1. UPS and Teamsters Negotiations Shift to National Agreement
3 weeks after talks in Washington D.C. began, UPS and the Teamsters began negotiating on the national-level collective bargaining agreement last Monday. This came after the union refused to talk on the national contract until agreements were reached on all 40 regional supplemental contracts. Two of these are still being worked on, but the Teamsters reps handling those negotiations urged the group to move forward with the national negotiation.
The Teamsters largely presented non-economic proposals, such as eliminating certain employment classes and ending use of personal-owned delivery vehicles, early in the negotiation. The regional supplemental contracts typically cover most worker benefits.
Both sides seem to be pleased with the progress that was made on the supplemental contracts.
Article from Mark Solomon, FreightWaves
2. Roadie Launching Same-Day Oversized Service
UPS-owned crowdsourced delivery provider Roadie launched RoadieXL last week. The service is designed for items over 60 pounds, and matches them to drivers certified to handle larger items.
The program is designed to address growing demand for deliveries of large items to be delivered from retailers in the same way small parcels are. Roadie had been using crowdsourced drivers to make those deliveries before, but this is the first time they’ve introduced specific technology to scale the service type. According to COO Dennis Moon, “we’re able to find the exact vehicle that can do that delivery based on what it has available from a space standpoint.”
Article from Max Garland, Supply Chain Dive
3. Amazon Offering Customers Money to Pick Up Items
Amazon announced plans to offer U.S. customers $10 to forego home delivery and pick up a package themselves. Those who have never used Amazon’s pickup services, or haven’t in the last year, are eligible.
According to the company, the promotion isn’t necessarily new, they’ve just recently made a new push for customers to pick up orders from participating retail partners’ locations or Amazon’s parcel lockers.
Increasing the use of self-pickup options could drastically reduce delivery costs for the eCommerce giant, who also recently implemented a $1 fee for returns sent through a UPS Store when there’s an Amazon delivery/pickup location closer to the returner’s home address.
