UPS, FedEx Jump to Fill DHL's Holes

Haulers are hunkering down for a 'nuclear winter' in 2009

(NEWSER) - With freight carriers predicting 2009 could be the worst year in three decades, some haulers say they’re “settling in for nuclear winter,” holding off on making capital expenditures, mothballing equipment and laying off employees, reports the Wall Street Journal. From truckers to railroads to ocean shipping, companies are scaling back sharply. More»

German firm shutters DHL Express service centers as its competition gets the better

(AP) - Deutsche Post will close all of its DHL Express service centers, cut 9,500 jobs in the US, and eliminate US-only domestic shipping by land and air, the company said today, citing heavy losses and fierce competition with UPS and FedEx. The company said the new round of cuts are on top of another 5,400 layoffs it already announced. More»

Whiteboard guy prompts FedEx parody

(NEWSER) - He’s an ad exec by trade, but Andy Azula displays his acting chops—not to mention his drawing skills—in UPS commercials so popular a rival is spoofing them. In the ads, the long-haired Azula diagrams UPS service on a whiteboard. FedEx recently launched a website that features a similar spot with an Azula lookalike, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

(NEWSER) - FedEx net income plunged 75% in the third quarter, the company announced today, a bad sign for economists who consider the shipping giant a bellwether. FedEx also announced plans to cut $1 billion in costs, though it didn’t detail how many job cuts that might entail. The company has already lowered salaries, with CEO Fred Smith taking a 20% pay cut. Shares fell 5.9% in premarket trading, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Thousands of small p

(NEWSER) - Although the stimulus package that Barack Obama signed last month contains eye-watering sums, the earliest projects out of the gate are far from monumental: widening a highway in Kansas, resurfacing some roads in Missouri. More than a dozen states have announced their plans to spend their share of the $50 billion in federal infrastructure money, reports the New York Times. Thousands of small projects are expected to employ up to 400,000 Americans. More»