July 6, 2009

The Western Morning News has reported that "ministers will this week be urged to take practical measures to secure the future of the Post Office network. A Commons inquiry into how to ensure branches can survive will stress the need for practical measures to attract more customers. It follows the controversial closure programme which saw some 140 Post Office branches axed across Devon and Cornwall last year. Devon County Council pledged earlier this year that it would provide grants to 15 village shops in order to help them to stay open. Countryside campaigners have stressed the importance of branches to community life, particularly for the elderly." [EdNote: What ever happened to senior centers?]

According to Dead Tree Edition, "The laws of economics say the U.S. Postal Service needs to reduce the number of post offices. But the laws of the United States may say otherwise. As USPS embarks on a study to determine which of approximately 3,000 large post offices can be eliminated, it is seeking the Postal Regulatory Commission's blessing on the legality of its efforts. The Postal Service is concerned about running afoul of the law requiring it to “maintain[s] postal facilities of such character and in such locations, that postal patrons throughout the Nation will, consistent with reasonable economies of postal operations, have ready access to essential postal services.”

Shares.ie has reported that "A new option for securing the future of Northern Rock and Royal Mail has been put forward: the formation of a 'Post Bank'. The Communication Workers' Union, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Unite union are among those supporting using state-owned Northern Rock as the basis for a new postal banking service. In a report out today it proposes running a postal bank through the Post Office network, reviving the latter and providing support for communities and small- and medium-sized businesses. The coalition argues such a move would help provide more diversity to the banking sector and would help the government's campaign against financial exclusion."

Reuters has reported that "Deutsche Post AG has sold its entire stake in Deutsche Bank AG, the logistics group said on Monday, ending a brief period when it was one of the bank's biggest shareholders. Post Chief Executive Frank Appel said in a statement the move cleared the way for the German post office turned global logistics group to concentrate on its core business."

"House members are spending millions in taxpayer funds on email and other electronic outreach to voters, often in ways that avoid their traditional rules on constituent communications. During the nine months ended March 31, which included the run-up to the last election, House members spent about $3.5 million from their office accounts on electronic outreach, according to a Wall Street Journal review of expense records. Congressional rules bar lawmakers from using their free-mail privilege -- known as franking -- to send mass mailings through the U.S. Postal Service in the 90 days before an election. One goal of those limits is to curtail the advantage of incumbency and to discourage entrenched lawmakers from driving up taxpayer costs in a flurry of pre-election appeals to potential voters. But rules for email, congressional Web sites and social-media tools are far less restrictive, and in some cases nonexistent."

According to Online Media, "Based on current trends, Internet ad spending will rise to $56.8 billion this year, or 12.6% of the global advertising economy. That means the Internet will pick up more than two points of worldwide advertising share, this year, and its momentum is only expected to accelerate. According to the Publicis' ZenithOptimedia Group, "most of this growth will come from paid search, which is an ideal method of reaching consumers looking for bargains. In the U.S., we predict search advertising to grow 20.0% in 2009, while traditional display grows 3.0% and classified grows just 1.8%."

Hellmail has reported that "Spanish postal operator Correos has announced that as part of the modernisation of its service with more than 2.200 multiservice points, it now offers 'Postal International Express' through all these outlets, with a guaranteed delivery date for urgent mail destined for the United States, China, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea. These countries belong to the “Kahala Post Group” (KPG), the postal network with major world coverage, of which CORREOS has been a member since 2006. Correos said that due to its integration with the KPG international alliance, it can offer customers an exact date for delivery. It said the service would be well received in terms of commercial relations between these countries, both for the export of products and for the import and distribution of the mail on the part of Correos. The fully tracked service can be accessed by customers through the internet."

Xinhua has reported that "China's postal revenue rose 13.1 percent year on year in the first half of this year to an estimated 76.5 billion yuan (11.2 billion U.S. dollars), according to China's State Post Bureau."

Transport Intelligence has reported that "GeoPost, the express parcel arm of French Groupe La Poste, and Continental Air Express Pvt Ltd, an associate company of the Vohra family owned Continental Carriers Group, have announced the establishment of a joint venture company. The new company will be called DPD Continental Pvt. Ltd and will offer inbound and outbound express parcel services under the DPD brand to customers in India."

The Coventry Telegraph has reported that "postal services in Coventry and Warwickshire could be disrupted after union leaders revealed they would be balloting for industrial action. A national dispute at Royal Mail - which will see thousands of postal workers in London take part in three days of strikes this week - looks set to spill over in to Coventry and Warwickshire in the next few days."

Baltimore Breaking News has reported that "A Baltimore County councilman wants to curtail unsolicited advertising circulars, claiming the papers litter neighborhoods and can eventually clog area waterways. Councilman John Olszewski has drafted a bill that prohibits circulars from being dropped off at homes in the county. The County Council is expected to vote Monday on the proposal. If passed, the law would take effect in 45 days. The law will not apply to U.S. Postal Service deliveries or those by a private mail service."

