Thursday, April 07, 2005
USPS WINS E-GOV AWARD.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
UPS is First to Accept "Return" Ground Packages at Its 40,000 Drop Boxes
UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced it has begun accepting UPS Ground Authorized Return Service® packages and other ground return services at its 40,000 drop box locations. No other carrier in the industry offers this option, which is made possible by UPS’s unique network of integrated air, ground and international operations.
This new option significantly expands the level of convenience retailers can offer their customers without sacrificing the economical pricing of UPS Ground service, the most popular choice for consumer returns. Additionally, the service will provide greater flexibility to other businesses such as those seeking to recover small-sized returns from mobile workers such as field service technicians.
"Although UPS far outpaces the industry with its range of returns options, we challenge ourselves to innovate with new services that make the process more efficient for retailers and more convenient for their customers," said Kurt Kuehn, senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. "More than ever, returns are a critical phase in the customer life cycle, which is why they continue to be a focus for UPS’s product development initiatives."
Post-sales customer service is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge in today’s intense battle for home-based shoppers. In fact, in a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, 92 percent of online shoppers say they are "somewhat" or "very likely" to shop again with a retailer whose returns process suits them. Conversely, 85 percent said that if the returns process is inconvenient, they are "not very" or "not at all likely" to shop again with a direct retailer.
Decades ago, UPS introduced the industry’s first returns service using a system named "Call Tags." Later, UPS was the first to develop Authorized Returns Service to aid in the return of printer cartridges. In recent years, UPS amassed a broad reverse logistics portfolio with everything from Web-based solutions to Electronic Return Labels, which can be e-mailed directly to customers and printed right from their computers. These innovations harnessed technology to meet the growing needs of online retail customers.
Additionally, UPS offers disposition, repair, and recycling services through its UPS Supply Chain Solutions unit. Some of these returns programs utilize the 3,800 locations of The UPS Store® as access channels for these customers. This approach was adopted by Toshiba for laptop repairs, effectively reducing the typical turnaround time within the industry from weeks to as little as three days.
With this latest UPS service, acceptable drop box ground packages must be labeled as a UPS returns package. These include Authorized Return Service, UPS Electronic Return Labels, UPS ReturnsSM on the Web, UPS Print Return Label and UPS Print and Mail Return Label. Package dimensions cannot exceed 16x13x2 inches. The online UPS Drop-Off Locator, which provides a complete list of box locations along with detailed maps and directions, can be found at UPS.com.
UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com.
Two New UPS Initiatives Deliver Environmental Benefits
Two New UPS Initiatives Deliver Environmental Benefits
Company Powers Down Computers, Purchases “Green” Power
ATLANTA, March 29, 2005 – UPS (NYSE:UPS) is implementing two new initiatives to protect the environment – 11,000 computers soon will automatically go to “sleep” when not in use, and 14 California facilities have begun purchasing “green” power.
UPS also has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership.
“Energy conservation and choosing renewable energy sources are just two of the many ways UPS actively pursues its commitment to sustainable business practices,” said Mike Herr, UPS vice president of environmental affairs. “We have always believed that working green and working smart are synonymous.”
The computer initiative is part of what’s known as the ENERGY STAR® Million Monitor Drive. UPS is installing “sleep” software on 11,000 of its computers in Atlanta, Louisville, Towson, Md., and Mahwah, N.J., to conserve energy while saving the company almost US$145,000 per year.
Most computers are used only an average of four hours each business day but continue to consume energy even when idle. The Million Monitor Drive challenges organizations to set computer monitors to go into a low-power “sleep” mode during periods of inactivity.
In addition to reducing energy use with its computers, UPS now has 14 facilities in California currently using “green” power as part of their electricity supply. This power is supplied by 3 Phases Energy Services and comes from biomass sources. Biomass refers to a waste-to-energy process and can take the form of converting landfill gas, human and animal waste or agricultural waste to energy.
UPS is purchasing 10 percent of its electricity at the 14 California facilities from these cleaner, more renewable sources.
“This commitment, which will prevent the release of 2.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide, a leading cause of global warming, has the equivalent environmental impact of removing 213 cars from the road for a year,” said Herr. “This carbon reduction is equal to the carbon absorption capacity of 330 acres of trees.”
