UPS has committed itself to providing $1 million in relief aid support for victims of Japan’sdevastating earthquake and tsunami as express operators continue to face operating disruptions in
the country.The UPS Foundation yesterday pledged $1 million in relief for earthquake victims in Japan. Thefunds will be used for in-kind transportation of emergency supplies, trained humanitarian logisticspersonnel, and financial support. UPS said it is coordinating with its existing relief agencypartners, including the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, to determine their needs and has traineddisaster response experts on stand-by.
Meanwhile, UPS has resumed operations in Japan but some areas still have limited service and thecompany has temporarily suspended service in Northern, Eastern and parts of Central Japan. UPS has34 weekly flights to Tokyo’s Narita airport and Osaka’s Kansai International, and operates throughseven bonded warehouses, a logistics distribution centre and agent facilities. The company hasabout 1,000 employees in Japan, and operates on the ground through ten pick-up and delivery centresas well as 50 access points.
FedEx already announced yesterday that it would no longer accept shipments for Tokyo’s NaritaAirport and has suspended delivery services in eastern Japan due to the instability of criticalinfrastructure including transportation, power and fuel. It is working with its long-standinghumanitarian organisation partners American Red Cross, Heart to Heart International, Water Missionsand Direct Relief International to assist in bringing critical medical and other emergencysupplies. The US integrator has MD-11 flights to Narita, Kansai and Nagoya. In Japan, it has some1,600 employees, more than 520 vehicles and operates a network of 20 stations and more than 80other drop-off points.
DHL said it is doing “the best it can” to keep goods flowing in and out of the country, whilefollowing all guidelines and rules applied by Japanese authorities. DHL flight and import-exportoperations are up and running and pick-up-and-delivery services are operating, however partly withsome delays. DHL Express has some temporary service suspensions in non-accessible or hard-to-reachareas in north-eastern Japan.
TNT Express resumed operations over the weekend, albeit not at full capacity. It operated mostpick-up and delivery (PUD) services in Tokyo and Osaka yesterday and continued operations innorthern Japan wherever possible.
