Last Mile Brief 25/01/2023: Glovo to be fined another $62 mln for labour violations in Spain, Reuters reports
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In today's Last Mile Brief, we have news of another whopping fine for Glovo, several developments stateside concerning USPS, and a new parcel sorting machine for the Polish Post.

Today’s headline story: Glovo to be fined another $62 mln for labour violations in Spain, Reuters reports
Europe round up
- A jewellery seller says she is losing hundreds of pounds due to delivery issues related to the recent Royal Mail cyber-attack.
- Package and advanced asset tracking company Position Imaging has signed a multinational service provider agreement with NCR to become the company’s installation, service and support partner for its iPickup Point retail fulfillment platform.
- Venipak has opened its first parcel machine in Estonia and has plans to install another 151.
- Royal Mail staff are to be balloted again about future strikes as part of the ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
- Amazon has launched an ‘urgent investigation’ amid claims some UK-based workers employed with 3rd parties have been left unpaid.
- Amazon has announced a €3m investment to restore nature and wildlife in France with CDC Biodiversité.
- Guernsey Post has plans to reduce its workforce by about 30 jobs to combat its financial losses.
- Swiss Post has announced that its parcel volumes in 2022 declined by 4% year-on-year.
- The Polish Post (Poczta Polska) has ordered a new parcel sorting machine worth 120 million zł.
- The number of persons using rapid grocery delivery services in the Netherlands has dropped noticeably compared to last August, according to a survey by Kantar.
- The Netherlands’ new LEV-framework, which concerns small electric vehicles including cargobikes, is ridden with legal issues, writes LEVA.
- Poste Italiane has been named a “Top Employer” for the fourth consecutive year.
- DPD has summarised its operations in Poland in 2022. The company used 300 electric vans, handled over 4.5 million parcels, and covered almost 2 million Kilometres.
- UK retailer One Stop is doubling its home delivery range with over 2,500 products now available online.
North America round up
- Microsoft is set to invest in autonomous trucking startup Gatik, writes Reuters.
- Americans are cutting back on many everyday purchases amid inflation, while splurging on a few big-ticket, luxury items. The phenomenon has been dubbed the “split-brain” budget, writes the Wall Street Journal.
- USPS would benefit from taking a longer-term approach when investing its cash on hand, the agency’s inspector general has said in a new report.
- The USPS Logistics team has installed new barcodes on nearly 95% of its fleet.
- Lingering staffing issues, low wages and higher-than-expected online consumer purchases have all contributed to major worker shortages at USPS in Colorado.
- USPS is moving forward with a plan that would combine and centralise carrier operations in new, larger mail sorting and delivery centres.
- Amazon has launched a new service named RxPass, which allows Prime members to receive as many eligible medications as they need for $5 and have them delivered at no extra charge.
News from the rest of the world
- India’s Zomato has insisted it is rebranding rather than shutting down its 10-minute delivery service.
- Zomato has also announced its intention to hire as many as 800 people.
- Inflation blamed for 60-70% drop in home delivery orders in Kuwait.
- A set of voluntary guidelines has been launched in Singapore dealing with food sold on the internet.
- Deliveroo has partnered with over 1,000 restaurants in Qatar in its first 100 days of operation in the country.
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Photo: Pacopac, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons