Sandra Frandsen | Couriers.com

Deutsche Post AG, parent company of DHL, will close all of its U.S. based DHL Express service centers, cutting 9,500 jobs in the United States in addition to the 5,400 jobs already reduced this year. In a press conference this morning, the group released plans to eliminate U.S. domestic shipping by land and air by January 30, 2009. The International express and logistics business in the U.S. will be maintained and the region will remain an integral part of DHL's global Express network.

John Mullen, responsible for Express on Deutsche Post World Net's Management Board, commented: "This is the right move for our U.S. operations given the current economic climate and for the long run. Focusing our U.S. Express efforts on what we do better than anyone else - international shipping - serves the best interests of our customers, employees and shareholders around the world."

Keith McCartan | Couriers.com

One of the key features of finding new customers online is they usually do not exhibit the same level of price sensitivity that you see from new customers gained from traditional sources - especially direct sales. That is because they come to you with an immediate need for your services. This is confirmed by the fact that they already took the proactive step of typing a search term in to a search engine prior to calling you. An example of a typical search term would be "Boston same day courier"

By listing your business on the Couriers.com Courier Directory you can generate your share of online leads - for free. We do not charge for a basic listing because our revenue model is advertising based.

JAMES MENZIES | Truck News.com

HALIFAX, N.S. -- Ray Mawhinney, chair of RBC Asset Management, delivered a refreshingly optimistic overview of the US economy and its trucking industry during the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association's first ever International Transportation Summit here this week.

Although he began with a disclaimer that he's not an economist, Mawhinney's role is to analyze US economic conditions and specifically the health of the US trucking industry for investors. While he acknowledged the US economy is on its way into recession this quarter, he said it's not insurmountable.

ANDY MEEK | The Daily News

It is arguably the most successful business story to emerge from Memphis, and it is a company whose performance is widely regarded as a ground-level indicator of the country’s economic health.

So it’s probably no surprise last week’s wild stock market swings did not spare FedEx, the Memphis-based package delivery company whose share price lost about $4 by the end of the week. When it dipped to $61.68 per share during trading Friday, the stock hit a 52-week low.

FedEx shares ended the week, however, only down about 5 percent. And the company’s chairman, president and CEO showed little worry at FedEx’s annual meeting of shareholders a few weeks ago at The Peabody hotel.

Sandra Frandsen | Couriers.com

NEW ORLEANS, LA

The American Trucking Associations' Management Conference & Exhibition, which concluded yesterday in New Orleans with a panel discussion on the economy.  The panel, which included Wachovia Corp. analyst Mark Vitner, ATA chief economist Bob Costello and was moderated by Stuart Varney of FOX News, opened with Association President and CEO Bill Graves.

Keith McCartan | Couriers.com

Welcome to Couriers.com -- a brand new website. Our mission is.

"To be the preferred resource for courier industry professionals and people who use courier services".

Our goal is to add value to our users online experience in a number of ways.

• Timely and Relevant Articles
• Interactive Forum
• Comprehensive Courier Directory
• Other User Resources

Gerald Woodgate | TNN

Although the recent credit crunch and resulting economic uncertainty are affecting the growth potential of the European express industry, the main effects will be on the use of different modes of transport and profitability rather than on overall levels of parcel volumes.

Indeed, supply chain rationalization, internationalization and business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce are continuing to drive industry growth.

Jessica Wehrman | Dayton Daily News

WASHINGTON — Ohio lawmakers urged a House committee Tuesday to give close scrutiny to a proposal that would allow United Parcel Service to fly DHL's express delivery packages, saying it would drive up prices for consumers and decimate the town of Wilmington, Ohio and southwest Ohio's economy.

ANDY MEEK | The Daily News

For both shareholders and executives of FedEx Corp., the transportation giant’s expected outlook for 2009 soon will come more into focus after several months of wrestling with the housing and economic slump in the U.S. The company’s earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 is due this month, and September also will see the 2008 annual meeting of FedEx stockholders held in Memphis in the Grand Ballroom of The Peabody hotel. The last earnings report in June found FedEx expecting to see earnings of 80 cents to $1 per share for Q1 fiscal year 2009, even though Wall Street analysts were forecasting $1.27 per share.

Keith McCartan | Couriers.com

Thought I would give everyone a quick update on how we are proceeding with the site development.

• First, my apologies to anyone that may have been victim to some intermittent site "crashes" late in August and early September.  Those issues have since been resolved.
  
  
• Our Courier Directory is now up and running and we are accepting new entries. To list your site you must register first. Once registered you will be able to add listings to the directory. Check out our Directory Help for more information. There is no charge to list.
  

Sandra Frandsen | Couriers.com

A delegation of Consumer, Minority, Civil Rights & Worker Advocates conducted joint protests today at Daimler-Benz's headquarters in Farmington Hills, Michigan and the German embassy in Washington, D.C.