John McCain - not delivering the goods for DHL - but UPS benefits

John McCain is set to meet the folks in Wilmington , in South East Ohio, who got a boost when DHL opened their shipping hub in 2003 adding 1,000 jobs to the area.

John McCain's Campaign Manager Rick Davis lobbied for the firm to buy Airborne Express, and use its domestic hub in Wilmington in southwest Ohio. He earned $185,000 for his role and received an additional $400,000 in subsequent years for his work on behalf of the firm, says a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Davis hasn't lobbied for DHL since 2005 and Mccain's PR bullshit man says , quite reasonably “At the time of the merger, no one foresaw the events that are happening today, in fact the merger actually resulted in job gains.”

In 2003, Davis lobbied the Senate to accept the proposal by DHL to buy Airborne Express for $1.05 billion. Airborne Express at the time ran the airport and package-sorting facility in Wilmington .

Filings in the Senate show Davis' lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, was hired to help both companies deal with Congress, where objections over DHL's foreign ownership arose. They are also lobbyists for GTECH the world's largest lottery firm, who tangled unsuccessfully with the bearded wonder Mr Branson.

After the merger / buyout , Ohio and local governments provided more than $400 million in incentives for road and facility upgrades, and DHL in 2005 moved its smaller air freight operation from northern Kentucky to Wilmington.

At the same time Mccain lobbied to stop famed Alaskan Ted Stevens earmark a military spending bill to stop foreign owned carriers (ie DHL) shipping military equipment /mail etc., which would have made the deal less attractive.

Now owned and operated by the German Post office (Deutsche Post World Net) German based DHL is struggling and wants to share / combine operations with the UPS Louisville , Kentucky hub - which means closing the Wilmington operation, with , it is claimed the loss of some 8,000 jobs.

There is going to be a meeting on the campus of Wilmington College Thursday afternoon at which John NcCain will speak . Rogers says “John McCain’s gonna speak directly to this issue tomorrow and layout some things that he thinks we can do to help those that are affected.”

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown held a conference call with the press tot ask McCain to help save those jobs. “Rick Davis earned hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying for DHL,” Brown said. “Now it’s time to see if he and John McCain will use their considerable clout to lobby for Ohio families.”

Now's the time DHL realise they were suckered to put their hub in nowheresville.

United Parcel Services

Readers will remember (Friday, July 11, 2008 Airline tickets prices to be cut dramatically as result of new Boeing Nextgen Tailored Arrivals : due to fuel saving efficiencies ) our enthusiasm and the details of how UPS were pioneers in using the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADSB).

ADS-B. provides them with major multiple benefits so that they they can co-ordinate arrivals precisely and take advantage of continuous descent (in which they were pioneers in developing - reducing noise , nitrogen oxide emissions and saving fuel) , even without visual contact which can eliminate low level vectoring as traffic controllers juggle with multiple East and West coast flights.

Bob Hilb, UPS's advanced flight systems manager says that if just 10% of the low-altitude maneuvers that are now occurring in the U.S. were eliminated, most airlines would be making a profit.

Not only that the UPS fleet is seeing a 30% reduction in noise and a 34% decline in emissions for ADS-B-equipped aircraft.

UPS has outfitted a fleet of 300 Boeing 757s and 767s with ADS-B for use at its Louisville hub, with similar services planned for Philadelphia.

This is an example of far sighted , sound thinking and investmnent in new technology to make that competitive edge.

Furthermore on Seeking Alpha David Jackson wrote 5 Key Quotes from UPS on the Freight Industry and the Economy after they produced their results on June 23rd. Which are a must read on the basic ecenomic outlook in the US - and they know because they deal with everybody.

"Fuel had a significant impact in the quarter, increasing $470 million, or 67% over last year. Fuel price increases had ramifications beyond just the direct cost. They caused our indirect expenses to accelerate. "

Yet they show a growth in exports of 8% - They are sponsors of the Beijing OLympics and they says "Our goal is to be the leading global package delivery, freight, and logistics company in China. " That's a big vision!

We’re serving three Olympic villages, managing 35 game venues and four distribution centers, moving everything from kayaks to shotputs. During peak operation, UPS will have 2,000 people and 138 vehicles on-site. This is a complex undertaking that demonstrates our broad, worldwide capabilities.

They take a realistic view of the remainder of 2008 - Current thinking is that the small package market will contract about 2% for the remainder of the year, as will our U.S. volumes, and we’ll see a continued decline in premium product.

This is a company trading offering a solid dividend of US$3.5o plus, atrcak record and still cheap shares - down today US$63.39 down 91 cents (- 1.72%). % .The 2 week range is US$56.10 -US$ 78.99

UPS serves more than 200 countries and territoriesworldwide and employs more than 425,000 people and has a daily volume of 15.8 Mn packages.

This share is a steal - fill ya boots. By Christmas you will be smiling .. and there may be a lot more to their announcement in May which so upset the Mayor of Wilmington

UPS announced it will work with DHL Express U.S.toward an agreement to provide transportation in its air network forall of DHL's express, deferred and international package volume withinthe United States. UPS also would provide air lift for DHL packages between the United States, Canada and Mexico.
A final contract is anticipated later this year. The agreement,when finalized,would be expected to extend for 10 years and produce up to US $1 billion in additional annual revenue for UPS. The company said it would begin phasing in a limited amount of volume in 2008 with ramp up in 2009.

Here is the welcome news - "UPS will be able to handle much of the anticipated new volume in its existing air network, although additional capacity will be added beginning in 2009 upon full implementation."

If you don't buy any shares go here and read - UPS Experts Offer Tips for Better Gas Mileage - and watch the video.

UPDATE 5 minutes later - referring to above ..
Obama recommendation that drivers keep their tires well-inflated which was mocked by Mr McCain .....

At a motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., the ageing candidate (can you see him on a motor bike ?) told the crowd: "My opponent doesn't want to drill (in offshore oil reserves), he doesn't want nuclear power, he wants you to inflate your tires."

Come Tuesday nigjht , McCain made a misd course corection ..he wasn't opposed to Obama's suggestion. " Senator Obama a couple of days ago said that we ought to all inflate our tires, I don't disagree with that. The American Automobile Association strongly recommends it, but I also don't think that that's a way to become energy independent." ..(or President ?)