Showing posts with label parcel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parcel. Show all posts

Wednesday 4 October 2023

US Government shutdown delayed, but exporters should brace for Christmas disruption, warns ParcelHero

An 11th-hour deal means a potential US Government shutdown has been postponed until 17 November. But international parcel delivery expert ParcelHero says a long-term agreement looks further away than ever. UK exporters to the US should prepare for disruption before Christmas, it warns.

The US Government narrowly avoided a shutdown of many services after a stopgap funding deal was finally agreed last Saturday. 

The shutdown could have had an impact on UK-US trade and deliveries. But home delivery expert ParcelHero is warning the deal may have only delayed the inevitable until November 17th.

With mere hours to spare, the Republican House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, managed to delay a Government shutdown for a further 45 days. 

Tens of thousands of US Government employees would have been furloughed without pay and many federal services suspended from 00:01 ET (5am BST) on Sunday.

ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: "The short-term funding deal is good news for the US economy and everyone who does business with America. But in truth it's only kicked the can down the road. And a deal in November now looks even less likely to be a success.

‘The Government funding bill was narrowly passed in the House when McCarthy struck a deal with the Democrats, in defiance of the hard-line right in his own party. Rebel Republicans previously threatened to trigger moves to replace McCarthy if he were to make such a deal. Now they have started proceedings that will end in his replacement, possibly with a Speaker less willing to seek a compromise. If that happens, the chances of a funding deal on 17 November look even more distant."

He went on to say: "If there's a US Government shutdown after 17 November, it could have an impact on UK businesses and individuals who are sending products, gifts and mail to the US. That’s bad news leading in to the peak Christmas season. Some of the services which may be potentially affected are:

Mail

‘Many traditional UK Post Office mail services and certain economy courier services to the USA make use of the United States Postal Service for final delivery. There were some fears a shutdown could disrupt low-cost UK-US mail deliveries.

‘However, the USPS is funded via the sales of products (like stamps) and services, and not directly by the US Government. That means deliveries shouldn't be interrupted.

"The US National Postal Mail Handlers Union says: "It needs to be emphasised that the Postal Service and its employees won't be directly impacted by a shutdown. The USPS isn't an appropriated federal agency, and Mail Handlers will still receive pay checks and will still report to work." US Post Offices should also remain open.

Customs and maritime shipments

"The US Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) says a potential shutdown “will hinder the work of Government agencies that contribute to the foreign commercial activities of the United States”. That list includes US Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, the Department of Transportation and the Federal Maritime Commission.

"CSIS says: “Essential work from agencies such as Customs and Border Protection’s cargo processing and inspection at ports, will continue, but functions less essential to day-to-day work but ultimately critical to these agencies’ long-term capabilities, like training activities, will be suspended.”

"Likewise, Government activities related to imports and trade monitoring, such as tariff exclusion request processing, would likely cease.

Airfreight

‘Many UK products are airfreighted to America, often in the holds of passenger services. The US political news site The Hill reports US Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has warned of potential disruptions in the airline industry, and highlighted the possible impact of a shutdown on air traffic control training:

“A shutdown would include, just in the transportation side alone, shutting down air traffic control training at the exact moment when the country recognizes the need for more, not less air traffic control staffing, and when we have finally got cancellations back at or below normal rates. 

"The air traffic controllers who would be working in the towers, they wouldn’t get paid. They’re under enough stress as it is doing that job without having to come into work with the added stress of not receiving a pay check.”

US services

‘Finally, during the last shutdown, almost 90% of the Department of Commerce’s staff was furloughed and the International Trade Commission was closed. Any progress on the elusive US-UK free trade agreement would also be further hindered. ParcelHero’s USA page will give live information on all available services in the event of a US Government shutdown, as well as full details on Customs advice, sending food, prohibited items, etc. 

‘The US is ParcelHero’s biggest individual overseas market. For expert advice on UK-US shipping, including Customs information, help for exports and prohibited items details, see: https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/international-courier-services/usa-parcel-delivery

Monday 26 December 2011

Don't Yell for Yodel!

Don't yell for Yodel! That's the message that many customers are sending to mail order firms like Amazon, Littlewoods, Early Learning Centre, Homebase, Tesco, etc.

Yodel appear not to acknowledge that they have a problem, diverting attention from problems by saying that they made many successful deliveries.

However, there have been far too many examples of deliveries not being made to the intended recipient for utterly ludicrous and dubious reasons. Typical claims are that people were not in to receive the parcel when they were at home. That a card was put through a letterbox, when it wasn't. That because the home they were to deliver to was in a remote rural location they could not find it. Even though the address was, in reality, quite close to the centre of a very busy town!

If you cannot get any sense from Yodel or the firm that you have bought the item from (after all it is THEIR responsibility to ensure that you receive the goods you buy from them!) you can try contacting Consumer Direct http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/index.htm who will be able to help tell you either get your goods or your money back.

Complaints to Yodel can be made at http://www.yodel.co.uk/contact-us.aspx.

Also if you bought your goods by credit card then under the current laws you can get your money back from the credit card company.

Sunday 4 December 2011

Beat the Christmas Postal Rush This Year With ParcelsPlease

ParcelsPlease
With Christmas just round the corner, the leading parcel delivery company ParcelsPlease advise customers of their collection dates, so they can have all their gifts delivered by the 25th of December.

The festive season is almost upon us, and with so much to do in time for Christmas day, the UK parcel delivery company, ParcelsPlease have released their collection dates for Christmas and New Year, so that consumers can be extra organised and most importantly, have more time to spare so that they can sit back, relax and finally, enjoy Christmas 2011.

A spokesperson for ParcelsPlease comments: “Christmas is a fantastic time of year, but it's also one of the busiest seasons for the postal service, and we know that if customers are kept up to date on the final posting dates before Christmas, it helps them be more organised with what gifts and cards they need to post. So on the ParcelsPlease website, we've made it so much easier for our customers to arrange their Christmas deliveries by allowing them to make bookings up to three weeks before the day of collection, which means that they can plan ahead and beat the horrible winter weather, simply by using ParcelsPlease.”

The collection dates for Christmas and new year can be accessed on the ParcelsPlease Christmas Parcel Deliveries page where customers can quickly and easily find the company's parcel collection dates for this period, depending on the date, and most importantly, the location of the customer. Which means that all their customers will be able to find out when their parcel can be collected, and most importantly, when it will arrive.

The spokesperson for ParcelsPlease continues: “With Christmas fast approaching, to a lot of people there is nothing more important than insuring that Christmas presents reach their loved ones in plenty of time for the 25th December. Instead of waiting in queues to post your parcel, we encourage customers to use use the ParcelsPlease website and benefit from our vast experience in shipping Christmas presents around the world. Whether it’s to send a present to an aunt in France or a friend in Australia, ParcelsPlease is a cost effective and reliable parcel delivery company to trust with Christmas deliveries.”

FACTFILE:

ParcelsPlease is the online trading name of Consolidated Carriers Ltd, known as CCL, which offers reliable mail delivery in the UK, Europe and worldwide. CCL – a complete logistics supermarket – has been operating in the logistics industry since 1999, and has moved over 10 million parcels to date.

Booking deliveries with ParcelsPlease and CCL means dealing with a company that knows the logistics industry inside out, and which shares contracts with the world's most reliable and competitive parcel carriers.

ParcelsPlease and CCL value everything from quality to responsibility, including the environment; ParcelsPlease not only has ISO 14001 (the internationally accepted standard outlining an effective Environmental Management System (EMS) Standard) but is also carbon neutral as well.

For more information about CCL, please visit our corporate website at http://www.ccl-logistics.com/