Postal strike puts pressure on couriers to deliver

The ongoing Canada Post strike has left private couriers struggling to cope with backlogs caused by demand surges, severe weather conditions, and (in at least one case) striking postal workers blockading their delivery trucks. 

Purolator, UPS pause shipments from couriers amid backlog from Canada Post strike | CBC News | Alexandra Mae Jones:

December 6, 2024 - "Amid an influx of packages that would normally be sent through Canada Post, Purolator and UPS have paused shipments from some courier companies in order to catch up. Purolator told CBC News on Thursday that severe weather and a surge in package volumes prompted it to freeze service for some partners.... Couriers such as eShipper act as middlemen between smaller e-commerce businesses and large carriers. But now eShipper is among the outfits temporarily barred from sending packages through UPS and the Canada Post-owned Purolator.

"In a notice sent to clients on Thursday and obtained by CBC News, eShipper stated that 'no shipments will be processed or moved by these carriers' for 48 hours, starting Wednesday [January 11]. In a statement Friday, Purolator said that the timeframe didn't come from it and that 'this is a temporary measure that will be removed as soon as possible.' UPS did not respond to requests for comment.... 

"FedEx is also experiencing 'increased volume demands' amid the ongoing Canada Post strike, spokesperson James Anderson told CBC News in a statement Friday. To manage this, 'a temporary limit of five packages per drop-off has been introduced at FedEx retail locations,' he said."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/purolator-ups-shipments-paused-1.7403127

Purolator, UPS freeze courier shipments as Canada Post strike drags on | CBC News: The National | December 6, 2024:

Striking posties blocking Christmas deliveries from Purolator plant | Western Stanard | Dave Naylor:

December 7, 2024 - "It looks like striking postal workers are doing their best to ruin Christmas for as many Canadians as they can. Posties have been pictured at a Purolator plant delaying trucks as they tried to get out.... The postal workers would block each departing van for several minutes before allowing it to pass. Purolator is owned by Canada Post.

"'Striking mail-monkeys from Canada Post are now trying to hinder Purolator from getting Christmas packages delivered. They sure know how to win public sympathy. Looking forward to their careers as fry-cooks,' said Western Standard columnist Cory Morgan about the photo.

"Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon criticized Canada Post management and workers Wedneday.... 'We are at a dead end in negotiations,' MacKinnon told reporters, expressing frustration over the stalled talks between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post management.... Blacklock's Reporter said he criticized the lack of progress, despite the involvement of federal mediators who withdrew earlier this week after contract negotiations collapsed.... However, he ruled out government intervention at this time, stating, 'We are not considering any intervention. Binding arbitration is not in the cards.'

"The strike, which began November 15, comes during Canada Post’s busiest season for holiday mail and parcel deliveries. A similar dispute in 2018 lasted 35 days before the government passed back-to-work legislation. At the time, Canada Post estimated rotating strikes cost the corporation $110 million.... The last strike to resolve without government intervention occurred in 1975 and lasted 43 days."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/striking-posties-blocking-christmas-deliveries-from-purolator-plant/60255

It's time to privatize Canada Post

Canada Post's request for a 25% increase in the price of stamps puts the question of privatization back on the table.  

Time to finally privatize Canada Post | Fraser Institute | Vincent Geloso, Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University"

September 25, 2024 - "Canada Post wants to increase the price of a stamp by 25 cents to $1.24 to keep up with inflation and rising costs. But Canada Post has often relied on this reasoning for previous price increases since it stopped being a government department and became a Crown corporation in 1981. Since then, it’s jacked up prices every time it’s had 'financial difficulties.' The source of these difficulties has changed over time.... The answer is, however, always the same. Prices must increase. Indeed, since 1981 stamp prices have increased 98 per cent (after adjusting for inflation). In other words, the price for stamps have increased far beyond the rate of inflation.

Canada Post LLV, 2010. Photo by Kristoferb. 

CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

"Why does Canada Post keep getting away with this? Because it has a monopoly over most of the letter market in Canada. And while it competes with private companies ... in the parcel market, Canada Post can borrow money at much lower costs than its rivals because it is a Crown corporation ultimately backed by taxpayers.... 

