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We expect Canada Post Corporation (CPC) to shutdown its international office of exchange (IEO) and one of its three domestic operations hubs in Toronto this week due to COVID-19 pandemic impact on the workforce.
Message n° 36/2021
26 January 2021 / 26 janvier 2021 à 13h32( CET)
Further to EmIS 638/2020, the designated operator of Canada, Canada Post, asks us to inform other Union member countries and their designated operators that a number of cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in one of the three shifts at its Gateway East processing plant in the Greater Toronto Area.
Following guidance by the regional health authority, Canada Post has temporarily closed this shift to prevent further spread of the virus. The Toronto exchange office, located in a separate area of the Gateway plant, continues to operate, albeit with a reduced workforce. Given this situation, disruption to normal operations and reduced processing capacity and clearance within customs operations are to be expected.
As further staff shortages are expected during this time, in addition to measures to protect the health and safety of workers, member countries can expect delays in the processing and delivery of both inbound and outbound mail items.
Canada Post is evaluating and adapting existing contingency plans to keep postal items flowing with minimal delay, triaging where appropriate, and will keep member countries updated via EmIS as this situation evolves. Unless designated operators are specifically requested to dispatch to the Montreal or Vancouver offices of exchange, Canada Post requests that dispatches not be diverted or rerouted.
Canada Post has operated with safety protocols in place following the guidance of public health officials since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and will continue to follow their expert guidance and recommendations.
Canada Post thanks all Union member countries and their designated operators for their understanding during this very difficult time.
Will this knock Turkish automotive firm Karsan out of contention for the USPS delivery vehicle fleet contract? The bigger question mark is – can Workhorse deliver?
1. Biden administration campaign promises to accelerate U. S. climate change initiatives – They are Big! – http://reut.rs/3qQvtFL
2. The USPS delivery fleet is in “Zombie mode’!
3. The Postal Service has a very strong history as a technology innovator and adopter, especially for the sorting and transportation of the U S Mails, e.g., the US Airline industry was built on the US Air Mail service, Rural Free Delivery, RFD, the Railway Mail Service and Parcel Post services drove the expansion of B2C commerce in the US. And the Postal Service was an early pioneer in the development of Optical Character Reader, OCR, technology for high-speed mail sorting in the 1970’s. Yes, the 1970s! We saw them in operation in NYC. You can view and download a video of an early OCR here.
The headwinds are also strong –
1. No proven track record in delivering large scale fleets of commercial delivery vehicles
2. No proven track record in delivering viable Electric commercial delivery vehicles that can operate in all climates and delivery environments on the scale that the US Postal Service requires.
3. No proven track record in pre-market maintenance training and support
4. No proven track record in providing aftermarket support for parts and service
5. The vested interests of the U. S. petroleum and automotive sectors to maintain status quo are very big!
Automotive sector Annual lobbying – http://bit.ly/3a4vUFA
Automotive sector Annual campaign contributions – http://bit.ly/2LUKxn7
Petroleum sector lobbying – http://bit.ly/3iLTI58
Petroleum sector campaign contributions http://bit.ly/2KMJiFT
BUT! Do NOT Ignore History…
Whether it’s Workhorse, or another eVehicle newcomer, just as the US Air Mail Service was the foundation for the U S Airline industry, we believe a 180,000+ Electric delivery vehicle fleet order will jumpstart the United States’ transition to electric, and other alternative, environment friendly transportation modes.
UPDATE – And while Workhorse looks like the obvious choice, could the USPS scrap the solicitation and re-solicit it opening the door to new vehicle companies that have come on the scene since the original RFP? Stay tuned – https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/biden-administration-usps-ev-electric-mail-carriers-grumman-llv/
January 19, 2021
Western Union services will roll out in more than 4,700 Walmart stores starting this spring. A leapfrog over the competition, or a ‘Hail Mary pass’? – https://bit.ly/3pbAfgo
And further to the discussion where in the world is the US Postal Service’s “Sure Money® (DineroSeguro®)”. Yes, the service has been around since the mid 1990’s but have you seen it advertised lately? The USPS has about 30,000 retail outlets versus Walmart’s 4,756 stores.
