DHL Global Forwarding keeps focus on U.S. expansion

DHL Global Forwarding, a subsidiary of global logistics and express delivery provider Deutsche Post DHL focused on air and ocean freight, has made it clear it is committed to expanding its presence in the United States market.

Along with opening seven commercial branch offices in the U.S., it will roll out one more in Greensboro, N.C. before the end of this year. The seven branch offices are located in: Austin, Texas; Albany, New York; Calexico, California (which opened during the first quarter); Boise, Idaho; Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Louisville, Kentucky (in the second and third quarters).

Company officials said that these offices were established to offer more access from customers requesting improved service execution and reduced costs, coupled with the fact that these markets represent existing and prospective opportunities that will enable to the DHL Global Forwarding to serve customers more efficiently and effectively.

Todd Boice, DHL Global Forwarding senior vice president, North America, licensed customs broker, told LM there were myriad drivers for this ongoing U.S. expansion.
“In the first quarter of 2010, DHL Global Forwarding U.S. launched a growth initiative and as part of that strategy, our aim was to be closer to our customers,” he said. “In order to serve customers better we needed to expand our U.S. footprint into geographic locations that would allow us to have better visibility of the customers’ business on a day-to-day basis while giving us the flexibility to work in closer proximity to them to order to adapt to our customers needs so that we can serve them better.”

And while making inroads with this domestic growth, he added that DHL Global Forwarding has found that customers want to work with a transportation and logistics provider who has a robust network with many products, services and solutions, but they also want to meet with their providers more frequently.

Being in close proximity to customers allows DHL Global Forwarding to get to know their business in a way that historically the “local hero” would only be able to do, according to Boice.

“Being in close proximity, we can offer the global solutions that customers are demanding, coupled with local expertise and a more customer-facing presence that many in the industry cannot provide,” he said.” These new investment locations were carefully chosen so that we could better cater to our customers changing business needs.”

DHL Global Forwarding U.S. has more than 27,000 customers and focuses on ten key industry sectors: automotive, consumer, retail, engineering and manufacturing, life science and healthcare, technology, energy, chemicals, public sector, and aerospace.

Its key product offerings include: air and ocean freight, domestic heavyweight, customs brokerage, industrial products, international supply chain services, warehousing and distribution, transborder services and insurance, and 4PL services.

“DHL Global Forwarding’s biggest competitive advantage [with this expansion] is…at a time when the economy has not been robust and many competitors are consolidating locations and saving costs,” said Boice. “While the rest of the industry is cutting back, we are taking advantage by expanding into areas that many of our competitors are pulling out of, which puts us in a better position to work more closely with our customers.”