"Normally, a company facing losses and declining demand would innovate and reduce costs.... However, due to its monopoly over most of the letter market, Canada Post lacks this incentive. In can simply pass the burden onto consumers by raising prices, which is exactly what it has done since the 1980s. And as a Crown corporation, it cannot be purchased by another company without express approval from Ottawa. So, what’s the solution?

"In Europe, due to a directive from the European Commission, all letters regardless of weight have been open to competition since 2013. The directive does not mandate the privatization of state-owned postal companies; it simply ends postal monopolies. Combined with local liberalization efforts before 2013, this directive has forced state-owned postal service providers to better control costs because they cannot turn to taxpayers (for subsidies) or consumers (by raising prices) to bail them out. 

"Some countries such as the Netherlands, Austria and Germany [and Britain when still in the European Union - gd] went further and privatized their postal operators.... In the 10 years following privatization, prices for stamps and other postal services fell by 11 per cent in Austria, 15 per cent in the Netherlands and 17 per cent in Germany (adjusted for inflation). All these countries now have lower postal prices than the European average.

"Predictably, postal service providers in these countries found new methods of organizing their activities, tying multiple services together to generate economies of scale, and moved fast in adopting new information and logistical technologies. Due to the incentives of competition, providers focused their efforts on controlling costs — a focus Canada Post will never achieve as long as it’s a Crown corporation with a monopoly....

"Policymakers in Ottawa should finally put postal liberalization and privatization on the table. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before a new problem emerges, which Canada Post will use to justify another price increase."

Read more: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/time-to-finally-privatize-canada-post

Why We Should Privatize the Postal Service | ReasonTV | October 6, 2017:

$748 million loss posted by Canada Post in 2023

Canada Post lost $748 million in 2023, up from $548 million the year before, and another $76 million in the first quarter of 2024, bringing the Crown Corporation's losses to almost $3 Billion in six years. 

Canada Post reports $748-million loss before tax for 2023 | Canada Post (news release): 

May 3, 32024 - "Canada Post recorded a loss before tax of $748 million in 2023. Results were negatively impacted by the post-pandemic surge in parcel delivery competition, the ongoing erosion of Transaction Mail, and continued growth in addresses and delivery costs....

"In the post-pandemic parcel delivery landscape, competition has accelerated at a pace not seen in the company’s history. Canada Post’s estimated parcel delivery market share has eroded from 62 per cent prior to the pandemic to 29 per cent in 2023. At the same time, Transaction Mail continues to decline in both volume and as a revenue source. In 2006, Canadian households received an average of seven letters per week; in 2023, they received two. Delivering fewer letters to a growing number of addresses is compounding the financial pressures on the Corporation.

"In 2023, revenue fell by $240 million, or 3.3 per cent, compared to the prior year, dropping across all three lines of business – Parcels, Transaction Mail and Direct Marketing. The 2023 loss before tax widened by $200 million from a loss before tax of $548 million in 2022. The cost of operations in 2023 rose by $11 million, or 0.1 per cent, compared to 2022.... 

"Under the Canada Post Corporation Act, the postal service has an obligation to serve all Canadians in a financially self-sustaining manner based on revenue generated by the sale of postal products and services, not taxpayer dollars. Over the last 20 years, the amount of mail Canadians receive has declined by more than 50 per cent, while the number of addresses has increased by more than three million. This has resulted in lower revenues and higher costs.... Without changes to align the postal service to the needs of Canadians today, Canada Post projects larger, unsustainable losses in future years."

Read more: https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/our-company/news-and-media/corporate-news/news-release/2024-05-03-canada-post-reports-748-million-loss-before-tax-for-2023

How Canada Post lost $3B in six years | About That | CBC News | May 23, 2024:

Canada Post reports $76-million loss before tax in first quarter | Canada Post (news release): 

May 24, 2024 - "Canada Post recorded a loss before tax of $76 million in the first quarter of 2024 as revenue for Parcels and Transaction Mail declined and Direct Marketing picked up. The segment’s loss before tax improved compared to the same period of the prior year due to the receipt of non-recurring dividends partly related to the divestiture of SCI Group Inc. (SCI). Without these dividends, Canada Post’s loss before tax would have been approximately $224 million, compared to a loss before tax of $107 million in the first quarter of 2023.

