Postal Hub podcast

Greenplan CEO Dr Clemens Beckmann takes us beyond the streetmap to the cutting edge of route planning.

• The problems that route planning solves
• Driver satisfaction with route planning
• How the time of day influences route planning
• Going beyond the street map: incorporating driver expertise
• Swapping parcels at the edge of delivery routes
• Overlapping delivery routes and load balancing
• Mixing letters and parcels
• Understanding minimum density of delivery points
• Calculating costs per parcel
• Greenplan's "Happy Nucleolus" methodology
• Calculating the optimum letter/parcel mix
• Emissions reporting
• Avoiding emissions through route planning
• Ensuring quality of data
• Advantages of Greenplan's route planning system

Andrius Ladauskas, CEO of Venipak, discusses e-commerce and parcel delivery trends in the Baltics.

• Venipak company profile and competitive environment in the Baltics
• Pan-Baltic parcel locker network
• Comparing shopping patterns in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia
• Challenges and opportunities with Chinese and European e-commerce businesses
• Importance of price in e-commerce volumes
• Parcel trends during peak season
• Delivery preferences across the Baltics
• Impact of pandemic on delivery preferences
• E-commerce payment preferences

Michael Anderson, global delivery and e-commerce expert, discusses Royal Mail's challenges and opportunities in the context of the UK delivery scene.

• Exploiting delivery density and minimising dead time
• Decline in letter volumes and increase in delivery points
• Letter pricing
• Opportunities in boxable packets
• Delivery networks and collection network
• Digital proof of delivery
• Unwillingness of UK government to tackle the USO issue
• Change of ownership and possibility of USO reform
• Royal Mail's proposal to change the USO
• Overview of UK parcel delivery market
• Value segment, premium segment, and express segment
• Out-of-home delivery network, including parcel lockers
• Royal Mail's home delivery advantage
• Relationship with CWU (union) and making the most of the workforce premium
• Product mix and profitability
• Capability to harvest renewable energy
• Should the Royal Mail and Parcelforce brands be kept separate?

Jakub Rymkiewicz, Market Research Manager at the IPC (International Post Corporation) discusses some of the key findings from the Cross-border E-commerce Shopper Survey 2024:

• How IPC collects the survey data, and the focus on delivery
• Growth in cross-border e-commerce from China
• Temu and other retailers - such as Shein and Amazon - fuelling growth in cross-border e-commerce
• Faster delivery speed
• Low value parcels
• Consumer expectations on delivery speed as they relate to product category or consumer segment
• Is fast delivery important?
• Customs payments
• Delivery preferences (locations)
• Free delivery
• E-commerce returns, including returns policies

Milos Zlatkovic, Founder and CEO of Mily Technologies, and Hugh Craigie Halkett, CEO and Founder of StampFree, discuss major delivery trends for 2025.

Milos Zlatkovic covers:

• Out of home delivery and cross-border ecommerce
• InPost delivering cross-border
• E-commerce growth in 2025, including very cheap cross-border purchases
• Amazon Haul, Temu and Shein
• Parcel lockers and last mile capacity
• Developing dense out-of-home delivery networks
• Cost of living and cheap delivery
• Best practice in customer delivery notifications

Hugh Cragie Halkett covers:

• Customer convenience in delivery
• Artificial intelligence and delivery services
• Parcel locker adoption in different markets
• Royal Mail deploying parcel lockers in UK
• Pricing mechanisms to encourage parcel locker usage
• Standing out - and not becoming the "carrier of last resort"
• Using technology to gain a competitive advantage

Victor Falkenklev, CEO of Falkenklev Logistik, shares his experiences electrifying Falkenklev Logistik's delivery fleet.

• The history of Falkenklev Logistik, including its partnership with DHL
• Setting up a solar energy park and using the energy to power the delivery fleet
• Building a charging station for heavy electric trucks
• DHL supporting procurement of electric vehicles
• Roadmap for fully electrifying Falkenklev's delivery fleet
• Driver feedback on electric vehicles
• Real-world learnings from delivering in cold climate
• Vision to power electric trucks from self-made electricity
• DHL's ambitions to reduce delivery emissions
• Low emission zones
• Government policy on fuel prices
• Important first steps for electrifying delivery fleets
• Corporate sustainability reporting
• Benefits of early adoption of electric vehicles in delivery

Elia Cipelletti, Logistics Operations Manager at cargo bike delivery firm So.De explains the company's origins and mission.

• The inspiration behind the creation of So.De
• Rider welfare and environmental concerns
• Why So.De uses a cargo bike fleet
• Plans for consolidation in Milan and future domestic expansion
• Milk route runs and point-to-point delivery
• Courier engagement model
• So.De's involvement with the Code Zero project and with IKEA

Mark Fallon, President and CEO of The Berkshire Company, discusses what the next Trump Presidency might mean for the US Postal Service.

• The governing structure of the USPS and the role of the President and US Congress
• USPS Office of Inspector General
• Postal Regulatory Commission, and the Chair of the PRC
• Funding of the PRC
• USPS Board of Governors and its new Chair
• US Congress and the Committees that oversee the USPS
• USO for letters and post offices
• Postal reform legislation
• Tariffs on goods imported into the USA

Guillaume Guersing, Head of Consumer Services, Geopost, explains Geopost's new e-commerce discovery platform, Singular.

• Showcasing SMEs on the Singular website
• Selecting local merchants in lifestyle categories
• Expanding Geopost's services to SMEs
• Why Singular is a discovery platform, not a marketplace
• Growth in e-commerce after Singular's launch
• How Singular differs in Italy, Spain and Croatia

Kate Muth, Executive Director at the International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG), discusses changes that will impact cross-border parcels around the world.

• Changes to de minimis rules for international shipments to the USA
• Collecting better data on cross-border parcels
• Excluding certain goods from US de minimis rules
• Potential penalties and fees on de minimis shipments
• How any changes might be made and then implemented
• Chinese retailers taking up nearshoring
• Other nations announcing changes affecting imports and e-commerce