DHL Express continues to invests in the US due to expected growth

Nov 18, 2016: DHL Express is continuing its investment plan for the United States and the Americas as growth in the region meets expectations. The $185 million investment earmarked for 2016 and 2017 is focused on infrastructure, technology, and people, creating some 900 new jobs in 2016. Besides investing in its operations in the US, […]

DHL Express continues to invests in the US due to expected growth
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Nov 18, 2016: DHL Express is continuing its investment plan for the United States and the Americas as growth in the region meets expectations.

The $185 million investment earmarked for 2016 and 2017 is focused on infrastructure, technology, and people, creating some 900 new jobs in 2016.

Besides investing in its operations in the US, DHL Express is also committing funds to support its growth plan in key countries in the region including Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Peru.

“As part of our focus on international express shipping and our commitment to continually improving customer service, we are directing our investments toward upgrading our facilities, expanding our staff and providing them with the technology they need to enhance productivity and to be more efficient,” explains Ken Allen, member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post AG, and CEO, DHL Express.

For instance, DHL Express has rolled out new ‘smart’ scanners for its couriers, which are faster, lighter and equipped with voice and GPS capabilities and allow for the addition of new features such as stop-by-stop sequencing as well as turn-by-turn navigation so they can improve their efficiency while on the road.

DHL has already completed a portion of the $108 million investment project at its Americas Hub, located at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, which was announced last year. The North Ramp expansion, which opened just two weeks ago, is built on 45 acres of land and provides parking space for 16 additional planes each night and adds new storage and warehouse space for ramp equipment and shipping containers. Coming next year will be additional automated sorting capability and 40 new reload positions that will enhance the hub’s efficiency to handle the growing e-commerce volume seen in the US and the Americas.

DHL Express is spending $20 million in these two years to upgrade and expand its ground fleet, adding more fuel-efficient vehicles including fully electric vans and electric forklifts at its JFK facility. Next year, the company will focus on replacing trucks and tractor-trailer combinations with more efficient models as part of the company’s overall GoGreen strategy to reduce carbon emissions and its impact on the environment.

DHL Express is applying an additional amount of nearly $60 million to expand and add facilities as well as provide technology/security upgrades and new equipment such as the new courier scanners. It has added three new service centres in New York City, Chicago, and Seattle as well as expanded another three this year. It upgraded its Los Angeles gateway in 2016 and plans to add a new gateway in Chicago and refurbish its JFK gateway in 2017, adding a new, improved automated sort system that will facilitate earlier morning deliveries in the New York market.

To better handle growing e-commerce volume, the new positions include full- and part-time couriers for more evening delivery routes, and more back-office customer service representatives to coordinate deliveries and customs agents to facilitate clearance. Currently, the company also is working to fill 250 new full-time jobs at its Cincinnati hub to handle increased volume.

“This approach focuses on convenient pick-up and drop-off options, proactive notification and flexible delivery solutions. We are also reconfiguring delivery routes to handle more afternoon deliveries due to an increasing number of shipments going to residential customers, in part due to increased e-commerce volume,” said Mike Parra, CEO, DHL Express Americas.

DHL is expecting to see an overall 12-percent volume increase year over year during the 2016 holiday season. The continued strong US dollar means consumers can shop abroad for holiday gifts, so a bigger gain in import volume is expected. However, smaller gains in outbound shipments are likely because the higher dollar makes US goods more expensive to foreign buyers. DHL expects its busiest shipment pick-up day will be on Cyber Monday, November 28, while couriers are gearing up for their biggest delivery day on December 19, just six days before Christmas, where delivery volume could be as much as 89 percent higher than the average day.

The volume gains DHL is seeing go beyond the seasonal gains around major holidays such as Christmas and Mother’s Day. DHL Express has seen steady international time-definite volume growth in the last three years, with daily TDI volume increasing by 6.8 percent in the third quarter 2016 compared with the prior-year period.

The proportion of global e-commerce volume in the overall volumes of DHL Express is now more than 20 percent of total volume, up from about 10 percent in 2013.

Photo: Ken Allen, member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post AG, and CEO, DHL Express.
Image source: Business Wire
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