For Ninth Straight Year FedEx Is USPS’s Largest Supplier
Husch Blackwell’s Postal Service Contracting practice group today released its list of the top 10 U.S. Postal Service suppliers for fiscal year 2011. For the ninth straight year FedEx claimed the No. 1 spot. Another air carrier, Kalitta Air, Inc., which transports military mail bound for Iraq and Afghanistan, claimed the second spot. The list is compiled by David P. Hendel, a partner in the firm who has served clients’ postal contracting needs for 30 years. A list of the top 150 postal suppliers can be found here. Read more
Editorial: Myth, Reality, and the U.S. Postal Service
Video: 50,000 Packages In Limbo At UPS Distribution Center
Some UPS customers said the U.S. Postal Service and Fed-Ex had no problems delivering their packages these past few days.
Thousands of people in the metro area will open their presents a little late this year because the day started out with 50,000 packages in limbo at the United Parcel Service holding facility in Commerce City, Colorado.
source: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/12/24/50000-packages-in-limbo-at-ups-distribution-center/
FedEx SmartPost to Drive Busiest Day in FedEx History
FedEx SmartPost is an arrangement with the USPS where USPS does the last-mile delivery to the customer’s residence.
MEMPHIS, Tenn-FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) expects to move more than 17 million shipments – almost double its daily average volume – through its global networks on December 12, the projected busiest day in company history. The 10 percent year-over-year increase will be driven by FedEx SmartPost, a residential shipping service designed for online and catalog retailers, as well as expected increased volume at FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery. Read more
CNBC Host: Let FedEx Absorb USPS – PMG: Let USPS Absorb Them
”PMG Pat Donahoe appeared recently on “The Kudlow Report,” to represent the Postal Service’s position on the need for congressional action to address the USPS requirement to pre-fund retiree health benefits, frequency of delivery and allow the Postal Service to access overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System. Donahoe explains to CNBC host Larry Kudlow that legislative changes are “not a bailout.” Read more
Rep. Dennis Ross Still Getting USPS Numbers Wrong
Recently, Congressman Dennis Ross wrote on his Facebook page that 80-82% of USPS operating costs is labor. Normally, estimating figures in a public forum is no problem. But when the Chairman of a House Subcommittee covering the U.S. Postal Service starts doling out numbers they should be accurate and not pulled out of thin air. Also, if I’m not mistaken the other operating costs figures cited by Ross for UPS and Fedex are at least 10 years old. Perhaps the “postal reporter tweeps” can weigh in on these figures. Read more
Editorial: Not all post offices should pay their way
Filed under: APWU, fedex, post office closings, postal, postal news, ups, usps
In an editorial by the Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor they wrote:
The postal service has since the 1980s operated as an “independent establishment of the executive branch” and, as such, is expected to be self-supporting. For the most part, it is. But in exchange for its monopoly on first and third-class mail, it is charged with providing universal service, which means delivering mail at a loss in many parts of the nation.
Some 26,000 of the service’s post offices operate at a loss. The service has embarked on a long and cumbersome review of 2,000 of those offices to decide how many to close. By law, it is not allowed to close offices solely because they are losing money. Doing so in some cases makes sense. In other cases – for example, when the nearest alternative post office would be many miles away – a money-losing office shouldn’t be closed.
Some conservatives want to end the postal service’s monopoly and let private companies deliver rural mail. Rural residents, of course, would be charged rates commensurate with the cost of delivery. A move in that direction, however, would be a tragic break with history and a breach of the social contract, one that would be economically and sociologically devastating to much of rural America. Read full article
Not so fast! At a meeting last year the Postal Service briefed APWU National officers about plans to consolidate operations in large stations and branches. USPS conceded that:
…among the reasons for closing stations and branches is that there are fewer “procedural requirements” for closing stations and branches than for small post offices. They also said that 34 percent (now 35%) of current postal revenue comes through alternative access, and that they are striving to increase that percentage.
The reasons given by USPS on what Triggers a station/branch to close or consolidate:
Operational Efficiencies
Declining Office Workload
- Retail Transactions
- Mail Volume
Proximity of Other Facilities
Loss of Lease; No Suitable Alternate Quarters
Economic Savings Offered through Alternative Service
So is it closing money-losing stations/branches, a way to increase alternative access to postal services or both?
APWU expressed its concern that USPS may be attempting to circumvent the contract:
We also believe that if management backfills the stations and branches it closes with contract postal offices (CPUs), this would violate the procedural requirements on subcontracting in Article 32.1 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The other point to ponder: In many of the locations where stations/branches are closing or consolidating sits FedEx Kinkos and UPS stores. So USPS customers may choose to utilize alternative companies in lieu of traveling the extra distance for USPS alternative access to mail services. Only time will tell.
