Tom Day, Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Financial Officer at the International Post Corporation (IPC), joins me to discuss reducing emissions in the postal sector:

• Six key aims for SMMS
• Recyclable packaging products sold by postal operators
• Reusable packaging products
• The impact of 2020 on posts' emissions reduction strategies
• Workload for letter delivery compared to parcel delivery
• Strategies postal operators are using to reduce last mile emissions
• Electric vehicles and the source of electricity (renewable vs fossil fuel)
• Life cycle analysis and the goal of reducing or eliminating carbon emissions
• Rooftop solar panels and powering the post's processing cycle during the night
• Return on investment for renewables
• Savings that can be driven by building inspections and proper building maintenance
• Monitoring partner emissions (e.g. subcontractor drivers and franchised post offices)
• Suppliers reporting emissions - and customer expectations of posts to report emissions
• Government and customer pressure to reduce last mile emissions
• The urgency of reducing emissions (compared to far-off carbon reduction targets)

Brexit and the STOP Act are almost upon us! These two events will reshape global cross-border e-commerce. Martyn Noble and David Spottiswood, co-founders of Hurricane Modular Commerce join me to discuss:

• The countdown to Brexit - implications for countries inside and outside the EU
• Is it too late to start planning for post-Brexit cross-border trade?
• Data and customs
• Why Brexit is a global problem, not just an EU problem
• The need for quality data
• Implications for posts if they're not ready for Brexit and STOP Act - along with the challenges of ICS2 and VAT changes
• Growth in cross-border volumes being carried by posts
• What will happen to US-bound parcels without complete data (EAD/AED)? Will 700m parcels be returned? Who will pay? What about the environment?
• Logistics networks designed to move parcels, not store parcels
• Implications for air cargo capacity
• Sweden's imposition of VAT on inbound e-commerce shipments - and implications for collecting taxes and return of unclaimed parcels
• Showing duties and taxes in e-commerce shopping cart - price transparency of fully landed cost
• Avoiding the doorstep surprise
• Demand outstripping capacity in air cargo
• What postal operators have to do to get cross-border right, including:
  • Missing incomplete data (including HS6 codes), and vague descriptions
  • Shipper and consignee data
  • Valuation of contents
  • Prohibited and restricted goods, denied parties, and countries of origin
• Opportunities for postal operators who get cross-border right - in both B2B and B2C
• Reducing unit costs and growing profitability
• Postal operators partnering with private carriers for cross-border shipments
• Checking data and avoiding data leakage
• C2C parcels: the final frontier!
• Marketplace platforms and cross-border opportunities

What's the future for Royal Mail's Universal Service Obligation (USO)? It's not just about letters! Tim Harrison, Senior Policy Researcher at Citizens Advice, joins me to discuss:

• Role of Citizens Advice as a consumer advocate
• Royal Mail's USO for letter delivery and parcel delivery
• Comparison with letter delivery obligations in other countries
• Royal Mail exceeding regulatory obligations for parcel delivery
• Remote surcharges of up to 51% - and the definition of remote in the UK
• Which delivery companies deliver to remote parts of the UK?
• Digitally excluded customers and how they interact with the post office and letters network
• The 5.3 million digitally excluded people in the UK
• Quality of the letters service
• Reliability of parcel delivery
• Penalties on consumers for using the mail
• The consequences for consumers who can't access the mail
• Why some people in the UK are unable to reliably and regularly access their letters
• How to give vulnerable people access to the mail
• Making pricing of mail and mail-related services (such as redirections) affordable for everyone
• The role of Ofcom (the UK regulator)

AED/EAD is a hot topic in international postal circles right now! Kate Muth, Executive Director at IMAG (International Mailers Advisory Group), shares an update on sharing advance electronic data for cross-border parcels - and compliance with the USA's STOP Act:

• Background to the STOP Act
• Movement of illicit narcotics through the international postal system
• AED (or EAD) to help customs authorities
• Timelines for providing AED
• Will all countries meet 100% AED provision?
• The OIG's research into AED compliance
• China's progress in providing AED
• Exemptions and waivers
• Untracked items
• Remediation for international items without AED
• Rules for dealing with non-compliant items
• US capacity to store inbound international items, impact on quality of service and cost
• Will non-compliant parcels be destroyed?
• Collecting data at the post office counter
• Who pays for what?
• Truthfulness of customs declarations
• Other countries demanding inbound article data
• Harmonisation codes
• Is the data helping authorities find illicit substances in the mail?
• The importance of sharing data for cross-border parcels

Josh Dinneen, Chief Commercial Officer at LaserShip, joins me to discuss research into shopping trends during the pandemic - and what all that means for the delivery sector:

• Older generations embracing ecommerce
• Indicators for continued strength in parcel volumes
• Retailers going bankrupt and store closures during the pandemic, compared to online fulfilment
• Customer preferences and behaviours relating to shipping costs
• Free shipping: is it now a basic requirement?
• Is free delivery incompatible with fast delivery?
• Customer expectations on speed by generation
• How retailers can differentiate their delivery options
• Delivery satisfaction
• Delivery's role in retaining customers
• What customers want from the delivery experience
• B2C delivery preferences - including time windows
• Virtual proof of delivery
• Predictions for peak season - including retailers bringing sales forward to make it an elongated peak
• Post-Christmas sales

