UNI Apro Post & Logistics
1 POSTAL NEWS No 93-2021
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
1. Emirates Post Group inks deal with BrightDrop. November 26, 2021.
2. DPD Netherlands trials Cleveron’s 701 autonomous delivery vehicle. November 25, 2021.
3. Australia Post extends deliveries and trading hours to meet Christmas demand. November 24, 2021.
4. Mail Handlers to receive wage increase effective November 20, 2021. November 23, 2021.
5. NZ Post research shows Kiwis shopping online at least once per week, spending $25 million per day. November 22, 2021.
1.Emirates Post Group inks deal with BrightDrop November 26, 2021
Emirates Post Group (EPG) has announced its latest collaboration following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which it signed with BrightDrop Solutions LLC (BrightDrop), a new business from General Motors, reimagining the commercial delivery and logistics industry for an all-electric future.
The agreement seeks to support EPG’s growing operations at Emirates Post, the UAE’s official postal operator and leading express services provider for more efficient, smarter, and sustainable last mile solutions. The agreement was signed by Badr Al Olama, Chairman of Emirates Post Group, and Luay Al Shurafa, President and Managing Director of General Motors Africa and Middle East. The signing of the agreement is in line with the shared vision of both parties to explore opportunities around sustainable logistics services in the UAE, particularly in delivery vehicles. In addition, the parties agreed to cooperate in testing future proof of concepts in line with their respective goals and strategies, including the deployment of an electrified delivery ecosystem and other new, innovative technologies.
Emirates Post Group will explore how to leverage BrightDrop’s ecosystem of connected delivery products, software and services to create a more sustainable and more efficient transport of goods. BrightDrop’s solutions are designed to reduce carbon emissions and congestion, while helping companies like EPG decrease costs, increase productivity, prioritize driver safety, and support sustainability goals . Badr Al-Olama, Chairman, Emirates Post Group said: “Emirates Post Group is transforming its business and adopting intelligent solutions to establish competitive advantage, while promoting sustainable solutions. We are pleased to work with BrightDrop to meet smarter and more efficient last mile services. This new agreement fosters our commitment in improving our operations to be more dynamic, optimized, and eco-friendly.” Travis Katz, CEO and President of BrightDrop said: “The rise in ecommerce is creating challenges globally. Electrifying EPG’s delivery fleet could help to combat the negative effects of vehicle-related emissions on climate change, while incorporating BrightDrop’s connected products could help reduce delivery costs and improve safety on roads across the UAE. Our ecosystem is centered around industry-leading, high-tech solutions designed to make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place to live and work, and we believe it’s collaborations like this that will help accelerate the development and deployment of these technologies on a global scale.”
Source : https://postandparcel.info/145517/news/e-commerce/emirates-post-group-inksdeal-with-brightdrop
2.DPD Netherlands trials Cleveron’s 701 autonomous delivery vehicle November 25, 2021
Parcel carrier DPD Netherlands (DPD NL) has completed a five-day trial of the latestunmanned autonomous delivery vehicle from Estonian innovator Cleveron.
The Cleveron 701 delivery vehicle was supervised remotely as it conducted a series of deliveries in the streets of Eindhoven. Moving forward, Cleveron says that a single remote operator will be able to supervise fleet of 10 autonomous delivery vehicles. The DPD trial of the Cleveron 701 delivery vehicle is the first to be conducted outside of Estonia. Arno Kütt, CEO of Cleveron, said, “DPD Group is an innovation leader in the logistics sector, and we are delighted to have performed an exploratory pilot together with DPD Netherlands, advancing the development of robotic courier services. We will continue developing and improving our solutions to make last-mile delivery quicker, more efficient, and sustainable. This will benefit both companies and consumers alike.” Jorin Aardoom, manager of data and innovation at DPD Netherlands, added, “At DPD Netherlands, we strive every day to do better for our parcel senders and receivers. We are proud to experiment with innovative solutions for a sustainable future in parcel delivery. The pilot of autonomous delivery together with Cleveron showed promising results. DPD Netherlands is excited to explore more innovative solutions supporting a future in green, sustainable delivery and mobility.”
Source: https://www.parcelandpostaltechnologyinternational.com/news/automation/dpdnetherlands-trials-cleverons-701-autonomous-delivery-vehicle.html
3.Australia Post extends deliveries and trading hours to meet Christmas demand November 24, 2021
With Christmas just over a month away, Australia Post is gearing up for its busiest festive season on record, introducing a twilight delivery service in selected locations, and extending trading hours at Post Offices right across the country. With more than 10 million parcels being delivered every week, and volumes in December expected to surpass last year’s record 52 million parcels, we’ve kicked off twilight deliveries until the early evening in Melbourne and Perth, and will offer extended trading hours from November 27 in more than 380 of our retail outlets across the country, to help make online shopping even easier for customers.