Below is a timeline USPS developed for closing Post Offices (9 months or longer) vs. “Classified” Station/Branches (4 months)
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Task Name [Post Offices]
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Duration1
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Authorization to Study
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10 days
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Review & Investigation Study (data gathering)
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25 days
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Community Input
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25 days
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Proposal* Posting & District Manager Review and Approval
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100 days
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Headquarters Review & Final Determination
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30 days
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Final Determination Posting and Customer Appeal Period*
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30 days
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If appealed, 120 days are added to timeline for PRC Review
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Office Closeout (60 days after posting of final determination)*60 days
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Classified Stations/Branches
Task Name
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Duration1
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Authorization to Study
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5 days
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Review & Investigation Study (data gathering)
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15 days
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Community Input
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20 days
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Proposal (No Posting)
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10 days
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Headquarters Review & Final Determination
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10 days
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Union Notification and Office Closeout (60 days after HQ Decision)
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60 days
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FedEx Is Again USPS’s Largest Supplier For 8th Straight Year
FedEx transports Express, Priority and First Class Mail, and earned postal revenues of $1.373 billion (corrected) in fiscal 2010. While at the top of the list, FedEx’s postal revenues declined from a high point of over $1.6 billion. Another postal competitor, United Parcel Service (UPS) , is the Postal Service’s 12th (corrected) largest postal supplier, earning $95 million in revenue – a $12 million increase from last year.
Husch Blackwell’s Postal Service Contracting practice group today released its list of the top 150 U.S. Postal Service suppliers for fiscal year 2010, and for the eighth straight year FedEx claimed the No. 1 spot with Northrop Grumman jumping from fourth to second. The list is compiled by David P. Hendel, a partner in the firm who has served clients’ postal contracting needs for 29 years. This is the 15th year for the list.
First-place FedEx transports Express, Priority and First Class Mail, and earned postal revenues of $1.373 billion in fiscal 2010 – falling slightly from the $1.4 billion it earned in fiscal 2009. Another postal competitor, United Parcel Service, is the Postal Service’s 12th largest postal supplier, earning $95 million in revenue – a $12 million increase from last year.
“Once again, transportation and technology providers stand atop the list of the Postal Service’s largest suppliers,” said Hendel, who compiles the list from information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. “But unlike last year, in fiscal 2010 more top suppliers had declines rather than gains in postal revenues.” The sharp decline seen in postal spending over the previous several years has stabilized; spending in FY 2010 totaled $12 billion, a 1 percent decrease over FY 2009. By contrast, postal spending in FY 2009 declined more 19 percent from FY 2008.
Second-place automation supplier Northrop Grumman earned $494 million in postal revenues. Northrop Grumman provides automation design, equipment fabrication, field deployment and logistics support to the Postal Service.
Other companies in the top 10 include third-ranked Kalitta Air, an air transportation and mail distribution service for military mail bound for Iraq and Afghanistan; trucking contractor Pat Salmon & Sons, Inc. in fourth place; systems manufacturer Siemens in fifth; computer company Hewlett-Packard in sixth; transportation company Wheeler Bros., Inc. in seventh; advertising agency Campbell-Ewald in eighth; consulting company Accenture in ninth; and the number 10 spot was secured by technology company IBM.
“Opportunities for facility contractors continue to decline in 2011 as the agency is unlikely to build many new facilities in a time of decreasing mail volume,” Hendel said. “But opportunities do exist for modifying existing facilities and retrofitting facilities for energy conservation purposes.”
Other trends identified in FY 2010 figures:
* Increased spending on ground transportation – up 5.3 percent from FY 2009
* Decreased spending on domestic air transportation – down 2 percent
* Decreased spending on international air transportation – down 26 percent
* Spending on supplies and services remained stable
The firm’s Postal Service Contracting group assists clients in contracting with the U.S. Postal Service, and its members are knowledgeable regarding the needs specific to the postal industry. Hendel has developed and presented several training courses on postal contracting. He also writes a monthly column on postal contracting issues for the National Star Route Mail Contractors Association. He has represented hundreds of postal contractors on a wide range of issues.
——
Top 12 USPS Suppliers for 2010
Federal Express Corporation
$1,373,140,689
Northrop Grumman*
$494,601,395
Kalitta Air LLC*
$371,823,791
Pat Salmon & Sons Inc*
$142,869,164
Siemens*
$134,774,653
Hewlett Packard Co*
$133,240,521
Wheeler Bros Inc
$124,868,868
Campbell-Ewald (includes payments to 3rd parties)
$121,573,393
Accenture
$115,091,627
International Business Machines
$114,588,310
Mail Contractors of Arkansas Inc*
$104,668,098
United Parcel Service Co*
$95,068,821
Top 150 USPS suppliers for Fiscal Year 2010
Census Bureau Selects FedEx Over USPS
Census Bureau Selects FedEx Over USPS
In barely a month, the Census Bureau will begin sending states details collected in the 2010 Census, enumerating inhabitants down to the block level. But in a theatrical touch, the data will be delivered overland to the states the day before it’s made public, mostly via Federal Express.”They’ve got very good tracking and next-day delivery,” McCully said of the selection of FedEx over the U.S. Postal Service, which will be tasked with delivering census data to Indian reservations.
full story via Washington Post
FedEx Ground To Increase Shipping Rates
Press Release
December 3, 2010
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) will increase shipping rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery by a net average of 4.9% effective January 3, 2011.
The FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery full average rate increase of 5.9% will be partially offset by adjusting the fuel price threshold at which the fuel surcharge begins, reducing the fuel surcharge by one percentage point. FedEx SmartPost rates also will change.
FedEx previously announced on Sept. 29, 2010 that it will increase shipping rates for FedEx Express also effective January 3, 2011 and that FedEx Express and FedEx Ground will implement a change to the dimensional weight volumetric divisor from 194 to 166 for U.S. domestic services.
Details of dimensional weight charges, surcharge changes and new rates can be found at www.fedex.com/us/2011rates.