Postal Hub podcast

Logistics and quick delivery expert Quaid Combstock discusses the state of quick commerce, q-commerce and ultrafast delivery. We cover:

• Is the ultrafast local delivery model viable?
• Operational and financial perspectives on q-commerce
• Death of the 15-minute SLA
• Access to "dark stores" in different markets
• Inability to batch orders with 15-minute delivery guarantee
• Ultrafast grocery delivery operators introducing their own retail ranges
• The need to increase margins
• The end game for fast delivery start-ups
• Availability of investor funds
• Merger and acquisition activity
• Is GoPuff looking to acquire?
• What has changed for venture capitalists looking at the delivery sector
• FOMO and VCs
• Competition, profitability, and proof of concept
• Is there a path to profitability?
• What postal and parcel operators need to know
• Understanding time-sensitive customers
• Hyper local collection and delivery

What's holding back the widespread deployment of electric vehicles in delivery fleets? Electric van expert Paul Kirby discusses the practical realities of setting up an EV delivery fleet. We cover:

• Are commercial electric vehicles price-competitive compare to ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles?
• Safety, ease of driving, and practical advantages of electric vehicles
• Improvements in the driving range of commercial electric vehicles
• Infrastructure requirements of an electric delivery fleet
• The "dark art" of vehicle charging
• Government approach to electric vehicles, treating light commercial vehicles the same as passenger vehicles
• Public discourse about private electric vehicles vs commercial vehicles
• Key things fleet managers need to know before converting to electric delivery vehicles
• Understanding payload, charging, and other alternative delivery modes (e.g. cargo bikes)
• The EV Café

Ann Snitko, Chief Product Officer at Omnic, discussing parcel locker network strategy, including optimisation, co-opetition, open networks, and real-time locker management.

• State of the parcel locker market
• The human issues around parcel lockers
• Why growth isn't sustainable in some markets
• Optimising the loading process for parcel lockers
• Carrier specific vs carrier agnostic vs open networks
• Co-opetition in parcel lockers - creating an open platform
• Planning and policy matters relating to parcel lockers
• Sustainability in parcel delivery
• Could parcel lockers be considered infrastructure
• Strategy for parcel lockers and alternative delivery
• How ecommerce brands fit into this delivery ecosystem
• Managing parcel locker capacity in real time

Omnic website: https://b2b.omnic.net/

Has postal reform had any effect on the US Postal Service? Mike Plunkett, President at PostCom, and Mark Fallon, President of the Berkshire Company, discuss the impacts of recent legislative reform:

• Why reform of the US postal system is important to the rest of the world
• UPU reforms show US is willing to take the lead
• Main components of the Postal Service Reform Act
• Mandated six-day-a-week delivery
• Pre-payment of future retiree benefits
• Will removal of this burden have an impact on postal rates?
• Limitations on the USPS's ability to raise its rates
• Monitoring and transparency on delivery performance
• Queries over the reported delivery volumes
• Is it important to track letter delivery service performance?
• Flats processing (large letters, catalogues and periodicals)
• Revenue vs costs for processing flats
• Processing equipment for flats
• Providing government products and services via the USPS post office network
• Are post office closures on the USPS agenda?
• Integrated package and mail services network
• Drone delivery
• Is there more postal reform to come?
• Will the USPS expand beyond its borders?

Swiss Post is encouraging innovation through partnering with and investing in start-ups. Swiss Post Director Open Innovation and Venturing Thierry Golliard explains.

• Why should a postal operator be interested in start-ups?
• Partnering and investing in start-ups, and accessing talent and resources that aren't currently inside the post
• Ensuring that start-ups aren't "lost" inside the post
• What success looks like for start-ups
• The importance of teams in creating success
• Swiss Post start-up success stories
• The strategy of investing in start-ups and "selling" the idea to internal stakeholders
• Financial services
• Posts as incubators of new ideas
• Swiss Post's innovation and start-ups team

Asia Pacific Post Cooperative (APP) Managing Director Sid Hart on APP's work and initiatives in the postal world, including cross-border packets and sustainability objectives. We cover:

• What the APP is and the geographic spread of its members
• Providing commercially-focused postal solutionsThe changing nature of the postal business
• Bringing postal operators together and formulating products and services
• Small island Pacific states
• Competition in parcel delivery
• APP's ePacket service for high volume lightweight packets
• Quality of service for ePacket
• ePacket now expanding from Asia to being a globally-accessible service
• Impact of climate change and emissions reduction on APP members
• How APP is supporting sustainability objectives
• Returning mail bags to country of origin

Three delivery experts join me to talk about the trends that will shape e-commerce and delivery in 2023.

