Postal Hub podcast

The USPS Office of Inspector General recently released a report called What's Driving Postal Transportation Costs? One of the report's authors, USPS OIG senior economist Jennifer Bradley, explains some of the report's findings: Background to the report, including the decline in letters and the growth in input costs The period covered by the report and the potential impact of events such as the GFC...

Mario Mayerthaler , Head of A1 Innovation at Austrian telecom operator A1 , joins me to talk about the A1 Paket Station project converting phone booths into parcel lockers. We cover: How A1 developed the concept The size and potential spread of the network Other sites that can host parcel lockers Obligations to maintain a phone booth network Co-operating with local stores for parcel locker access...

Dean Maciuba from Logistics Trends & Insights , analyses FedEx's recent earnings call. We cover: FedEx's December results Comparison of UPS's and FedEx's peak season performance FedEx's international performance Are there global economic headwinds, or is this being used as an excuse? Integration of TNT and the 2017 cyber attack Impact of employee buy-outs on the company Changes to the executive ma...

Mark Harrison, Head of Markets at International Post Corporation , goes behind the data of the IPC's recent Global Postal Industry Report. We cover: How the postal industry is evolving Key postal industry trends Analysis of decline in letter volumes, in particular e-substitution, and comparison between sectors Pricing of letters, fixed costs, and volume decline Changing the universal service oblig...

Pierre Morin, International Relations at Canada Post, gives us an insider's perspective on how the USA vs UPU battle has been progressing. We cover: The impact on inbound international parcels on Canada Post's bottom line Shortcomings in the current international pricing arrangements Comparing domestic parcel rates to inbound international parcels Response to the USA's announcement it intends to l...

Angela Hultberg Head of Sustainable Mobility at the IKEA Group is my special guest. We cover: How IKEA is partnering with delivery companies IKEA's vision for 100% zero emission delivery by 2025 Where IKEA is already using zero emission vehicles The kind of vehicles IKEA is using to achieve its target Why collaboration is central to meeting emissions targets Charging infrastructure Choosing vehicl...

Marek Różycki , Managing Partner Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss residential delivery. We cover: Porch piracy Unattended home delivery The problems with leaving parcels unattended at the delivery address Evaluating leave safe options for residential parcel delivery How Amazon Key works In-home delivery, and in-garage delivery Personal at-home parcel lockers (pros and cons) Smart locks and a...

Bassel el Koussa, co-founder and CEO of same-day and next-day delivery company Quiqup, is my special guest. We discuss: How Quiqup was founded The original Quiqup concept and how it evolved Creating a model that works at scale Enabling same-day, next-day and time-slot delivery for retailers The growth in same-day delivery in e-commerce The importance of ship-from-store in omnichannel retail Reimag...

Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America at Last Mile Experts, discusses FedEx Extra Hours and FedEx's expansion of out-of-home delivery options: What FedEx Extra Hours is (1:45) What it means for FedEx (3:35) Extending order deadlines for next-day delivery and optimising stock held in distribution centres (4:05) Driving scale and profitability (6:45) The profile of retailers that will offer n...

Mark Fallon, CEO and President of the Berkshire Company, reviews the US Postal Task Force report, including: Background to the Postal Task Force (2:45) The report submitted to the President and the report released to the public (4:30) Reactions from stakeholders (5:25) The need for a universal service obligation definition (6:00) Setting prices for parcels and letters (7:40) Allocation of costs in...

Dean Maciuba and Marek Różycki from Last Mile Experts join me to review some of the major trends in 2018. We cover: Out-of-home delivery - including parcel lockers (2:05) What is driving out-of-home delivery options (3:15) PUDO networks (4:00) How home ownership and lifestyle choices influence residential delivery (4:55) What the two major US parcel carriers are doing in parcel lockers and PUDO po...

Dean Maciuba and Marek Różycki from Last Mile Experts join me to review some of the major trends in 2018. We cover: Grocery delivery in the USA, in particular Walmart (2:25) Supermarkets integrating with technology and delivery companies (3:45) Walmart's locker technology in its supermarkets (4:35) Amazon making waves in grocery delivery (5:00) Grocery delivery in the UK (7:00) At-home or out-of-h...

