Two new multimodal services via its Duisburg, Germany hub have been launched by DHL Freight, as it is now further expanding its multimodal network and linking Asian overland and intermodal transportation operations with Europe and North Africa.
Of particular interest to companies that can’t fill a full container on their own is that the logistics supplier is also offering the option to consolidate shipments at the DHL Freight Terminal Duisburg in Germany, said the company in a written statement. Customers can thus design intercontinental supply chains with ease and leverage the time and cost advantages of rail transportation compared with sea or airfreight alternatives.
“Use of rail networks as a transport route between Asia and Europe has proven to be a highly effective solution at DHL and is very well received by our customers as a genuine alternative. In this connection, Duisburg plays a key role as a transport hub. Shorter routes to customers and excellent intermodal connections provide many opportunities for faster delivery and the leveraging of cost advantages. We therefore intend to consistently expand this segment. Through our new LCL products in the DHL Railconnect segment, we can leverage the strengths of our overland transport networks to the great benefit of our customers,” said Amadou Diallo, CEO of DHL Freight.
“And we can do so all the way to North Africa. We already have customers whose commodity flows can thus be processed from China via Europe to Tunisia through the multimodal combination of road, rail and short-sea,” he added.
Since 2013, DHL has been steadily expanding its multimodal network between China, Russia, and Europe, and has enabled connections to the most important industrial bases in Europe and Asia through its rail links and access to ports in Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam. As a result of this expansion, DHL customers can take advantage of fixed departures each week between the Rhine/Ruhr Duisburg economic region and the business centers in the coastal region of China (Shanghai to Shenzhen).
For full truck loads or containers, the logistics service additionally offers a link to the intermodal connections within Europe in cooperation with Duisburger Hafen AG. The intermodal connections to and from southern, western, and northern Europe not only enable environmentally friendly onward transportation, but also ensure that Duisburg need not be the final rail destination.
“400 trains per week connect the port of Duisburg—the most important hub in the European hinterland—with more than 80 direct destinations in Europe and Asia. Through the broad range of logistics services at the site, Duisburg thus offers an ideal starting point for dispatching rail transports directly on site and ensuring efficient pre and post-transport,” said Erich Staake, CEO of Duisburger Hafen AG.