UPS also recently joined the EPA’s Green Power Partnership, which recognizes companies that demonstrate environmental leadership by choosing cleaner and renewable energy sources. UPS already generates green power with solar panels at its facility in Palm Springs, Calif., in addition to the 14 facilities now operating on electricity created from biomass sources.
California UPS facilities using green power include operations in South San Francisco, Sunnyvale, West Sacramento, Victorville, Visalia, San Bernardino, Romoland, Ventura, Newbury Park, Goleta, Laguna Hills, Cerritos, Baldwin Park and Ontario.
UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS’s stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS), and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Three New Jersey Post Offices not able to open
The Wayne, Frenchtown and Stockton Main Post Offices couldn’t open yesterday. Delivery also has been interrupted in two Trenton ZIP Codes — 08618 and 08628. Delivery in Wayne and Frenchtown is being made where streets are accessible, with operations shifted to Sheffield Station for Wayne and Milford for Frenchtown.
The Stockton Main Post Office remains closed, but delivery customers will have service where accessible. Customers will be able to pick up PO box mail and “notice left” items at the Ringoes Post Office.
The Wayne Main Post Office is expected to re-open today when flooding subsides. Frenchtown delivery and PO box operations will continue to be run from Milford, with normal operations expected to return to Frenchtown Wednesday.
eBay Entrepreneurs Often Choose UPS
eBay Entrepreneurs Often Choose UPS
ATLANTA, March 29, 2005 - Three successful entrepreneurs, including a full-time mom starting her own consignment business, a dealer in mannequins and a man who sells model aircraft to customers in Singapore and the United Kingdom, are serving as great examples of how UPS facilitates business on eBay.
The three were identified through a contest sponsored by UPS that invited small businesses to share stories of how they capitalized on the opportunities, and overcame some of the challenges, of doing business on the world’s largest online marketplace.
eBay offers even the smallest businesses the opportunity to be successful in the global marketplace. And UPS can help address some of the customer service and fulfillment challenges that arise during and after the close of an auction listing. Today’s eBay buyers and sellers have easy access to a suite of UPS shipping tools integrated throughout the eBay marketplace that allow them to calculate shipment costs, review transit times, print shipping labels and track UPS shipments, all at the point of transaction.
Mannequin madness: Four years ago, Oakland resident Judi Henderson-Townsend found herself in the business of mannequin sales and rentals after she impulsively bought 50 mannequins from a dealer who was closing up shop. Today her business, Mannequin Madness, ships mannequins across the United States and Canada and even overseas to customers ranging from clothing stores and eBay sellers to lawyers with a need to demonstrate gun or knife wounds in court to artists using them for projects or sketching. About a third of her annual sales come from eBay, where she enjoys status as a Bronze-level PowerSeller.
Henderson-Townsend began shipping with UPS using functionality on UPS.com. A chance encounter with a UPS employee at a local chamber of commerce meeting led her to UPS WorldShip, global shipping software that allows her to process her packages more efficiently, managing all her shipping activities from her computer desktop.
WorldShip allows her to print shipping labels and enables both Henderson-Townsend and her customers to track shipments online, eliminating calls from customers inquiring when their order will arrive.
“A UPS rep even helped me set up a WorldShip account and arrange a daily pickup,” she said. “Now my customers receive an automated e-mail message letting them know their package has shipped, when to expect delivery and what the tracking number is.”
Always looking for ways to streamline her business, Henderson-Townsend now is experimenting with the eBay Accounting Assistant Beta to export her eBay and PayPal transaction information directly into her QuickBooks accounting software. She also can export UPS data to QuickBooks and says the connectivity has made accounting and shipping tasks much more efficient.
Mother knows best:A full-time mom from Yakima, Wash., Natalie Phillips started her consignment auction business almost by accident after she approached her first customer about five years ago to sell his inventory on eBay.
“After we sold those items, I began selling items for other people and it’s grown from there,” she said. Today, an average week for Phillips eAuctions means shipping about 30 packages from multiple transactions.
Early on, Phillips struggled with calculating shipping costs and was unsure how to pack and ship bulky or oddly-shaped items. Using UPS OnLine Tools integrated into eBay’s site, she now prints her own labels and uses UPS’s rate and service calculator to figure an item’s shipping cost, reducing the number of bidders who get “cold feet” when the shipping charge is unknown at the time of item listing. Once a listing has closed, Phillips and customers both can track shipments from eBay’s site.