Australia Post Executive General Manager Deliveries Rod Barnes said the new services were another way Australia Post was pulling out all stops to ensure parcels are delivered on time this festive season, as Australia Post meets record parcel demand. “In the last few weeks, we have recruited almost 300 drivers specifically to hit the roads after hours across Melbourne and Perth, and we expect our twilight service to help us deliver an additional 25,000 parcels per day in these two cities alone, so if you hear one of our drivers roll up perhaps just as you’re getting home, don’t be surprised,” he said. “Many of our Post Offices have also extended their opening times to provide our customers greater flexibility with their sending and receiving in the lead up to the big day. Mr Barnes said that Australia Post was ready for its biggest Christmas ever. “We have invested in many areas to help increase our capacity, including chartering extra planes, putting more vehicles on the road, recruiting more than 5,000 new team members, and opening new permanent and temporary facilities to manage the volume. “This year’s lockdowns across the country meant Australians were doing a lot more online shopping all at once, and in October we saw 5.7 million households shopping online, up almost 15 per cent on the previous year,” he said. The Australia Post app is the best way to keep across deliveries, choose the best place to receive parcels - including at more than 1000 free 24/7 Parcel Lockers available around the country - and to stay updated about impacts to the network. Extended trading hours vary according to each outlet and will continue until Wednesday 23 December. To check a specific Post Office’s trading time, visit auspost.com.au/locate
Source:https://newsroom.auspost.com.au/article/australia-post-extends-deliveries-andtrading-hours-to-meet-christmas-demand
4.Mail Handlers to receive wage increase effective November 20, 2021 November 23, 2021
As provided for in Article 9.1 of the NPMHU 2019 National Agreement, the wage scales for all Mail Handler employees will be adjusted upward effective November 20, 2021. This is the third of three guaranteed wage increases provided for in the 2019 contract. Specifically, with regard to career employees: Effective November 20, 2021 – the basic annual salary for each grade and step of Table One and Table Two shall be increased by an amount equal to 1.0% of the basic annual salary for the grade and step in effect on September 20, 2019. In addition to the general increases provided in Section 9.1 above, MHAs will receive an increase of 1.0% annually, for a total of 2.1% effective November 23, 2019, 2.0% effective November 21, 2020, and 2.0% effective November 20, 2021. The parties hereby agree that, effective November 20, 2021, the basic annual salary schedule (Tables One and Two) in effect on September 20, 2019 with proportional application to hourly rate employees, for those employees covered under the terms and conditions of this Agreement, shall be adjusted upward by an amount equal to 0.8% of the appropriate September 20, 2019 salary schedule. As a result of the negotiated wage increase, and terms of the MOU re: PAY SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT, all mail handlers will receive an additional increase of 0.8%. MHA’s will receive a total increase of 2.8%. Career Mail Handlers will receive a 1.8% increase. Click here to view or download a chart which reflects the new wage rates, for both career and MHA Mail Handlers, resulting from these November 20, 2021 contractual increases. Consistent with Article XIV, Section 3 of the NPMHU National Constitution, we will be implementing a regular membership dues increase of one dollar ($1.00) per pay period to correspond with the third guaranteed wage increase provided for in the 2019 National agreement.
We are attempting to time the dues increase to coincide with the wage increase that is effective on November 20, 2021 (Pay Period 25) to be reflected in paychecks issued on December 12, 2021.
