DHL EXPRESS PREPARES FOR A RECORD-BREAKING HOLIDAY SEASON

• Expects nearly 50% more inbound volume to the Americas region this year over the 2019 peak season
• Created more than 3,000 additional jobs and invested USD 20 million to prepare for higher volume ahead of peak season

DHL Express, the world’s leading provider of international express shipping services, is preparing for a successful holiday peak season, expecting to see a nearly 50% increase in inbound volume to the Americas region over last year’s season. This volume growth, which is mostly due to the exponential rise in e-commerce, is concentrated in the U.S., which accounts for more than 70% of the total inbound volume in the region and projects more than 50% growth.

The peak season, which is defined as the period between Black Friday and Christmas, is also expected to generate more than 20% more outbound volume in the region. In the U.S. alone, the outbound volume growth is expected to be at almost 30%. 

“International trade has played an essential role for both businesses and individuals shopping online during this pandemic, and our solid global network, operational capacity and emphasis on customer centricity has allowed us to meet the growing demands of the market,” said Mike Parra, CEO for DHL Express Americas. “The value of global e-commerce has been reinforced, and we expect the resulting behavioral changes to continue driving an accelerated growth in global e-commerce.”

The global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus accelerated the growth of e-commerce when entire countries went under quarantine and shoppers were left with online shopping as the only means to receive both personal and business supplies.

With holiday season-like numbers since June, DHL Express has been investing in pre-holiday season enhancements to meet higher demands for its services. 

“Higher shipping volumes for DHL Express have resulted in increased investments in our people, our facilities and our network,” Parra said.

Earlier this year, the company started implementing several new flights, increasing capacity to its already-extensive network. A new Hong Kong-Los Angeles- Miami flight with a frequency of five times per week added approximately 45 tons of capacity per flight, and another flight from DHL Express’ Americas Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) to Singapore added 55 tons per day of capacity for shipments. 

DHL Express has also invested about USD 20 million in several projects throughout the U.S. to expand service centers, hubs and gateways and bring additional equipment to process higher volumes. Some of these include the expansions of the company’s service centers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, adding about 80,000 sq. ft. of additional warehouse space.

The gateways at the Los Angeles International Airport, CVG and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport also received a combined investment of USD 3.7 million for ground support equipment.

“As a result of the sustained U.S. inbound volume growth, we will add about 3,000 full-time jobs through November in the country. That, coupled with our continued investments, will allow us to have the capacity and flexibility needed to meet the even-greater demands of our customers that a busy holiday season post COVID-19 will bring,” said Parra.

The approximate 3,000 jobs that the company has created this year in the U.S. include about 1,000 jobs at DHL Express’ hub at CVG, about 500 new customer service roles, and around 1,500 jobs for ground pickup and delivery couriers in the country.