CanadianDriver has reported that "Japan’s postal service will deploy 40 electric vehicles this fiscal year, with the first units launching later this month, according to the Green Car Congress. Japan Post Service has signed 5-year leases for 20 units each of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Subaru Plug-In Stella. The cars will be used mainly in the company’s branches in Kanagawa Prefecture, which has a charging infrastructure."

The Financial Mail has reported that "Royal Mail management has hit out at criticism from Lord Mandelson that the organisation has failed to modernise, arguing that the Business Secretary is simply trying to deflect criticism for postponing plans for a partial privatisation. Business Secretary: Lord Mandelson OTHER STORIES Skipton to take over Newcastle BS From buy-to-let to fraud and a lost £100k Bank may ask to print more money Passengers sue easyJet over 31 hour delay Price rise warning on T-Mobile takeover It believes his attack on Royal Mail's industrial relations record is outdated and an attempt to blame problems on management."

The New Nation has reported that "Bangladesh Postal Department has taken steps to introduce mobile money order service in the country's post offices for reaching money to the clients within an hour."

The New Vision has reported that "Kenya is the most corrupt county in the East African region followed by Uganda, the latest Bribery Index report has said. Postal companies are seen as the least corrupt in Uganda and Kenya and microfinance in Tanzania."

The Times has reported that "The chairman of Royal Mail’s pension trustees is considering plans to close its retirement scheme to existing members after legislation to part-privatise the postal service was shelved last week."

Reuters has reported that "Package delivery giant and U.S. economic bellwether FedEx Corp is seeing signs for a potential turnaround in the second half as production seemed to be picking up again."

July 5, 2009

Folio has reported that:

• The U.S. government has asked a New York bankruptcy court to deny Quebecor World’s plan of reorganization because it releases third parties from environmental penalties and because the company owes unpaid taxes.

• The first half numbers are in, and according to MediaFinder.com─an online database of U.S. and Canadian magazines—187 new titles have launched thus far in '09. But unfortunately, the frequency of these launches wasn't enough to counteract the number of titles shuttered. Of the 279 that folded, main category culprits include regional interest magazines, which took a dive and saw 27 titles fold, like Denver Living and Florida InsideOut. However, regional interest publications were also the top category for new launches at 12. Other categories on the decline include construction, lifestyle and business with 18, 14 and 10 folded titles, respectively. Since the end of March, 77 magazines have launched and 184 have folded, compared with 110 launches and 95 closings in the first quarter of 2009. A bright spot, if there is one, is that after the print editions folded, 43 titles continued to live on the Web.

Network World has reported that "The U.S. government is releasing $4 billion worth of funds to pay for the first round of broadband projects mandated by the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year." [EdNote: And the USPS gets bupkus.]

Easier.com has reported that "Parcelforce Worldwide has launched a new suite of cost effective international services following an 11 per cent rise in export deliveries in the past year. With UK companies taking advantage of the weak pound to seek out new market opportunities, Parcelforce Worldwide has seen strong export growth across the world. Exporting hotspots include EU ‘accession’ countries in Eastern Europe, major Asian destinations and Western Europe, where there has been a marked increase in the amount of parcels sent from the UK."

According to Hellmail, "Royal Mail's interpretation of modernisation is one based on massive restructuring both to the sorting network and the nature of employment. The CWU's view is that it wants to check the small print in more detail and debate what should or should not close. The Royal Mail, concerned that it may miss the bus if it doesn't push through widespread change seems in no mood to chew the cud. Many within (and outside of) the union believe that Royal Mail should remain a public institution, paid for from the public purse but competition is here to stay and whether through access agreements or other means, will continue to plunder the most lucrative areas of Royal Mail's customer base or else leap into entirely new areas that have arisen since the post business was opened to all. Keeping Royal Mail in the public sector will not, on its own, solve all the problems faced by the company and could just saddle the country with not only the pension deficit but the cost of the USO as well. It still needs investment, something that isn't for the moment, on offer."

The Rocky Mountain Telegram has reported that "Postal union officials said Thursday that they are concerned that local carrier’s jobs might be eliminated if curbside delivery inside the city limits comes to fruition."

July 4, 2009

According to Daily Finance, "Newspaper publishers hope that as the economy recovers, so will their advertising, which has been falling at a rate of 20 percent or more year-over-year. Many experts believe that there will be no recovery. Too many print marketing dollars have moved to the internet and won't be back." [EdNote: Gee, that has a familiar "postal" ring.]

As the Business Insider has noted, "newspapers have had a rough 2009. But you may not quite appreciate the magnitude of the collapse. So far this year: 105 newspapers have been shuttered. 10,000 newspaper jobs have been lost. Print ad sales fell 30% in Q1 '09. 23 of the top 25 newspapers reported circulation declines between 7% and 20%. What happened? The economy collapsed and advertising budgets went with it, accelerating a process already underway: the Internet's erosion of the entire newspaper industry."

