DHL Express, the world’s leading express and logistics Company, recently launched the “India Next Day” service, the first of its kind in Qatar, delivering shipments, to and from, three destinations in India within 24 hours.

“India Next Day” is a unique service offering in Qatar, utilising the diversified product portfolio of DHL to deliver packages to Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai in record time. The improved services cut lead times and shipment efficiency for individual and corporate clients requiring urgent express delivery.

Commenting on the launch of the new service, David Wilson, DHL Express Country Manager, Qatar, said: “There are a growing number of businesses originating from India and setting up operations in Qatar. DHL’s improved services are designed as a direct response to the demands of the market to quickly, and efficiently complete an increasing number of logistical transactions to the main economic centres of India. We constantly look for innovative, customer-oriented solutions, such as ‘India Next Day’, to better cater to our customers needs.”

According to the the Federation of the Indian Export Organisations, there are five million Indians living and working in the GCC. In Qatar alone, Indians account for more than 18 per cent of the total population of the country. India’s total trade with GCC countries has witnessed a fourfold increase in the last five years.

Astar, a DHL vendor and shipping customer, made the assertion to a U.S. House panel in written testimony by Chief Operating Officer Gary Hammes, citing a comment by a UPS salesperson that DHL service would become “substandard” under the new alliance.

“It is our belief that these sales calls are working,” Hammes testified. DHL volume has decreased “significantly,” possibly as much as 40 percent, since the May 28 announcement of a plan to have its U.S. air freight flown by UPS, Hammes said in his testimony and in an interview.

Hammes’s comment opened a new front in the criticism of the UPS-DHL partnership by groups including labor unions and lawmakers from Ohio, where Astar and another DHL vendor operate hubs. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on the effects of the DHL-UPS plan.

Questions about the future of DHL’s money-losing U.S. operations have hurt volumes this year, which is why the company wants to conclude the UPS agreement, DHL Express Chief Executive Officer John Mullen said in an interview.

No Directive

A drop in volume of as much as 40 percent “is not right,” said Mullen, who declined to cite a specific figure. While individual UPS salesmen may cite the May 28 accord to try to win business, “I’m absolutely confident it’s not a sanctioned management directive,” he said.

UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley called Hammes’s statements “unsubstantiated” and said the world’s largest package- delivery company isn’t using its planned collaboration with DHL to compete more vigorously than usual for customers.

UPS said May 28 it was working on a 10-year agreement to take over U.S. shipments from Astar and Air Transport Services Group Inc.’s ABX unit, which would bring UPS as much as $1 billion in annual revenue.

Closely held Astar is 49 percent owned by DHL. Miami-based Astar gets 90 percent of its revenue from DHL, and all of its 1,007 employees as of May 28 would lose their jobs should the UPS-DHL plan be completed, Hammes said in his testimony.

DHL, aside from being a vendor, is also a customer of DHL’s overnight express services and it was in that context the UPS sales call was made, Hammes said in his testimony.

Unions and Ohio lawmakers have said the UPS-DHL alliance would cut jobs in the town of Wilmington, where Astar and ABX have hubs.

WASHINGTON, Sept 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Statement of Captain Dave Ross, President, Teamsters Local 1224
Capt. Dave Ross of Teamsters Local 1224 today blasted DHL for the incompetence of their North American management team and called their plan a potential death spiral.
“Through mismanagement of its North American operation, DHL is losing money,” Ross said. “Rather than fix the underlying problem of poor management, DHL further undermines its position in the American market by essentially turning over its book of business to one of its competitors.”
“Just last week, the Financial Times reported that DHL plans to further erode its business prospects in the American market by further reducing service,” said Ross.
According to reports, DHL plans to reduce its delivery capacity by half and also have UPS cover part of their ground deliveries as well.
“DHL’s proposed solution is a recipe for even greater failure,” Ross said. “It’s a potential death spiral. On behalf of the tens of thousands of workers in Ohio and around America who will be dramatically harmed by this transaction, and on behalf of all American small businesses and consumers, I will be urging the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee to help stop this potential violation of our vital national air transportation policy.”

DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company, expects to handle 40 million shipments this year via the newly completed expansion of its first large-scale automated express hub in Asia-Pacific.

With a total investment of US$210mil, the facility will significantly boost DHL’s operational capability in Asia.

Located at the Hong Kong International Airport, DHL Central Asia Hub (CAH) has doubled in size to 35,000 sq m - about the size of 120 tennis courts.
The new DHL Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong.

