DHL makes further investments into its Americas hub at CVG

Global express delivery and logistics services provider DHL said this week it has made a $108 million commitment in order to expand its Americas hub facility, which is based at the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky airport (CVG).

DHL said this investment is being made to meet customer needs for ongoing growth in international e-commerce and global trade and will also provide more gates to accommodate additional aircraft, warehouse space, and new equipment to provide more capacity for sorting shipments and for unloading and reloading planes.

“This multi-million dollar investment underscores the DHL commitment to the U.S. market and the integral role that our hub here plays in connecting the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky region to our vast global network,” said Stephen Fenwick, CEO, DHL Express Americas, in a statement. “The expansion and service enhancements from this investment will provide additional infrastructure and efficiency. This in turn will support the continued growth in international shipments that we’re seeing as well as add to the economic well-being of this region.”

DHL said that CVG serves as one of the company’s three global hubs (with the other two in Leipzig, Germany and Hong Kong) and connects the U.S. to its global network comprised of Asia, Europe, and the Americas.  Some of the capabilities and features of this hub include:
-processing roughly 46 million shipments bound for the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Latin America annually; and
-connecting to nearly 100 service centers and gateways in Los Angeles, New York and a Miami-based hub to more than 220 global countries and territories

In June 2013, DHL officially inaugurated its CVG hub, which marked the culmination of a four-year plan for DHL to augment its CVG facility in an effort to meet the growing international shipping demand of large multinational corporations as well as small business customers.

A DHL spokesman told LM at the time of the hub’s inauguration that this expansion was driven by the successful realignment of its business to focus exclusively on international services and growth in its import and export business, leading to “a need to continue to adjust its operation to meet the growing demands of international shipping customers.”
The spokesperson added the CVG expansion positions DHL’s largest facility in North America for continued growth in package volume. But even with this expansion growth the company has no plans to return to serving the U.S. domestic market.

DHL moved its U.S. hub operations to CVG in July 2009. DHL’s U.S. business focuses on international import and export offerings in major metropolitan areas. It ceased U.S. domestic-only air and ground services at the end of January 2009, due largely to the ongoing uphill battle it faced competing with industry giants UPS and FedEx for market share.

And since DHL reopened operations at CVG in 2009, DHL said it has seen its international business grow dramatically, benefitting not only DHL but the local community with job growth and the Cincinnati / Northern KY International Airport with additional flights.

DHL has now invested $280 million in the CVG hub since, with the number of employees the hub increasing from 1,600 in late 2009 to approximately 2,000 today.