DHL to provide German deliveries on final Sunday before Christmas
DHL has once again added an extra day’s delivery services to its schedule in Germany, to cope with the Christmas boom in parcel shipments. The company confirmed yesterday that it will be operating on Sunday (18 December) as though it was an ordinary weekday.
Around this time of year, daily averages for DHL’s parcel delivery volumes in Germany nearly doubles from the usual 3m per day level.
Taking on additional staff to cope with the extra volumes, the company said it has 60,000 delivery staff in Germany working to ensure parcels arrive on time.
DHL is advising German customers to drop parcels off by noon on December 22 in order to ensure delivery before Christmas Day. The company will be operating a full day on Christmas Eve itself.
Jürgen Gerdes, Deutsche Post DHL’s board member responsible for its Mail Division, said a large percentage of the parcels being delivered at Christmas this year are originating from online shopping, telephone and mail order companies, and that almost 90% of them would be delivered just a day after arriving in a DHL warehouse.
“WIth the Sunday delivery service, we are offering our customers an additional service to ship their presents on time,” said Gerdes. “This service is possible because of the huge dedication of our employees and our nationwide network.”
Board appointment
Angela Titzrath
Separately, Deutsche Post DHL announced today that its Supervisory Board has appointed Angela Titzath to the company’s Board of Management, and has extended the current contract for its CEO Frank Appel until 2017.
Titzrath, 45, has held various executive positions at motor manufacturer Daimler Group over the past two decades, and is currently a board member and head of marketing and sales at the Daimler bus and coach subsidiary EvoBus.
She has degrees in economics and Roman philology, having studied at universities in Germany, Italy and Portugal.
Titzrath will succeed Walkter Scheurle as board member for personnel and as labour director in 2012, after he retires. An exact changeover date has not yet been finalised.
Appel said of the appointment: “We are delighted to welcome Angela Titzrath as the Group’s new board member for personnel and as our labour director. With her extensive experience, she brings to the table all of the qualifications required to continue to successfully drive our efforts towards the goal of becoming an employer of choice around the world.”
Deutsche Post DHL said its CEO would now continue in charge until at least October 31, 2017, under his new contract. Appel has been a board member at the company since 2002, taking over as chief executive in February 2008.