"In the first quarter, Canada Post’s revenue declined by $56 million, or 1.5 per cent, compared to the same quarter of the prior year. Parcels results continued to be negatively impacted by the competitive environment, while Transaction Mail volumes continued to erode. In Direct Marketing, Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail service benefited from new business and higher sales.

"Canada Post’s loss from operations in the first quarter was $221 million, expanding by $109 million compared to the $112-million loss from operations it had recorded in the first quarter of 2023. The cost of operations increased by 2.8 per cent in the first quarter compared to the same period a year earlier.... Parcels revenue declined by $59 million, or 5.4 per cent, while volumes fell by 2 million pieces, or 1.1 per cent, compared to the same period in 2023. A crowded and competitive parcel delivery market continued to negatively affect results for the line of business.... Transaction Mail revenue fell by $20 million, or 1.3 per cent, as volumes declined by 16 million pieces, or 1.1 per cent, compared to the same period a year earlier. Transaction Mail revenue and volumes declined as consumers and mailers continued to shift to digital channels. 

"The company maintained its regulated stamp prices at 2020 levels through the first quarter of 2024. In May, Canada Post raised its regulated postage rates after receiving Governor-in-Council approval of its proposed increase. For stamps purchased in a booklet, coil or pane, which represent most stamp sales, the rate has increased by seven cents, to 99 cents per stamp. The stamp price increase took effect on May 6, 2024, and did not impact first quarter results."

Read more: https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/our-company/news-and-media/corporate-news/news-release/2024-05-24-canada-post-reports-76-million-loss-before-tax-in-first-quarter

How the Bitcoin Protocol 'changes everything'

How To Understand Bitcoin If You're Over 40 - Matt Hougan, Forbes:

August 15, 2019 - "Those of us who are over 40 can remember a time when the internet stunk: When you had to look up websites in a (printed) book; when email didn’t exist; when you couldn’t do much with the internet except send files ... using something called 'FTP' [or] 'file transfer protocol.'  'Protocol' is a fancy word that means a set of insructions for how to transfer information across the internet....

"In 1982, researchers developed ... the Simple Mail Transmission Protocol, or SMTP. SMTP allowed us to send email over the internet.... In 1989, we took another big step forward with the creation of Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. HTTP lets us send webpages with linked text (or 'hyperlinks'). It gave rise to the World Wide Web.

"In 1994, the Secure Sockets Layer protocol was created, better known as SSL. SSL allows us to securely enter sensitive information into the internet, like personal or credit card information. Not coincidentally, Amazon was founded later that year.... Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, created 1995, changed telecom forever; Real-Time Streaming Protocol, or RTSP, created in 1996, helped enable streaming video. And so on. From a distance, each of these advances seemed unprecedented. But in reality, they were just the next logical thing: a new protocol that expanded the way the internet can be used.

"The right way to think of bitcoin, crypto, and public blockchains is as the next step in this evolution. Just instead of sending files or email or voice or credit card data, bitcoin and crypto let us send money. Of course, there have been online banks and payment services for decades. But they’ve always been hybrids or bridges: A bank like Wells Fargo or a service provider like PayPal might put up a digital veneer, but it would actually extract each transaction and process it in the traditional, physical world....

"The Bitcoin Protocol’s breakthrough – the reason 'it changes everything' – is that it lets you send money over the internet natively, without a bank or a service provider in the middle.... If you want to wire $10 million to someone in another country today, for instance, it takes three-to-five days, they can deny your wire for any reason or create limits, and the fees are significant. With bitcoin, it takes about 10 minutes, it’s open 24/7, and is essentially free.... Instead of using lawyers and investment bankers, you can create any contract or trust or entity or set of financial instructions … for free.... That means disrupting services like escrow, debt issuance, derivatives, trust creation, fundraising, and more....