Source : https://www.npmhu.org/media/news/mail-handlers-to-receive-wage-increaseeffective-november
5.NZ Post research shows Kiwis shopping online at least once per week, spending $25 million per day November 22, 2021
New research by NZ Post into online shopping trends shows that Kiwis are shopping online more frequently than ever before, with the average shopper buying something online at least once per week during October 2021. Shoppers spent $25 million online every day, on average, for the 31 days of October. NZ Post Chief Customer Officer Bryan Dobson says, “our eCommerce Spotlight report shows Kiwis spent $765 million online in the month of October alone – that’s a 71% increase on October 2020 and the biggest month for online shopping ever. That huge demand for online shopping has resulted in NZ Post delivering over 2 million parcels every week.” “We’re also seeing a preference for buying local. In October 74% of all online spend was with Kiwi retailers. In Auckland NZ Post has seen the demand for online shopping reaching astronomical heights – with spending online more than doubling (up 110%) compared to October 2020. In response to the demand, NZ Post has gone from delivering 440,000 parcels per week in Auckland to over 760,000.” “We’ve been really proud to support Kiwi businesses to make sales at a time where retail restrictions have been extremely challenging for them. We made 1.2 million extra deliveries in Auckland this October compared to last year, this enabled our customers to generate an extra $134 million in revenue.” “While retail restrictions have eased in Auckland, the number of parcels being sent remain at unprecedented levels, and with the busy online shopping days of Singles Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday upon us, we don't expect this to let up anytime soon. We will be monitoring closely to see how parcels volumes are looking throughout November,” says Bryan. “Early forecasting for the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales shows we are expecting Kiwis to spend almost $440 million online in the next two weeks.” “Our teams have been working incredibly hard to deliver these huge numbers of parcels for Kiwis. We’ve brought on hundreds of extra people, we’ve extended our operating hours and are processing 24/7, and we’ve re-designed our Auckland network to get parcels where they need to be as fast as we can. Our Posties are now helping out our Couriers too – delivering even more parcels alongside mail.” “We have been bringing on as much extra capacity as we possibly can and our performance has improved. About half of our parcels are now being delivered on time in Auckland and Hamilton, where we have seen the most volume, but some parcels in these areas are still seeing delays of up to four or five days. Deliveries are running more.
smoothly across the rest the country with most parcels being delivered on time, but with one day delays on some parcels.” We know many New Zealanders will be keen to do their Christmas shopping in store with retail restrictions now easing, but for those who are planning to do most of their shopping online, we have some tips to make sure everyone’s shopping will arrive on time and not get stuck in a backlog. • Take note of the Christmas cut-off dates for sending presents domestically at nzpost.co.nz/personal/christmas-sending-dates-2021 and send as early as you can • Some of the cut-off dates for sending overseas have already passed – and others are quickly approaching –make you’re aware of them before sending • Think ahead, start planning what you want and need to buy now • Make a list of what you need so you can place fewer, larger orders and reduce your shipping costs.
• Consider bulk buying items that you usually purchase online monthly or weekly into one larger order that can be sent in one go.
Source : https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/media-centre/media-release/nz-post-researchshows-kiwis-shopping-online-at-least-once-per-week-spending-25-million-day
UNI Apro Post & Logistics
1 POSTAL NEWS No 94-2021
Formulated by UNI Apro Post and Logistics Sector
1. As peak mailing and shipping season begins, U.S. Postal Service performance is strong. November 26, 2021.
2. Postal and warehouse workers join the global action day to make Amazon pay. November 25, 2021.
3. FedEx Express introduces new flights and air capacity upgrades ahead of peak. November 24, 2021.
4. Posti to open its temporary parcel pickup points this week. November 23, 2021.
5. UPU eyes the future as it follows through on decisions made at Abidjan postal congress. November 22, 2021.
1.As peak mailing and shipping season begins, U.S. Postal Service performance is strong November 26, 2021
• A projected 12 billion-plus letters, cards and packages will be processed and delivered between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day • Service performance now above 91 percent for First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail; Periodicals show ongoing improvement • Driving the improvements is “Delivering for America,” Postal Service’s 10-year plan for achieving financial sustainability and service excellence
• Key efforts include: o The installation of high-speed package processing equipment, including 102 of 112 new machines installed to date, boosting daily processing capacity to 4.5 million packages o The conversion of more than 63,000 employees into career positions and 40,000 seasonal hires o More than 50 new annexes across the country providing 7.5 million square feet of additional space to accommodate mail and packages
WASHINGTON, DC — As the busiest mailing and shipping season begins, the United States Postal Service reported new service delivery performance metrics showing strong service performance for First-Class Mail (91.4 percent) and Marketing Mail (92.4 percent). Service performance for Periodicals continued to trend above 82 percent for the first seven weeks of the fiscal first quarter. “We are ready and positioned to have a successful peak season,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “Americans should feel confident sending their holiday cards, mail and packages with the Postal Service. There is a spirit of excitement throughout the organization and our entire team is ready to deliver the holidays for the nation.”
First quarter-to-date service performance scores covering the period Oct. 1 through Nov. 19 included: • First-Class Mail: 91.4 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 2.6 percentage points from the fourth quarter. • Marketing Mail: 92.4 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fourth quarter. • Periodicals: 83.2 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of .5 percentage points from the fourth 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 anticipates that between 850 million and 950 million packages will be delivered for the holidays. The total number of letters, cards and packages processed and delivered between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is estimated to be more than 12 billion. The Postal Service’s preparations for the 2021 holiday peak season included: converting more than 63,000 pre-career employees into career positions in the past fiscal year, a national drive to hire delivery and plant personnel that should add an additional 40,000 seasonal hires by year-end; the leasing of 13 million square feet of additional space across more than 100 annexes, including over 50 with multiyear leases to address year-round space constraints due to parcel growth; and the installation of new processing equipment to accommodate higher volumes reflecting customers’ delivery needs.