Garrett Bridgeman, Managing Director Mails & Parcels at An Post, is my special guest. We cover: The policy behind An Post's plan to eliminate carbon emissions (1:05) An Post's carbon savings to date (1:51) The details of An Post's emissions commitment (2:10) An Post's current fleet and the profile of the new environmentally-friendly vehicles (3:30) Reducing carbon emissions in the truck network (5...

Mathew Galt, CEO and co-founder of e-commerce fulfilment company Fulfilio, is my special guest. We cover: What Fulfilio is and how it all started (1:20) Current spread of the Fulfilio network of sites (2:52) The affiliation with Australia Post (3:20) Delivery options at check-out (4:35) The e-commerce fulfilment scene in Australia (5:10) The difference between 3PLs and e-commerce fulfilment (5:55)...

Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company, shares his perspectives on the USPS's Informed Delivery service: How Informed Delivery works (2:00) Update on subscription levels (3:20) How USPS has been promoting Informed Delivery (3:55) The change of focus from the recipient to the sender (5:10) Integrating bill payment into Informed Delivery (6:15) How e-substitution and online payment...

Could the Chinese e-commerce delivery model work in the West? Juan Sotolongo , Senior Partner at 722 Consulting, shares his perspectives: The composition of Western delivery networks compared to the Chinese model (1:10) Delivery vehicles and conditions (3:00) Is same-day delivery a premium service? (4:20) Location of sorting centres and service centres (5:30) Sorting plans (6:40) How regional area...

Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG (International Mailers Advisory Group), discusses the STOP Act and what it means for cross-border parcels, including: The background to the STOP Act, including how it will work (2:00) The problem of opioids being shipped into the USA via the post (2:35) The key deadlines associated with the STOP Act, including compliance for China (3:50) Exceptions to the dead...

Marshall Hughes, co-founder and CEO of delivery start-up Passel, joins me to discuss: Funding of delivery start-ups, including Passel Different delivery models, including: Crowd-sourcing Sharing economy Gig economy How companies such as Uber and Lyft are contributing to traffic congestion Passel's domestic and international expansion plans Some of the challenges of expanding into other markets Env...

The USA has announced its intention to leave the UPU.  Anna Möller Boivie , Managing Director of Copenhagen Economics (Stockholm), shares her insights: The options available to the USA: Bilateral agreements Multilateral agreements What would happen if there's a "no deal" exit? The UPU services other than terminal dues that will be affected by the USA's potential exit. Has the UPU made any progress...

The USA has filed divorce papers with the UPU… but will parcel carriers be the real winners? Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America at Last Mile Experts, spoke with me in the immediate aftermath of the USA's announcement. - The domestic news that helped trigger the USA's decision - Could the carriers benefit? More detailed analysis and opinion on this topic coming next week! Cathy Morrow Rob...

Marek Różycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to cover some of the key discussion points from our recent Post Expo workshop "Understanding Amazon means winning the last mile", including: Amazon's European acquisitions in the last mile Amazon Flex crowd-sourced delivery Out of home delivery, including first-time delivery rates Branding of delivery vehicles Drones in the last mile H...

Martin Luts , Chief Operational Officer at Omniva , joins me to talk about some innovation and new infrastructure, including: A new sorting centre Increased efficiency and volume capacity Centralised sorting of letters and parcels under the same roof Sorting plans and subsidiary hubs Solar panels on the roof Electric vehicle trial, and the use cases for electric delivery vehicles Omniva's growing...

Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America for Last Mile Experts, joins me to analyse recent announcements from UPS, including: Labour rates New employee contract, and new classes of drivers Hiring temporary workers for peak season The tight US labour market The UPS Access Point (PUDO) network, and delivery efficiencies Amazon volumes - profitability and threats FedEx strategy, including profita...

John Reis, General Manager Retail at Canada Post, is my special guest. Our interview was recorded at the recent E-BISS Retail Workshop. We cover: Canada Post's concept post offices Drive-thru parcel collection Self-serve terminals - including discounts on shipping rates Change rooms in post offices How FlexDelivery (delivery direct to post office) works PO Boxes and parcel collection Cash on deliv...

Australia Post has launched a public awareness campaign, focusing on promoting safety for its delivery officers. Also in this episode, plans in the UK to give electric vehicles priority in traffic.