Khaled Naim, co-founder and CEO of Onfleet, joins me to discuss the modern customer experience in delivery:

• The importance of the e-commerce shopper's customer experience
• How Amazon is raising customer expectations in delivery
• Three ways to optimise customer delivery experience
• The role drivers can play in enhancing the customer experience
• Real-time customer support
• Customer demands for same-day delivery
• Can retailers offer a high standard of customer delivery experience?
• Route optimisation
• Reducing failed first-time delivery attempts
• Communications with the parcel recipient
• Developments in e-commerce stimulated by the pandemic
• Changes to consumer ordering habits
• The need for speed
• Creative solutions to the capacity crunch
• Contactless delivery

Parcel locker evangelist and bpost VP Locker Boost Catherine De Baets joins me to talk about bpost's Ecozone project to go emission-free in the last mile:

• bpost parcel locker boost programme
• Background to the Ecozone in the Belgian city of Mechelen - and working towards being completely emission-free
• Combining a dense locker network with electric vehicles
• Cooperating with local retailers
• Creating mini-hubs
• What "lean lockers" are
• Creating a flexible parcel locker network
• The "Four-S" model for determining locker locations
• Physical parcel pick-up points (post offices and PUDOs) in the Ecozone
• Promoting parcel lockers to locals in Mechelen
• Customer delivery preferences
• Next stages of the Ecozone delivery concept
• Reducing risk of customers using their car to collect parcels from lockers
• bpost personnel involvement

Lee Spratt, CEO of DHL eCommerce Solutions Americas, joins me to talk about preparations for peak season 2020:

• Events that usually kick off peak season
• Bringing forward peak planning
• Parcel volumes during 2020 that have exceeded peak 2019
• Asking e-commerce retailers to forecast and manage volumes
• Working with last mile partners (including work share arrangements with US Postal Service)
• Balancing peak loads in the last mile
• Hiring surge for 2020 peak season
• Where temporary staff will go
• Additional space to accommodate extra volumes
• Post-peak plans for additional sites
• Changes in consumer behaviour bringing purchases forward
• Employee safety and changes in procedures
• Having a multi-carrier delivery strategy
• Artificial intelligence and using data to be more efficient

Alexander Haneng, Director for Digital Innovation at Posten Norge / Bring, joins me to talk about delivery innovation in Norway:

• Background to the partnership with supermarket chain Coop
• Penetration of online groceries and home delivery
• Building a home delivery solution very quickly and integrating it into Posten's delivery network
• How the system works in practice, including picking orders, packaging, and choosing the right delivery network
• Keeping orders cool while out for delivery
• Same-day and next-day delivery of groceries
• Mapping the supermarket network and Posten's delivery network to come up with efficient routing
• Parcel lockers and parcel delivery preferences in Norway
• Key considerations when choosing parcel locker locations
• Promoting delivery options to online shoppers
• Contactless delivery via lockers and easy access
• Posten Norge's Amoi marketplace in Oslo
• Same-day local delivery for small retailers
• Innovating to find new revenue sources - especially as letter volumes fall
• Posten's digital letter - and a crafty way to test customer acceptance!
• Collecting parcels from customers' letter boxes

Here's the link to register for Parcel+Post Expo: parcelandpostvirtuallive.com

Marek Różycki and I will be online at 2pm (European time) on Thursday 15 October - make sure you add our workshop to your calendar!

How did the US Postal Service become a political football? And what happens next? Analysis from John Callan of Ursa Major Associates:

• Pre-paying pension obligations
• No governors on the US Postal Service board
• 2018 taskforce report and hints at privatisation
• President Trump and Amazon - and Jeff Bezos
• The USA's stoush with the UPU over terminal dues
• Megan Brennan's retirement as USPS Postmaster General - did she jump or was she pushed?
• The make-up of the US Postal Service board of governors
• Relief funding for the US Postal Service during the pandemic (CARES Act) and the terms of that "loan"
• President Trump's pressure on the USPS to increase parcel rates
• The influence of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
• Parcel volumes, revenues and margins… and the revelation that Amazon is a profitable parcel for the US Postal Service!
• Appointment of the new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy:
  • The executive search agency's shortlist
  • How DeJoy's name was put to the USPS Board
  • DeJoy's background in logistics
• USPS Governor David Williams' resignation
• The USPS executive reorganisation
• Trucks leaving on time! And reducing overtime payments to employees.
• Eliminating street posting boxes
• Lack of clear communication from the USPS on changes to delivery
• DeJoy's management style
• Consultation and the decision-making process
• Congressional hearings
• Failure of Congress to deliver reform
• Postal ballots / voting by mail
• Will DeJoy continue in the face of this political furore?
• After all the political fighting is over, what happens next? Will any of these politicians carrying on about the USPS be able to address the core issues affecting the USPS?
• Privatisation of the US Postal Service (through work sharing, or outsourcing)
• If DeJoy resigns or is forced out, who would take over?
• And in closing… gopost (the USPS parcel locker network) and the concept of a carrier-agnostic universal parcel locker service (refer episode 208)