Plantation, Fla. — DHL will discontinue its domestic-only air and ground services as of Jan. 30, 2009; from that point on it will focus its U.S. business entirely on international shipping to/from the U.S.
The move, announced today by German parent company Deutsche Post World Net, is expected to reduce U.S. operating costs by over 80 percent.
“This is the right move for our U.S. Express operations given the current economic climate and for the long run,” said John Mullen,Global CEO of DHL Express. “Focusing our U.S. Express efforts on what we do better than anyone else — international shipping — serves the best interests of our customers, employees and shareholders around the world.”
The company said the decision will result in an additional reduction of 9,500 U.S. jobs on top of the approximately 5,400 jobs the company has already cut since January. DHL said it will retain 3,000 to 4,000 U.S. employees to meet the needs of its remaining international customers.
As part of the plan, DHL U.S. Express will close its U.S. ground hubs and reduce its number of stations, from 412, to 103.
Despite the plans, Mullen assured in a release, “DHL remains committed to the U.S. market. A continued U.S. presence is essential to our entire global Express network. Close to half of our tip 200 customers are based in the U.S., and U.S. trade lines make up close to half our global volume, and half our global shipments touch the U.S. We are here to stay.”
The company also said that there will be no impact to services offered by the other DHL/D-WN businesses in the U.S. such as Global Forwarding/Freight, Supply Chain/Customer Information Services and DHL.