Since April, the Postal Service has installed 102 of 112 new package sorting machines, reflecting part of the $40 billion of planned investments under the 10-year Delivering for America plan. The installation of the remaining 10 machines is scheduled to be completed by the end of November. Additionally, more than 50 package systems capable of sorting large packages are expected to be deployed prior to December. Altogether, the new UNI Apro Post & Logistics 3 investments give the Postal Service the capacity to process an additional 4.5 million packages each day. Recent machine installations have occurred in Wilmington (DE), West Valley (AZ), Gainesville (FL), Seattle (WA), Lyndhurst (NJ), Mid-Florida, Fort Worth (TX), Indianapolis (IN), Boston (MA), NW Arkansas, Austin (TX), Cleveland (OH) Des Moines (IA), Lancaster (PA), Oklahoma City (OK), San Antonio (TX), Minneapolis (MN), and Grand Rapids (MI). 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 : As Peak Mailing and Shipping Season Begins, U.S. Postal Service Performance Is Strong - Newsroom - About.usps.com.
2.Postal and warehouse workers join the global action day to make Amazon pay November 25, 2021
OTTAWA - The Canadian union of postal workers (CUPW) and the Warehouse Worker Centre (WWC) join Progressive International in a global movement with worker, tech, and climate justice organizations and advocacy groups collaborating across borders to #makeamazonpay on November 26th Prime Day. Amazon continued to expand its global reign as a multinational, pandemic profiting corporation in 2021. It’s changing the global economy, advancing the nature of work and work management, contributing to environmental degradation, and disproportionately affects communities.
While the online and direct to customer delivery work grows with Amazon online retail sales and small business marketing, the logistics of delivery is changing rapidly, putting downward pressure on our hard-earned working conditions. “To continue to be a strong national union depends on our ability to organize and influence the logistics, warehousing and delivery sectors. This is about our future, our work, and continuing to set the bar for strong unionized jobs.” said Jan Simpson, CUPW National President.
The global movement to make Amazon Pay is calling for corporate and government action on: § Worker Treatment, it’s not just about the pay, but also respect and decent working conditions. § Environment – An environmentally responsible corporate footprint.
§ Taxes – Amazon needs to pay its fair share of taxes globally. We need a globally regulated tax structure that evens the playing field for all and allows profits to stay in the Canadian economy. CUPW and WWC are organizing a rally on Nov 26th in Brampton, ON. Also a petition has been launched at https://www.warehouseworkers.ca/make-amazon-pay.html.
Source : https://www.cupw.ca/en/postal-and-warehouse-workers-join-global-action-daymake-amazon-pay
3.FedEx Express introduces new flights and air capacity upgrades ahead of peak
November 24, 2021
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, has added three new flights and four flight capacity upgrades to improve its intra-Europe air network capacity ahead of peak season.
These upgrades have been made in response to the 7.7% increase in the global demand for air cargo in August as well as the expectation that the 2021 peak season will meet or exceed the unprecedented 2020 holiday season. The three extra flights will fly from the Charles De Gaulle (CDG) hub in Paris, France, to Kiev in the Ukraine, Manchester in the UK, and Stockholm in Sweden, and will respectively add 68,000kg, 23,500kg and 60,000kg to the company’s weekly capacity. In total, this will add almost 210,000kg of weekly capacity to specific European lanes. Introduced as a part of a phased approach in September 2021, these upgrades will remain a permanent addition to the FedEx Express air network and connect the FedEx Paris CDG hub to key city hubs and gateways in Europe.
In anticipation of high holiday volumes, FedEx Express will also temporarily increase its transatlantic air capacity, reaching up to 20% additional capacity in the busiest week of the holiday season. Together with a recently announced new transpacific connection, as well as additional peak season capacity between Europe and the USA, these investments add atotal of up to 1,000,000kg of weekly capacity in December for businesses shipping their products across Europe or intercontinentally. Karen Reddington, president of FedEx Express Europe, said, “These latest air network investments demonstrate our commitment to growth, to our customers, and to supporting the flow of trade at a challenging time for supply chains and companies. Together with our peak capacity expansion to the US and our new EU-APAC flight, we are ready to support our customers during peak and beyond, whether they do business within Europe, or intercontinentally to the east or to the west.