And why didn’t USPS partner with Walmart? Walmart’s footfall and customer demographic are a natural fit. “Has the USPS lost its business development mojo?” Stay tuned for the next installment – “Retail Self Service Kiosk – What Took So Long?” #USPSLostBizDevMojo
the CEP Group has joined MDPI, a pioneer in scholarly open access publishing based in Basel, Switzerland. MDPI fosters open scientific exchange across all disciplines through 209 diverse, peer-reviewed journals supported by over 35,500 academic editors.
The CEP Group will focus on logistics including last mile delivery models and returns, integrated supply chains, remote sensing, robotics, and vehicles, aircraft and vessels including autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), and alternative fuels, and customer value chain analysis (CVA). We will provide the latest research and thought in these areas for our clients.
the CEP Group is pleased to announce our continued participation in the U.S. Federal Government’s System for Award Management (SAM) for CY 2021. SAM is the official website of the U.S. government that companies must actively register in to do business with the Federal Government.
Our expertise in national postal operator (NPO) contracting spans four decades including work on US Postal Service Contract Postal Units (CPUs), USPS fleet purchasing for the national accounts program, multiple projects for www.usps.com including development and launch of the Post Office Locator, the re-engineering design contract for the USPS website, development of the affiliate marketing program for www.usps.com, and special reports for the USPS office of Inspector General, OIG.
Beyond the US Postal Service, the CEP Group principals have led extensive alliance projects for commercial integrators with national postal operators (NPOs) for co-branded products, integrated cross border and domestic first mile – last mile delivery networks, and global mail transportation networks
We are proud to continue our tradition of expert consultation, special projects, and custom research for the Courier, Express, and Postal sector worldwide
Spring / Summer 2019
the CEP group recently supported a study to research and benchmark competition in the National Postal Operator (NPO) sector. Coverage including identifying best practices in pricing strategy and execution across NPOs and private sector integrators worldwide, and outlook for new opportunities
WASHINGTON — January 15 2019
The U.S. Department of Transportation is prepared to issue a new proposed rule that will allow more freedom for people operating drones, according to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
Secretary Chao delivered her remarks at the January 14th Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting. She announced that the forthcoming proposed rule would allow drone operators to fly their machines at night, and over the heads of people without special waivers with certain conditions. Conditions include the operator a.) Has received appropriate training, b.) Has completed approved testing, and c.) Has equipped the drone with anti-collision lighting.
The proposed rules will be published soon in the Federal Register for public comment.
Source: Transport Topics
The Austrian Government has decided that online orders from third countries will be fully taxable, with no de minimis.
Currently, the import tax exemption limit is €22, which is used in particular by Asian online retailers. The new regulation should come into force from 2020, anticipating the entry into force as part of the EU VAT Ecommerce Reform.
By 1 January 2021, a new simplified customs and VAT procedure will be introduced for all postal items with a value of less than €150 (i.e. “Low Value Consignment [LVC]”).
This procedure will be applied to all economic operators (designated/national postal operators, as well as non-designated operators). To send commercial items cross borders, the use of electronic advanced data will be mandatory when sending the items.
According to figures made public by the Austrian retail association (Handelsverband), every year 560 million cross-border parcels from China are sent via dominant Chinese mail order companies to the European Union. 97% of these shipments are fully customs and VAT free in the EU and a large part of the remaining 3% enters the EU without customs fees.
source: Ecommerce Europe
AI (artificial intelligence) has been and continues to be the ‘topic du jour’ in all commercial and social circles, the ‘shiny new thing’ syndrome if you will. With this in mind, we are pleased to share Dorine Andrew’s insight on AI’s impact on today’s social environment. Dr. Andrews is a noted expert in business process design and development, university lecturer in communications, and author of historical WWII fiction that is eerily reminiscent of today’s current European geopolitical disruption. Please follow the link to her post at – https://www.dorineandrews.com/author-adventure-blog/ai-is-not-the-m
- Provocative, no?
