DHL helps industry to increase trade between Sweden and the USA

DHL is now introducing its major initiative US Next Day to improve the opportunities for Swedish companies to trade with North America. A powerful combination of a new way of coordinating air freight shipments from Stockholm, an extensive local transport network in the USA and its own airport should substantially reduce transport times between Sweden and North America.

North America is one of Sweden’s most important export markets. In 2006, Swedish industry exported goods to North America worth around SEK 112.9 billion, according to the Swedish Trade Federation, Svensk Handel.

With its new service, US Next Day, DHL intends to offer even faster transport in order to improve the opportunities for Swedish industry to trade with North America, and increase its competitiveness. The Swedish Trade Council (Exportrådet) welcomes the initiative.

DHL has received a growing number of enquiries from Swedish companies on the subject of faster shipments to the whole of North America. The company’s new Express service constitutes a revolution in the sense that transport times between Sweden and North America will be substantially reduced.

“With our new service US Next Day, Swedish companies can reach 96 pct of the business market in the USA before the end of the working day, 76 pct of all companies before lunch, and 67 pct before 10:30 am. I see this as something of a revolution within the transport industry, and we are the first in Sweden to offer this”, says Lars Sundman, CEO of DHL Express Sweden.

Starting on October 29, DHL will therefore be offering companies in the Stockholm region shipments to North America to be delivered within 24 hours at the outside. But this is just the beginning. Very soon, the plan is to offer companies in the Gothenburg and Malmö regions the same rapid deliveries. In order to achieve drastic reductions in transport times between Sweden and North America, DHL Express Sweden has taken a number of actions.

One of the most important of these concerns the handling of local shipments within the USA. In 2003, DHL bought the third largest express delivery company in the USA, Airborne Express. Since the acquisition, DHL has integrated its operations completely. DHL has also invested more than USD 3 billion in the U.S., including over USD 1.2 billion in upgrading the infrastructure of the distribution network itself and its various transport hubs.

Another major initiative is that DHL has brought its flight departures to the USA forward by five hours, which has a direct impact on reservation and collection times for DHL’s customers in Sweden. This means that the booking has to be made no later than lunchtime to catch a plane from Stockholm’s Arlanda airport. The plane departs at 6:00 pm for DHL’s own airport, DHL Air Park at Wilmington, Ohio, which handles 1.7 million items every day.

In a further effort to speed up the delivery process, DHL has also invested heavily in optimizing customs clearance of goods. This means that DHL completes the handling of 93 pct of shipments liable for duty before they even reach the USA.