I’ve been in a number of discussions recently with shippers who are evaluating the viability of moving some of their shipments from UPS and FedEx to the USPS to save money by using the U.S. Postal Service’s Flat Rate boxes and envelopes.  And, because I’ve been spending too much time in front of the TV, have seen the USPS’ advertising campaign promoting these services.  Let’s Talk Shipping would like to find out if any shippers have saved money by using these flat rate services over services you formally used with either UPS or FedEx.  Let us know your successes and failures.

You can also read an interesting article on how to shop Flat Rate shipping by clicking this LINK.

We continue to follow the political battle between UPS and FedEx on a provision passed by the House last month that, according to Alan Caruba of the Canadian Free Press, would “hobble Federal Express”.  Again, this legislation would change the labor laws under which FedEx operates and, according to some, would allow a small number of workers in one city to “hamstring much of the nation’s overnight delivery service.”  Caruba makes a number of other interesting observations which you can check out by reading the entire article.  You can do this by clicking the Canadian Free Press link above.

Here is a good article to follow-up my post from yesterday.  To access this article click this LINK.

When you think of UPS you generally don’t think of lobbying Congress and campaign contributions.  Yet, according to FedEx, Brown is pushing hard for legislation that would make it easier for express-delivery workers to organize.  Acording to the Financial Times, FedEx is taking aim at UPS with a multimedia campaign linking UPS to the banking, car marking, and other industries which have received “bail-out” money from the Government.

At issue is the U.S. House of Represensatives’ approval of legislation (H.R. 915: FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009) that would allow FedEx truck drivers and package handlers, and other employees to join unions more easily than they could under previous legislation.  In an article by John Hughes on www.bloomberg.com, Huges says that “Workers in FedEx’s Express unit could vote locally to join unions under the plan rather than having to hold a national election to gain representation.”  He goes on to say, “The 277-136 vote sets up a clash in the Senate between FedEx and larger competitor United Parcel Service Inc., which says the legislation would even the playing field with UPS’s union workforce.  When you factor in comments from the Teamsters president Jim Hoffa, that “The House of Representatives has done the right thing in closing this unfair loophole…FedEx Express workers have been deprived their right to form unions like workers at other package- delivery companies,” you know you’ve got a sizeable battle going on.

If you think FedEx is not serious check out www.brownbailout.com.  You can also click this LINK to access the Financial Times article.

We report.  You decide.

Good article from Logistics Management on how some large mail-order and catalog companies are using dropshipping or  zoneskipping to save on their transportation spend.   For those not familiar, the term dropshipping or zoneskipping, is a transportation process of moving a large number of parcels from Point A to Point B via LTL or TL transport, and once there, dropping them to UPS, FedEX, or USPS for final shipment to the ultimate consignee.  By doing this, the shipper pays the parcel rate from the dropship or zoneskip origin zip code to the final consignee zip code, thereby skipping several zones that would otherwise add cost to the shipment.  As the article states…the closer it is, the cheaper it is.

To read the entire article click this LINK.

It’s official.  In a filing dated May 7, 2009, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) appears to have put their stamp (no pun intended) of approval on the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) desire test market its “experimental product…in competition with ’similar services, often called LTL (less-than-truckload) shipping products.’  The USPS is calling this product Collabortive Logistic, and as a postal service “…this product constitutes the physical carriage of a tangile product from Point A to Point B, with the difference being that those objects are larger than a normal mailpiece.  Thus, this product, simply constitutes a limited, experimental expansion of what is a ‘mailable package.’ to include materials (loaded on pallets) that are carried by the Postal Service under the terms of a Collaborative Logistics Agreement.”  

In order to gain this approval, the USPS had to demonstrate to the PRC that this new product would not be competitive to existing USPS products and, because of its quasi-government status, would not create market disruption because of some competitive advantage they might have over other companies providing similar products.  So, I guess we will see if the USPS can compete in this space.  Here is wishing them good luck.

To get a PDF copy of this PRC filing click this LINK.

Financial news from the USPS is never dull and never good, it seems.  According to Postal Board Chairman Carolyn Gallagher and Postmaster General Jack Potter; despite aggressive actions to reduce costs and grow revenue, the USPS will likely face a cash shortfall of over $1.5 billion at the end of the fiscal year.  For a copy of this USPS financial update click this LINK.