Well get this – The US Postal Regulatory Commission, PRC, has established a proceeding to “…provide a forum to gather information, provide transparency, and learn more about the Postal Service’s Delivering for America strategic initiatives that may have a significant impact on the postal community.” Moreover, it is somewhat lowkey, 5 pages. Order No. 6488.pdf (prc.gov)
When you read this, it sounds fairly ‘governmentese’, we quote from its Press Release :
“In the PI2023-4 docket, the Commission will issue information requests to the Postal Service regarding proposed changes to the postal network and the impact of those changes, and the Postal Service will provide responsive information. As part of this public inquiry, the Commission will seek information on the Postal Service’s recently announced plans to create sorting and delivery centers to “reduce transportation and mail handling costs” by aggregating delivery units into “larger Sort and Delivery Centers with adequate space, docks, and material handling equipment to operate more efficiently.”
At first it sounds like a non-descript look into the U S Postal Service’s plans for its future, i.e., yet another government study of one of its massive agencies. But look beyond this.
The study states that its focus is the ‘impact on the postal community’. So, step back for a moment and get the big picture, what is the actual scope of that community.
In the United States that means in 2022 delivering 127.3 billion pieces of mail domestically in the US, its possessions and territories, to 12.7 million businesses, and 152.2 million residential delivery points, serving the US Population of an official figure of 333.3 million, reported by The U.S. Census Bureau reported. The USPS handles 44% of the total worldwide postal mail volume, connecting it services to a global population of 8 billion people through an integrated postal network of 190+ national postal operators, NPOs worldwide.
The scope of the US Postal Service’s direct, and indirect macroeconomic impact and the range of its stakeholders are not insignificant. Consequently, we posit that the impact of any major change in USPS operations, organization, business structure, and strategic change goes beyond the somewhat generic 5 pp docket and opens up a discourse on the true socioeconomic and geopolitical value of the US Postal Service. We believe the USPS Plan “Delivering for America” should be rethought as “Delivering for the Global Postal Community”, and that this docket should not only be promulgated to the US but also be circulated worldwide for comment.
“PRC Initiates Public Inquiry Proceeding to Gather Information on Changes to the Postal Network”
Many of my fellow 3PL and CEP cohort are anxiously aware of the current UPS / Teamsters negotiations on the UPS national contract (shoe #1.) and the FedEx / ALPA Pilots labor negotiations (shoe #2). But many of you may not know about ‘The Third Shoe’ in this year’s logistics sector cliff hanger – the US Postal Service’s current labor negotiations with its largest workforce segment, OVER 335,000 Letter Carriers delivering mail and packages to 12.7 million business addresses and 152.2 million residential addresses.
So, if even one of the trio shuts down for a few weeks, meaning the ‘brown boxes’ stopped getting delivered, and the ‘purple tails’ stopped flying, and the merry mailman stops ringing you bell this summer, who are you going to call?
Beginning on April 18, 2023, trade users with Importer accounts can access the ACE Forms tool via a launch button in the modernized ACE Portal. The Forms button is available on the Importer Account page.
Details on accessing ACE Forms via the modernized ACE Portal are available in the Modernized ACE Forms Quick Reference Guide.
For technical issues, contact the CBP ACE Account Service Desk (ASD) at (866) 530-4172 or ace.support@cbp.dhs.gov.
For all of our Asia followers, South Korea and Japan have taken a major historic step in their relationship, culturally, politically, and strategically, which will reset the geopolitical environment in APAC for decades – The de facto resolution of their dispute over wartime conscripted labor.
Most notably, Seoul and Tokyo own this deal. It is reported that the agreement “… was driven by the parties themselves and not by Washington—indeed, at various times in recent months, U.S. officials were asked to stay out.”
Further reading and insight is found at CSIS – Center for Strategic and International Studies.