She’s also come to rely on her local The UPS Store®. “There are some things that are a real challenge to ship,” she said. “I’ve shipped chairs and had to remove the legs before. Now if I have something that requires special packaging, I take it to The UPS Store and they take care of it.”
A Prince of a business:Brian Prince of Orange, Conn., typically sells and ships 10 to 15 items per month, most often model aircraft that he builds himself and ships to buyers in Singapore and the United Kingdom. He refers to detailed information on the UPS Web site on how to ship internationally.
Prince currently ships through UPS Internet Shipping at UPS.com. He likes the automatic ship notification e-mails UPS sends to his customers. He’s never had a problem in the two years that he’s used UPS extensively and has a solid relationship with his driver, who once went above and beyond to make sure a critical Saturday Next Day Air® shipment was delivered on time.
“From this experience shipping with UPS, I have realized that they are the only carrier that I can trust and depend on for my critical shipping needs,” Prince adds.
Contest entrants were asked to summarize, in 1,000 words or less, how UPS’s technologies and solutions had helped their small businesses. The winners received US$500 in free shipping and are being recognized on the eBay site.
UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com.
Monday, April 04, 2005
USPS: RATE INCREASE REQUEST
USPS: FLAGS AT HALF STAFF
Links:
Presidential Proclamation 3044
DATE: 03-01-54
http://www.az.ngb.army.mil/US%20Flag%20Policy/P3044.html
Sunday, April 03, 2005
International Sales and Shipping Challenges
See the full story: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y205/m04/abu0140/s04
International eBay Sales: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By Lu Paletta AuctionBytes.com
April 03, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
USPS: Fire at Postal Distribution Center causes evacuation
Firefighters were called to the facility shortly after 9 a.m.
Read the entire story here --> http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1112345221251670.xml&coll=1
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Mail Contractor Tries to Intimidate Striking Truck Drivers, APWU Charges
APWU Web News Article #13-05, March 28, 2005
Mail Contractors of America, a private mail hauler, began a campaign of intimidation against striking APWU members in Jacksonville, FL, March 26, according the local president representing the truck drivers.
Russ Gallion, president of APWU’s First Coast Local, which represents MCA truck drivers in Jacksonville, said the company telephoned striking workers at home Saturday and told them if they didn’t report to work on Monday, March 28, they would be terminated. None of the striking workers returned to work, Gallion said.
More than 70 Jacksonville truck drivers walked out March 24, joining over 100 MCA strikers in Des Moines and Kansas City, KS, who began a job action on March 22. “We are striking against unfair labor practices by MCA,” Gallion said. “Mail Contractors of America has tried to force us to drive longer than we are allowed to under Department of Transportation regulations,” he said, “and they have been writing us up for adhering to safety standards.”
The company has transferred workers from Greensboro, NC, Atlanta, and Los Angeles to do the work of the strikers in Jacksonville, Gallion reported. The drivers have been shuttled from a Ramada Inn to the MCA terminal under armed guard, he said. “They are using the extra drivers to cover the Jacksonville runs and to try to break the strike.
“They’re putting pressure on us,” Gallion said, “but they haven’t broken us. We’re putting pressure on them too.”
MCA has been receiving notices from the Postal Service that the company has failed to complete its routes in a timely manner, he said. The company must maintain a 98 percent on-time delivery standard, or fines can be imposed.
Strikers are picketing at four Jacksonville locations – the MCA terminal, the USPS Bulk Mail Center, and at two rail yards where MCA picks up and drops off mail. Teamsters who work for other companies at the rail yards have honored the picket lines and those companies are putting pressure on MCA to settle the matter, Gallion said.
Also on Saturday, there was a threat of violence when a strike breaker, who was driving his own vehicle at the end of a shift, told a picketer he had a gun and pointed it at him, Gallion said. “He said he would shoot the first person that touched him. Then he sped off.”
MCA imposed a contract on its workers Sept. 1, 2004. Collective bargaining agreements covering workers in Des Moines and Jacksonville expired Sept. 30, 2003. The truck drivers in Kansas City had never negotiated a contract with the company.