UPS ASKS DOT TO STAY DHL’s AIR FORWARDING AUTHORITY

UPS ASKS DOT TO STAY DHLÆS AIR FORWARDING AUTHORITY    United Parcel Service has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to stay DHL Worldwide Express’ foreign air forwarding authority, pending the outcome of a formal investigation into the legality of DHL’s overall air forwarding license.
   The DOT is investigating UPS charges that DHL’s license should be canceled because of violations of U.S. ownership requirements. Under U.S. law, ownership of U.S. air carriers by non-U.S. entities is limited to 25 percent.
'    FedEx and UPS claim that DHL Airways, the parent of DHL Worldwide Express is now 51-percent controlled by Deutsche Post, the German postal service monopoly.
   UPS asked for an immediate stay of DHL’s freight forwarding authority on grounds that it is now invalid under U.S. due process laws, DOT regulations and the Administrative Procedures Act.
   The DOT approved the company’s foreign air forwarding authority Nov. 16, without giving the public or the DOT staff sufficient time to address major policy and legal questions, UPS said.
   The Atlanta-based integrated carriers argued that allowing DHL to carry on forwarding operations while a formal investigation is pending harms the public interest, because the company is controlled by a foreign postal monopoly which has access to and is operating in the U.S. domestic market.
   Deutsche Post, the ultimate parent of DHL, has been selling billions of dollars in government-owned real estate assets since 1998 and is using the proceeds to fund acquisitions and bolster infrastructure shortcomings, UPS said.
   The German postal service is now planning to sell $1.4 billion in real estate assets, and along with the $7 billion already sold, will provide the company with nearly $8.4 billion to fund acquisitions and make infrastructure improvements, UPS said in a petition filed with the DOT.
   “In addition to facing the obvious harm created by the presence of an unauthorized competitor, UPS and other parties face imminent harm of the DOT permits the Deutsche Post to make these purchases through DHL,” UPS said.