German start-up Red Parcel Post invests EUR 130m in first sorting centre
Red Parcel Post, the start-up German B2B parcels carrier, will invest about EUR 130 million in the first of its four planned logistics centres. The company’s operational launch has been repeatedly postponed and is now scheduled for the first half of 2008.
The 60,000 sqm parcel sorting centre will be built in Stegelitz/Burg between Magdeburg and Leipzig, in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, the federal state’s economics ministry announced. The site will also be the parcel company’s head office, creating about 260 new jobs. It is due to go into operation during the first half of 2008.
Saxony-Anhalt is providing a subsidy for the investment that media reports put at about €20 million. RPP will have a fleet of about 700-800 delivery vans for regional distribution.
Red Parcel Post (RPP) owner Walter Hellmich, head of the Hellmich construction company, said the parcels company planned to handle 35 million parcels a year initially.
It plans to create a high-tech parcel sorting and distribution network based on four regional centres (Magdeburg, Duisburg, Hamburg and Frankfurt) and using RFID/satellite technology for parcel tracking and tracing. The technology is being developed in close cooperation with the Fraunhofer research institute in Magdeburg.