Not investing in improving your supply chain execution in a down economy?  Might be a big mistake says a number of analysts in this Logistics Management 2009 Logistics Technology Roundtable.  To get a PDF of this article click this LINK.

So, we were following the lawsuit that FedEx filed against UPS for making claims in a recent television commercial that it had the best on-time delivery, to find out only a day two later UPS pulling the commercial.  Victory FedEx.  So how did FedEx and UPS do in Richmond?

If you didn’t watch the night race on Saturday, you didn’t see Denny Hamlin’s number 11 FedEx Freight car end up in victory lane, even though he lead the most laps on his hometown tack.  Plague by a number of cautions, his biggest problem occurred late in the race when, after enterping the pits, dropped lug nut issue resulted in him going from 1st to 7th.  He eventually finished 14th and gained one position in the Cup Standings.

David Ragan’s number 6 UPS car was another story.  David did maintain his 26th position in the Cup Standings by a less than overwhelming performance at his favorite race track.  He started 22nd and finished, despite all the cautions in the race finished 23rd.  With only 1 Top 10 finish this year, the UPS group needs to find a way to be competitive.

For a short article on Hamlin click this LINK.

Interesting article in The Economist that begs the question; does the USPS have enough money to last out the year without help from the Fed? While post-master general Potter did come out and directly ask for a handout in his testimony before Congress he was, as The Economist points out, in the company of CEOs from the auto, finance, and insurance sectors that did have both hands extended, palm side up.  Click this LINK to read the entire article.

This an interesting article by A. Lee Fritschler, Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University.  The article begins by saying that “Government bailouts of high profile private corporations have obscured the fact that one of the largest government enterprises, the U.S. Postal Service, is also in dire financial straits.”  Amidst all the poor financial reporting of UPS and FedEx, least we not forget they are not knocking at the Fed’s door making requests for immediate relief.  According to the author, should the USPS be granted any relief from the Fed, it should only done as part of a long-term and long overdue reform that will strengthen it for the future.

I agree that only by letting the USPS operate as a “regualted coporation”, will it be free to effectively compete in the small parcel delivery industry.   To read the entire article click this LINK.

Georg Jensen of The American Interest Online has published a very interesting and eye opening piece on the financial problems of the USPS.  He starts his article by saying “For all its inability to stay in tune with changing consumer trends, technology advances, a warming planet and a deep economic crisis, the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) might as well have given all their mail carriers Hummers to drive on their appointed rounds in recent years.” And it gets better from there.

Interested in your comments after reading.  Click this LINK for access to the full article.

I know that unless these stock cars actually carry and deliver packages, following these two Cup Series teams doesn’t have a whole lot to do with small parcel shipping.  But I love the competition between UPS and FedEx.  Many of us, in fact,  have careers because of this competition; so why not follow it on the track, as well as the highways and byways.

Right now FedEx Freight’s Denny Hamlin is 5th in the standings, with UPS’ David Ragan way back in 30th.  Granted there might not be much to talk about now, but for those fellow Nascar fans, or those who just just prefer Brown over Purple (or vice versa), feel free to comment as the Sprint Cup season progresses.

See the current standings by clicking this LINK.

According to Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management, the U.S. Postal Service will kick off a market test to provide transportation services that resemble a Less-Thank-Truckload (LTL) network.  According to Berman, an industry source who declined to be identified stated that, ” this plan makes sense on various levels, considering the USPS has plenty of excess capacity on the roads at the moment with a network that is already delivering mail on a daily basis. And he added that if viewed as an LTL player, the USPS has a bigger LTL footprint—or network—due to its existing mail routes.   To read the entire article click this LINK.

We thought this article very interesting so we went to the Postal Regulatory Commission and reviewed the filing.  Beginning on May 6, 2009, the USPS will market test what it refers to as an experimental “Collaborative Logistics” competitive product.  It goes on to say that his offering will be significantly different “from all products offered by the Postal Service…”.  Looks to be an interesting move by the USPS.  To get a PDF of this filing click this LINK.

Good article for shippers who may be using carrier-provided technology or non-enterprise class shipping applications, and are beginning to realize they made need something more.  You can access this artilce by clicking this LINK.