dispute-marginally-increased-pay-offer-still- not-enough/
4. Nippon Express launches new environmentally friendly transport service June 21, 2022
Nippon Express has stated it has become the first Japanese logistics company to collaborate with EMBALL’ISO, a French company that specialises in vaccine transport, by launching a new international air freight service using environmentally friendly isothermal packaging produced by EMBALL’ISO.
The medical and pharmaceutical industries among others require strict
temperature control of their
products during transport, and there is growing
interest in environmental-friendly logistics services across all industries. As a key measure in its growth strategy for core businesses, the group has positioned the pharmaceutical industry as a priority industry in the “NX Group Business Plan 2023 – Dynamic Growth” and has been expanding its temperature-controlled transport services.
Nippon Express and EMBALL’ISO have developed a new service combining EMBALL’ISO’s environmentally friendly reusable isothermal packaging with international air transport. This new environmental-friendly service hopes to reduce its customers’ CO2 emissions while maintaining the required temperatures during transport.
Source : https://www.ti-insight.com/nippon-express-launches-new-environmentally-friendly- transport-service/#.YrLDcpmPfE8.twitter
5. The first electric truck in Stavanger has been put into operation
June 21, 2022
Bring is now
using its first electric truck in Rogaland. The vehicle has a permissible total
weight of 28 tonnes and has a loading platform that is specially built to
distribute goods to the offshore industry in Stavanger.
- Our new electric truck in Stavanger also marks the start of major environmental work for Norway Post and Bring in Western Norway. Going forward, we will phase out fossil-fueled trucks and replace them with electricity and biogas. We have ordered 65 new electric trucks and 65 new gas-powered trucks that will be put into operation throughout Norway and some of them will also be put into operation in the Stavanger region, says Kenneth Tjønndal Pettersen who is press manager at Posten.
The new electric truck will have a permanent location at the Bring terminal in Tananger and will go into the supply logistics of the operators on the Norwegian shelf.
Facts about the electric truck
Scania P 230 W6x2 * 4NB, ie 3 axle truck with lifting bogie Permitted total weight: 28000 kg
Payload: Max 15 tons
Open loading platform: 6.88 meters (specially built) Range: About 200 km in varied use
In collaboration with the Port of Stavanger, a separate fast charger has been established at the Bring terminal in Tananger.
Source : https://www.postennorge.no/presse/arkiv/3190276
Note: The original article was written in Norwegian and the above article is an automatic translation