TNT Post Germany plans to launch a nationwide delivery network through its existing deliveryorganisation “Mail Alliance” and the independent mail network “P2” to create a rival to Deutsche
Post, according to a report in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).Mario Frusch, Managing Director at TNT Post Germany, told the FAZ that the company aims to gearthe two delivery associations “Mail Alliance” and “P2” closely with each other, thus increasing theeffectiveness of the two Deutsche Post competitors. “The talks are progressing well. Together withall parties involved, we will establish a nationwide alternative network in Germany.” The firsttalks two years ago failed to reach an agreement.
TNT Post Germany is one of the main shareholders of the Mail Alliance which was launched incooperation with the publishing groups Holtzbrinck, Madsack and Pressedruck in 2010, with 140 localmail services belonging to the association. The network of P2 (the second post) comprises a further44 delivery partners supported by nearly two dozen companies that are linked to publishers, in mostcases.
On the regional level, P2 and Mail Alliance already work together but still have to rely onDeutsche Post. The letters they collect from companies and authorities are pre-sorted according torecipient regions and then handed over to Deutsche Post with corresponding discounts so it alsoearns money from each shipment. This way, around 1.6 billion letters, which is almost half of thetotal volumes of the competitors, was fed into the Deutsche Post network last year, while 1.7billion items were delivered by the competitors on their own.
The competitors want to break away from their dependency from the former monopolist throughcloser cooperation and coordinated nationwide cooperation “on the last mile” to households, thenewspaper explained.
Frusch also claimed Deutsche Post is carrying out hidden dumping practices. “The postal operatorpulls out all the stops to keep down the competitors. The price floor is undermined with hiddendiscounts and package deals,” he alleged.
With a market share of around 6% and almost 3,000 employers, TNT Post is by far the biggestcompetitor of Deutsche Post, with all the other competing companies accounting for around 10% ofthe German mail market.
TNT Post is also cooperating with DPD through its subsidiary PostCon which collects parcels fromcompanies during its mail collection tours and hands them over to DPD for further delivery. Inreturn, the DPD parcel carriers take mail for TNT Post with them. Further partnerships are beingconsidered, FAZ reported.
Frusch said he expects further benefits from TNT Post’s agreement with Deutsche Telekom for itsnew electronic mail service De-Mail. It is in charge of identifying Telekom customers who want totake part in the secure electronic data exchange in the internet and the physical delivery ofshipments to recipients who don’t have a De-Mail account.
“We will considerably increase sales and volumes this year,” Frusch forecasted. The costreductions have been effective and the annual loss for 2011 was significantly lower than the €40million estimated in the market, he said. TNT Post Germany aims to break even in 2013.