Editorsweblog.org has reported that "This week, a tax break for newspapers in Washington state went into effect, giving print publications a 40 percent reduction in the state business tax. Nicolas Sarkozy of France has taken the approach of compelling the government to pony up 600 million euros, in addition to the millions of euros in subsidies newspapers already receive. Former Scotsman editor Tim Luckhurst has argued Scotland's papers need some form of state assistance. In the case of Washington state, not all newspapers are suffering to the same degree, but a little extra cash is nothing to sneeze at. [EdNote: Soooo, when is the Congress gonna do the right thing by the Postal Service?]

According to Le Temps, Swiss Post is looking for solutions to avoid rate increases.

According to E-Commerce Times, "Countless online shoppers are asking themselves whether paying a premium for express shipping and handling fees is really necessary. After all, there have been many times when they've ordered an item for the "week-to-10-day" delivery and received it within three business days without paying the premium."

NewsChannel34 has reported that "US Senator Chuck Schumer is on board with local post office workers who are against a consolidation move. The USPS is having major financial problems and is looking at possibly doing away with mail sorting in Binghamton and moving that Syracuse. Local postal workers say the move doesn't make sense and it will take longer to get your mail. Schumer is asking the USPS to reconsider the move, something it has done in the past."

July 3, 2009

Hellmail has reported that "The announcement this week that TNT Post is to lay off a staggering 11,000 employees may have been avoided had the union accepted a pay cut - it has been revealed. The Dutch-based company, which is seeing falling mail volume, and intense competition, suggested that to protect jobs for the next three years, postal workers take a pay cut of 15% but this was rejected outright by the union. TNT says it now has no other option but to lay off 11,000 workers to save around 395 million euros and that it was now too late for the union to try to reverse the decision. The company recently carried out its own survey of employees to find out how many would be prepared to take a pay cut. 74% said they would choose a pay cut rather than losing their jobs."

The Staten Island Advance has reported that "Mail bound off Staten Island will no longer be processed at the Manor Road Post Office, the Postal Service said, in an unpopular move the federal agency telegraphed months ago. As of July 20, nearly all mail originating on Staten Island will travel to the distribution center in East New York, Brooklyn, where it will be postmarked with that borough's stamp."

As the North Fort Myer Neighbor has noted, "There are many advantages to using bulk business mail. The most important advantage is that bulk postage rates are significantly lower than single-piece rates. That can save you a lot of money. Mailing in bulk requires a permit and there is a 200-piece minimum per mailing. Consider this. You can mail Simplified Addressing format (e.g., "Postal Customer") for only 13.9 cents per piece if you mail to all delivery points on certain delivery routes or all Post Office boxes at any Post Office. The majority of delivery routes in Lee, Charlotte and Collier counties qualify for this type of mailing. The size of the mailpiece can range from as small as 3 1/2 x 5 to as large as 6 1/8 x 11 1/2. Not only is this method economical, it is also easy. There are no address lists to purchase; each piece is simply addressed to Postal Customer ECRWSS."

Swissinfo.ch has reported that "Swiss Post says a banking licence would help increase its financial potential as profits are expected to drop by more than a quarter this year. Chairman Claude B gl said it was unfortunate that the government came out against granting such a permit, since the company already had the necessary the know-how. He is hopeful that parliament might change its mind, but added that Swiss Post was also willing to cooperate with partners in the banking business."

The Ghana News Agency has reported that "Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communications, on Friday called for the immediate resuscitation of the Instant Money Transfer (IMT) services, operated by the Ghana Post in order to generate income for the cash trapped organization."

The Wall Street Journal has reported that "Insolvent German retailer Arcandor AG's mail-order retail unit, Quelle GmbH, was handed a lifeline by federal and state governments. The Arcandor unit needs the loan because of upfront costs associated with the mail-order business. Catalogs must be printed and distributed and products stocked before customer orders are received. Quelle has said it needs the money to finance the printing of its fall-winter catalog."

According to MLive, "The idea of dropping a day, however, is nothing new. Grand Rapids Postmaster Chris Tinkham acknowledged discussion of eliminating Saturday mail delivery continues. But the topic has remained on the periphery of public attention ever since, with more recent reports indicating the debate continues on a national level. In April, The Press editorialized in favor of dropping six-day delivery, noting that in an age of widespread electronic communication, its need is "long past."

The Institut D'economie Industrielle (IDEI) Universit Toulouse 1 Sciences Sociales has issued its Call for Papers for the sixth conference on Regulation, Competition and Universal Service in the Postal Sector to be held in Toulouse on March 18-19, 2010.

The DM Bulletin has reported that "A Tory government would revive plans to sell a stake in Royal Mail, party insiders told the Financial Times yesterday."