"[T]o move money around the world instantly on the Bitcoin blockchain, or to replace your investment bankers with the Ethereum blockchain – you have to own and use bitcoin or ether.... A lot of smart investors are buying up bitcoin and ether today, before everyone else figures out how valuable these new technologies can be....

"[E]very major new internet protocol has disrupted a major industry:

• SMTP created email and disrupted the Post Office;
• HTTP created the web and disrupted media and advertising;
• SSL created internet commerce and disrupted retail;
• RTSP created streaming and disrupted the entertainment industry.

"By allowing money to travel over the internet, Bitcoin and crypto will disrupt the financial industry just as surely as Amazon disrupted Sears."

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthougan/2019/08/15/how-to-understand-bitcoin-if-youre-over-40/#3eafc04b47a5

'via Blog this'

Amazon opts for private package delivery

Your New Mailman Works for Amazon - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world - Jeffrey A. Tucker:

November 17, 2017 - "There he was dropping off packages in the mail room. I picked up mine and walked away. Then I did a double take. The patch on his shoulder was not USPS, FedEx, or UPS. It was the familiar lower case 'a; of Amazon.

"'Wait, do you actually work for Amazon?... The company that sells things online now has its own warehouse-to-doorstep delivery service?' 'Yes, it’s been around for a year, but expanding by the day. I love my job. It’s a great company'....

"We should take time to appreciate what this means. For many decades, the government monopolized mail, crushing competitors at every turn.... When the US government cracked down on private mail services in 1834, two thirds of existing services were private. Criminal penalties were imposed and they all gradually went away.

"The rise of FedEx and UPS crawled through a loophole in the law. The government maintained its monopoly on first-class mail, but permitted exceptions for packages and special deliveries. Then came email. Once the monopoly was shattered, the government’s protected sector became nearly worthless, as we all know. People under the age of 30 hardly even go to their mailboxes anymore ... the government’s long-held control over mail was shattered not through reform or privatization but by technology, entrepreneurship, and the forward motion of history itself.

"But the entry of Amazon into the delivery space is just incredible.... Today, Amazon is a job machine. You can go to Flex.amazon.com and get a job delivering packages, doing exactly what the government has been trying to prevent since 1834.

"Forgive the term but capitalism is working.... All this competition is making everyone better off, and bringing new levels of consumer service to the market. CVS has announced that it is offering prescription delivery services just on the rumor that Amazon will enter the market. And the package delivery service will keep price pressure on everyone else.

"The real drama of our times is embedded inside these seemingly small improvements in how we live, all being delivered by private enterprise. Forgive the term but capitalism is working, despite its poor reputation. It’s not the political parties that are doing this. It’s not the bureaucracies. It’s not even the Ivory Tower. The world is being made more beautiful by the profit-and-loss system that is working to serve you and me every day."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/your-new-mailman-works-for-amazon/
'via Blog this'

British government to privatize the Royal Mail

Government to float Royal Mail on stock exchange 'in the coming weeks' - Robert Neate, The Guardian:

September 12, 2013 - "The government has confirmed it will sell off Royal Mail in 'the coming weeks' in the most contentious privatisation since the sale of the railways two decades ago.

"Vince Cable, the business secretary, on Thursday formally fired the starting gun on the £3bn sale by filing a formal 'intention to float' on the stock exchange within six weeks. At least half of the company will be floated and the size will be increased if there is sufficient demand from investors.

 "The sell-off of the 497-year-old postal service is forcefully opposed by the union, who are planning strike action timed to coincide with the sale....

"Margaret Thatcher, who privatised British Gas, British Airways, British Telecom and dozens of other state-owned institutions in the 1980s, famously refused to countenance a sale of Royal Mail, saying she was 'not prepared to have the Queen's head privatised'. Lord Heseltine and Lord Mandelson both subsequently tried but failed to sell the company, in the face of intense opposition.... 

"The sale of Royal Mail was approved by parliament in the 2011 Postal Services Act."

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/sep/12/government-float-royal-mail-stock-exchange-privatisation