Source: FedEx Express introduces new flights and air capacity upgrades ahead of peak - Parcel and Postal Technology International
4.Posti to open its temporary parcel pickup points this week November 23, 2021
The Christmas season is the busiest time of the year for Posti, and people are starting to buy Christmas presents even earlier. Parcel traffic starts to increase at the latest on Black Friday – which this year falls on Friday, November 26 – and this development will reach its peak at Christmas. There is currently a lot of parcel traffic and online shopping is active, but Finns have also returned to shopping centers and to using services to an increasing extent. On November 25, Posti will open 101 temporary pickup points around Finland for the peak season. Some of the temporary pickup points are Posti’s own and some are operated by Posti’s partners. The temporary pickup points will be placed near the most popular parcel lockers, which minimizes the distance recipients will have to travel to the temporary pickup point if the original parcel locker is full. Parcels can also be ordered to be delivered directly to a temporary pickup point, and it’s also possible to return online purchases to temporary pickup points. In-person service is provided at all temporary pickup points, which means that an employee will be there to hand over parcels and help with returns if needed.
In addition to temporary pickup points, customers are also served at 3,300 service points throughout Finland The planning for Posti’s peak season already began in the first months of this year, and 5– 10 new parcel lockers have been opened every week this year. There are now 400 more parcel lockers and 100 more in-person service points than last year. In addition to the more extensive retail network and the temporary pickup points, Posti is also preparing for the Christmas season by increasing the shelf space at its service points.
“Christmas is an important holiday for Finns, and we are doing everything we can to ensure smooth parcel deliveries and a great Christmas spirit. There will definitely be very many parcels delivered this year, which means that there may not always be space for your parcel at the pickup location chosen for it. If this happens, we will route the parcel to the nearest available pickup point. If you feel that the parcel has been sent too far away or to a completely wrong place, you can always contact us using the OmaPosti chat service or by calling us, and we will sort out the situation,” says Tommi Kässi, Posti’s Vice President for Parcel and eCommerce. Posti encourages its customers to pick up their parcels as soon as possible to free up space for new parcels arriving at parcel lockers, pickup points and Posti outlets.
Sunday parcel deliveries start on Black Friday
To speed up its parcel delivery, Posti is also adding some extra deliveries. On Black Friday, November 26, Posti will start delivering parcels to the most popular parcel lockers seven days a week. Parcels will be picked up and delivered to recipients on four Sundays: November 28, December 5, December 12 and December 19. The seven-day parcel delivery covers about half of the entire population. In addition to the capital region, Sunday deliveries cover Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Oulu, Pori, Seinäjoki, Tampere and Turku. Parcel home deliveries are also expected to increase late in the year. You can check the locations of all Posti service points, such as Posti outlets, parcel lockers and temporary pickup points at https://www.posti.fi/en/service-points-on-map
Source:https://www.posti.com/en/media/media-news/2021/posti-to-open-its-temporaryparcel-pickup-points-this-week/
5.UPU eyes the future as it follows through on decisions made at Abidjan postal congress November 22, 2021 Berne.
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) starts planning for the future this week with two high profile meetings at its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland. From 22-24 November, the UPU’s Postal Operations Council (POC), dealing with operational, commercial, technical, economic and technical cooperation matters, discusses the way forward after the Universal Postal Congress held in August.
Opening the plenary session of the POC, the Director General of the UPU Bishar A. Hussein said he was inspired to see everyone back in the meeting room and noted it was a sign of recovery. Mr Hussein sounded an upbeat note when he said, “We will defeat this pandemic.” In his own remarks to the POC, the Deputy Director General of the UPU Pascal Clivaz gave a warning and said work needed to be done on ensuring that developing nations had the right postal tools. Over the three days of the meeting, the POC will discuss the quality of the postal service, digital postal tools, secure payments and numerous other subjects affecting the international postal sector. Representing France, which is the chair of the POC, Jean-Paul Forceville said, “It is vital that work gets started quickly because the sector has changed so quickly. UPU needs to be in a place to keep up with these changes.” On 25 November, a two-day meeting begins of the UPU’s governing body, the Council of Administration (CA), to begin the work of the next four year cycle of the UN specialized agency for postal matters. To ensure that the UPU is able to react quickly to changes in the postal environment, the CA has the power to approve proposals by the Postal Operations Council for the adoption of regulations or new procedures between Congresses. Speaking about the meetings, the representative of Côte d'Ivoire, which is currently the chair of the CA, Isaac Gnamba-Yao said, “I think it is important we maintain the spirit of Abidjan. And we ensure that every voice is made to count in order to ensure that there is no ‘us and them’ between developed and developing countries. We must work together to implement the initial activities on what is going to be a long road to 2025.”
Source : Press release: UPU eyes the future as it follows through on decisions made at Abidjan postal congres