Parcel and logistics news in brief
More of the latest news from the parcel and logistics sector, including a new depot for GLS, new route for CEVA, faster FedEx LTL services and a new HQ for Damco.
GLS Germany adds depot in Bavaria
Parcel delivery company GLS Germany has opened a new depot in Cham, near Regensburg in central Bavaria.
The facility will relieve the pressure on the existing depot in Staubing and boost services in Bavaria and the border region with the Czech Republic. It should also shorten delivery journeys for packages that previously had to travel via Staubing, around 45km to the south.
With a 1,750 square metre transshipment hall, the new depot is designed to process about 6,000 parcels a day. Klaus Conrad, managing director of GLS Germany, said that the facility was needed as mail volumes had been growing in Staubing.
CEVA launches UK to Dubai LCL service
CEVA Logistics is promising a faster freight connection from the UK to Dubai with a new less-than-container load consolidation service.
The company has launched a weekly service from its Consolidation Freight Station in Tamworth to Dubai, which it says is ideally place for the entire Middle East. CEVA already operates LCL services to Dubai from Houston and New York, Hamburg and Milan with further services planned from key Asia Pacific locations “in the near future”.
Greg Scott, the company’s global LCL director, said the Middle East region was a growing market for CEVA. “This new consolidation service from the UK to Dubai is just one example of how we can deliver cost and time benefits by capitalising on our integrated freight management network and investment strategies within the region,” he said.
FedEx Freight accelerates LTL services in US
FedEx has been trumpeting a new study this week that it commissioned on transit standards for less-than-truckload services in the United States – which ranked FedEx Freight Priority as the speediest option.
The Memphis-based integrator said it has accelerated shipping options for both US domestic shipments and select shipments from the US to Canada, having reshaped its LTL portfolio into FedEx Freight Priority and FedEx Freight Economy over the past two years.
Bill Logue, FedEx Freight president and CEO, said: “Our improved transit standards will benefit LTL shippers who need a speed advantage to reach their markets faster or reduce inventory carrying costs.”
Damco moves to the Netherlands
Global forwarder Damco is moving its headquarters from Denmark to the Netherlands to be closer to the “heart of the European logistics community”.
The company is moving from Copenhagen to The Hague in the first quarter of 2013, and said it will be looking to hire as it continues growth. Earnings before tax have surged five-fold since 2009 to $97m USD last year thanks to strong business in Asian and African markets.
“In the Hague we will be closer to many of our customers, our main air and sea carriers Europe’s biggest transportation hubs, as well as our competition and the kind of additional international logistics experience we’ll be looking to hire as we continue to grow,” said Damco CEO Rolf Habben-Jansen.
