The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Post Corporation (IPC) have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reinforce cooperation between the two organizations. The aim for both IATA and IPC is to promote the development and expansion of safe, secure, accessible and high-quality airmail and air cargo services to help their respective members provide quality solutions aligned to consumer needs.

“International e-commerce is growing at around 20% per year, leading to rapidly changing market conditions for airlines and posts. Ensuring customers get their packages on time while safety and security in postal air transport is maintained is the main priority for posts and air transport operators alike. Cooperation across the supply chain is a must and our MoU with IPC is an important step toward strengthening our activity in this area,” said IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac.

“For more than 10 years, the cooperation between airlines and postal operators has enhanced processes and increased visibility of airmail transport. With this agreement, we want to further strengthen our ties and identify further opportunities for cooperation and joint developments. Both of our sectors can win from a reinforced cooperation in terms of competitiveness and quality of service. Ultimately, this agreement will benefit consumers through more reliable and faster delivery of cross-border mail and packets transported by air,” said Holger Winklbauer, CEO of IPC.

IATA and IPC intend to work together on seven specific areas:

1. Improving the security, handover, carriage, delivery and settlement of airmail between postal operators and air carriers. This includes e-commerce, economic and commercial matters.
2. Developing and maintaining industry standards and procedures as well as services and solutions for both physical flows and electronic data interchange relating to airmail.
3. Aligning existing services and solutions, along with developing new ones to ensure harmonized compatibility and efficient application of resources.
4. Finding technology-based standards and solutions for piece level tracking in airmail.
5. Addressing volumetric challenges, through initiatives such as Air Packet Box, and allocation and booking procedures for airmail.
6. Developing regional onboarding initiatives and global campaigns on airmail process optimization and standardization.

Improving the involvement of ground handlers and other industry stakeholders on matters concerning airmail.

The parcel industry EV leader DPD has agreed a deal with vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus UK for 100 eTGE electric vans. The deal means that DPD will have the largest 3.5t electric van fleet in the UK, taking its electric fleet to 600 vehicles in total.

The 3.5t van is the workhorse of the parcel delivery industry, but until now, electric versions have not been widely available in the UK. DPD will take the first 100 eTGE’s when they roll off the production line from June 2020.

MAN’s eTGE is tailored to meet the requirements of inner-city delivery traffic with a load capacity of 10.7m3 and a range of 65-70 miles. The 36kW lithium ion battery can be fully charged at a charge point in just over five hours or rapid charged to 80% in 45 minutes.

The MAN order is part of DPD’s strategy to be the most responsible and sustainable city centre delivery company and the leader in electric vehicles in the UK. In October 2018, DPD opened the UK’s first all-electric parcel depot in Westminster and in November last year launched a unique, purpose-built, e-cargo bike called the EAV P1.

In January, DPD confirmed it was taking delivery of 300 new electric Nissan e-NV200 vans by May 2020, in what is believed to be the largest single UK commercial EV van order to date. The Nissan and MAN orders will give DPD the largest EV parcel delivery fleet in the UK, with DPD aiming for 10% of its van fleet to be electric in each of its 68 UK depots by the end of this year.

Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO commented, “We’re building the largest all-electric delivery fleet in the UK, in double-quick time. The 3.5t van is absolutely core to our delivery and collection fleet strategy, so this is a big deal for us. It gives us huge efficiencies on the road in terms of route densities, but we’ve had to wait a long time for the first electric right-hand drive 3.5t vans. We’re really pleased to be partnering with MAN Truck & Bus on what is another UK EV first, and we are hugely grateful for their support.

“We are urging other manufacturers to bring forward right-hand drive electrics as we can take far more. It isn’t just us demanding them, our retail customers have responded very positively to our new EV fleet and they want to be telling their customers about their green deliveries too. We are designing new ways of working to incorporate these vehicles into our operation, so they are transforming our business as well as contributing to cleaner air and less congestion.”

Thomas Hemmerich, Managing Director MAN Truck & Bus UK, commented, “MAN Truck & Bus UK is delighted to have received an order of the first 100 eTGE right-hand drive units before the official UK Launch at the Birmingham CV Show this year, from our strategic partner DPD. We are thrilled to be leading the electric transformation of the UK 3.5t van market. With our eTGE van we are responding to the high customer demand and interest for these vehicles from the UK market.”

The combination of the postal networks of PostNL and Sandd has completed on 1 February. As of this date, mail in the Netherlands will be delivered by a single, strong country-wide postal network, enabling it to be sent and received five days a week. The consolidation is also the best option to protect jobs in the postal sector. PostNL is welcoming over 4,300 new employees from Sandd. PostNL confirms the strategic and financial drivers for value creation as announced on 1 October 2019.

Herna Verhagen, PostNL’s CEO, says: “We welcome our new colleagues at PostNL and are very pleased that we are able to offer so many people a job, income and security. All employees currently working for Sandd will continue to have priority when applying for jobs at PostNL. Clients and consumers can continue to count on a strong postal network that is always close to where they are and offers high-quality service at reasonable prices.”

Resi Becker, Director of Mail in the Netherlands at PostNL, adds: “For many people and organisations, physical mail remains a vital and relevant way to connect and to stay in touch with others. Of course, digital communications will continue to grow, but physical mail continues to catch people’s attention, and is always nearby and reliable. The hand-written birthday card, a voting card, your favourite magazines and medical shipments: they’re all delivered by PostNL, five days a week, across the country.”

Becker continues: “Our merged operation reflects a complicated logistical exercise that has required a lot of hard work. For one thing, we’ve developed new work schedules for all 20,000 postmen and women, and have taken measures to ensure successful delivery of all mail. It may take some time to absorb combined volumes into our network and spread them evenly over five delivery days, but we’ll do everything we can to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.”

Enhanced job security for postal deliverers

The consolidation will help cushion the decline of the postal market in a socially responsible way. All Sandd’s postal deliverers (11,000 in total) have been offered jobs with PostNL. Just under 40% directly informed PostNL they would not be joining PostNL, given the opportunities they have in the labour market and the severance payments offered by Sandd. Over 60% have indicated they would like to receive a personal job offer. About 4,000 mail deliverers employed by Sandd have accepted the offer and will start working for PostNL on 1 February, and from then on a total of 20,000 postal deliverers will deliver about seven million letters a day*, five days a week.

In addition, over 300 employees working in sorting, as drivers and in other roles will be joining PostNL (either Mail or Parcels) from Sandd. PostNL will also continue its collaboration with sheltered workplace companies, protecting 500 jobs for employees who face challenges in the labour market.