Thiemo van Spellen, Group Global Accounts Managing Director at DPDgroup, discusses:

• Impact of geopolitical events on parcel industry
• Ecommerce growth trends
• Finding balance between managing price pressure and dealing with cost increases
• Retailers looking for cross-border growth
• Second-hand / second life marketplaces
• Sustainability and the circular economy
• Optimising end-to-end value chain
• Improving cross-border returns

Ann Snitko, Chief Product Development Officer at Omnic, covers:

• How delivery is changing
• Autonomous transport being used in logistics
• B2B sharing economy
• Delivery robots
• Hyperlocal delivery
• Growth in parcel locker networks
• Parcel locker partnerships

David Spottiswood, co-founder at Hurricane Commerce, gives us the low-down on changes affecting cross-border delivery:

• Regulation and compliance in international parcels
• Governments demanding greater visibility of cross-border parcels
• National governments seeking revenue
• ICS2
• Airlines demanding full and correct data for all shipments
• STOP Act (USA)
• Collecting accurate customs data for parcels
• Protecting market share
• Sustainability

There's a lot of talk in our sector about sustainable logistics and green delivery… but how can it actually be done? Johan Peeters, an expert in sustainable logistics, talks about the role logistics and delivery plays in creating liveable cities:

• What is emission-free delivery?
• Eliminating tailpipe emissions and sourcing green electricity
• Creating healthier and liveable cities
• How do delivery companies fit into the concept of creating healthier cities?
• Creating different delivery options to offer to e-commerce retailers and consumers
• Value of green space to delivery companies and to people
• 15-minute cities and walkable cities
• Impact of car-free zones on last mile delivery
• Changing customer delivery preferences
• Customer experience and convenience when it comes to last mile delivery
• Sustainable profits
• Cost pressure on delivery, including last mile wage costs
• How delivery companies - including postal operators - can tackle the changing demands of the sustainable last mile
• Leveraging the experience that resides in the postal company
• Changing delivery vehicle, and what that means for volume and drop density
• Convenient solutions for customers - can doorstep delivery be sustainable?
• What form might convenience take for residential and out-of-home delivery?
• Drop density, efficiency, and network design

Escher Group CEO Brody Buhler deep dives into some of the major themes unearthed in Escher's Future of Posts 2022 research, including:

• The tale of two networks: delivery and retail
• Service models - including self-serve - in post offices
• Making delivery and retail networks work together
• Exploiting returns
• A problem for retailers - but an opportunity for posts
• Tailoring returns experiences
• Making returns via the post easier for consumers
• Collecting returns to compensate for falling letter volumes
• Omnichannel
• Streamlining customs declarations for cross-border parcels
• Optimising the customer experience
• Simplifying self-service
• Diversification
• Branching into grocery and local delivery
• Partner or do-it-yourself?
• Cross-border at the crossroads
• Regulatory changes hitting cross-border volumes
• Real-time calculation of customs duties and delivery times
• Cross-border returns

Roel Gevaers PhD, Professor in Last Mile Logistics and Supply Chain, University of Antwerp, joins me to discuss the trend of global shipping companies investing in e-commerce delivery:

• Cashed-up shipping companies investing in last mile delivery and e-commerce fulfilment
• European-based container shipping companies such as Maersk, MSC, and CMA CGM making e-commerce fulfilment and delivery acquisitions
• Are they going head-to-head with integrators such as DHL or even Amazon?
• Vertical integration from the port to the customer doorstep
• Should last mile operators be concerned by these acquisitions?
• Integration the full chain, creating a one-stop shop
• Offering a sustainable solution via maritime transport
• Lessons from the pharmaceutical sector in shipping and last mile delivery
• Amazon's vertical integration journey
• Comparisons between Amazon and Chinese players such as Alibaba
• Larger e-commerce shipments, such as furniture and other two-person delivery items
• Rail's disadvantages compared with maritime shipping
• The importance of data
• China Post moving from air transport to maritime transport with COSCO