Global logistics: DHL expands LCL service offerings

Global express delivery and logistics services provider DHL continues to make inroads with its LCL (less-than-container-load) service, announcing two new recent additions.

One offering is a new direct LCL service from New York City to Durban, South Africa, and the other is a direct LCL service connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong.

The weekly New York to Durban service went live on June 23 and will serve as a gateway for U.S.-based shippers looking to establish themselves in the African market, with an option to transport small amounts of cargo, according to company officials. Sailings for this service will leave New York on Thursdays.

DHL added that this service will enable U.S exporters and Southern African importers to move freight to and from New York directly, as opposed to routing it via Europe, as well as reduce transit times, freight costs, and carbon emissions and footprint. They added that Durban is home to the largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere.

DHL Global Forwarding Director of LCL Services North America Tara Caputo told LM there were myriad drivers for rolling out this new service.

“As DHL Global Forwarding develops our customer base in South Africa and even covering neighboring countries, we quickly identified the need to support all of these destinations via our Durban Hub,” explained Caputo. “By making it easy to do business with us, we can offer customers a better service that is cost effective while also having less of an impact on the environment.”

While DHL has not historically had a large presence in this lane, Caputo said that it has put an increased sales focus on developing the Africa market. She added that as DHL Global Forwarding increases its footprint across the region, and especially in such a key market like South Africa, with the launch of this new service, customers feel confident that DHL is there to grow with them over the long-term and by moving LCL freight via Durban.

When asked how many shippers may partake in this service Caputo said that there is only so much you can predict as far as the total expected shippers and volumes on a new lane. But she pointed out that DHL Global Forwarding has done research, and customer interest has shown that this lane will be competitive a LCL product.

“For DHL Global Forwarding to be able to offer a direct service to South Africa, we provide customers solutions-driven expertise by having all of our own offices to handle the transshipment from Durban port which many competitors cannot compete with,” she said.

Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong service: This new service will move weekly scheduled shipments to Hong Kong and provide Vietnam-based shippers with access to 12 major trading ports in North America and 11 in North Asia, which DHL said will reduce transit times and augment trade flows of the sixth largest economy in Southeast Asia.
DHL said that this new service will provide Vietnam-based shippers with coverage of more than 115 weekly point pairs from Hong Kong to destination terminals in China, Japan, Taiwan, America, and Canada.

“We saw this service as essential for our network expansion—connecting Ho Chi Minh City not only to Singapore but as well to Hong Kong,” said Zvonko Ivancic, Director Product Development, Danmar Lines LCL, Ocean Freight South Asia Pacific, DHL. “After we saw the need to have this service in place, we were able to get it established within six weeks. This offers our customers in Vietnam with a broader service portfolio and more services they are able to connect to—shortening transit times and increasing the efficiency of handling the cargo and its routing.”

Ivancic said that DHL global Forwarding will partner with two of its partner carriers for this service from Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong and will be able to pass the benefits of shorter transit times via Hong Kong to Northern Asia and China, and for the Transpacific East Bound Trade, on to its customers as well.

DHL officials said the company operates the world’s largest LCL network, with nearly 2,000,000 cubic meters of freight handled annually via 45,000 point-pairs, and the company carries more than 97 percent of its total volumes internally.