With the expansion, the facility has a throughput of 75,000 pieces per hour (pph) of flyers and conveyable shipments, an increase of 114% compared with the 35,000 pph throughput capacity before the expansion.

With the automation, the throughput cycle time has been further reduced to seven minutes from 12 minutes.

DHL Express Asia Pacific chief executive officer Dan McHugh said Asia-Pacific continued to be the key growth driver in the first half of the year.

“The expansion of the CAH is a testament to the continued growth of intra-Asia trade and the Asia-Europe trade lane. “Currently, over 60% of express cargo processed by the CAH is intra-Asia Pacific shipments, a figure we expect to continue to grow alongside rising intra-regional trade,” he said in a statement.

Originally slated for completion in 2013, the expansion of the CAH is well ahead of schedule and underscores the growth and potential DHL sees in the region.

Hong Kong secretary for transport and housing Eva Cheng said to support further development of the express cargo industry and the aviation sector, the government was dedicated to improve Hong Kong airport’s links to nearby markets.

“On the airport itself, we have plans to increase the runway capacity gradually, reaching 58 movements per hour next year and 68 movements per hour by 2015.

“This is, of course, not the end game. The runway capacity could be substantially increased to over 100 movements per hour with the addition of a third runway,” she said.

With over 40% market share and US$2.2bil invested in the region, CAH is the backbone for DHL to further enhance its service and to extend its market-leading position in Asia Pacific.

DHL Express Greater China area president Jerry Hsu said CAH was strategically located within a four-hour flight radius to major cities in Asia Pacific and complemented by a well-established Asia Air Network that was served by more than 20 aircraft and over 500 commercial daily flights.

“The expansion of the CAH brings with it heightened speed, efficiency, accuracy and significantly bolsters DHL’s operational capacity in Asia Pacific,” he said.

The increased throughput of the automated CAH is supported by advanced autosort system that can handle 35,000 conveyable shipments and 40,000 flyers per hour.

Key automated features of the facility include a bank of singulators that arrange parcels into a single queue, six-sided camera scanners that scan all sides of conveyable shipments, and a shoe sorter matrix that directs the shipments to the relevant chutes according to their destination be it Beijing, Singapore, Osaka, Nagoya, Shanghai, Seoul, Bangkok, Delhi and so forth.

CAH also now has the ability to sort down to the individual postal codes of the DHL service centres in destination countries.

This eliminates the need for the flyers to be re-sorted at the destination gateways. For example, in Singapore, this has translated into a 30-minute head start for DHL couriers, ensuring an even higher degree of service excellence.

The expansion of CAH is also boosted by the state-of-the-art security system with almost 200 CCTV cameras, X-ray equipment and an access control system.

“Speed, accuracy and reliability are the cornerstones of the express industry. The CAH coupled with a robust air network is a core pillar of our highly efficient operational backbone in Asia Pacific,” said McHugh.

“But we invest to stay ahead of the curve. With CAH fully operational, we look forward to taking our network capability up another notch when our North Asia Hub (NAH) at Pudong International Airport, Shanghai is complete in 2010.” NAH in Pudong will complement the CAH in Hong Kong and deliver further operational efficiencies by leveraging on its geographical proximity for shipments destined for the region.

The automated facility will have the capacity to sort conveyable shipments to a peak of up to 20,000 parcels and 20,000 documents per hour.

The establishment of the NAH will result in transit time improvements across North Asia and, in particular, benefit customers located in the Yangtze River Delta.

Hsu said currently, almost 50% of the shipments through the CAH were destined for China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

“With the expected long-term projections in volume growth, a dedicated NAH will further enhance operational efficiencies and enable DHL to keep pace with growth,” she said.

Tags: Facility to boost DHL’s ops in Asia-Pacific

PUNE- Emergencies strike, and strike without a warning. Hence, the need for commoners and paramedics trained in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to administer first aid within the first one hour or rather the first 10 minutes of an accident.

Realising the dearth of people trained in EMS, the Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (SIHS) has formed the Symbiosis Health Brigade (SHB) to mitigate casualties.

With the brigade, SIHS plans to create a body of professionals trained in EMS to attend to emergencies in all organisation in the city. “We intend to have at least one ‘first aider’ certified by American Heart Association (AHA), USA, in every department of an organisation, be it big or small,” said SIHS director Dr Rajiv Yeravdekar. He added that organisations should identify people from each department who would be trained as certified ‘first aiders’ by SIHS.

“One needs to remember that ultimately life and limb are not saved with a kit but are saved by people armed with skill and knowledge. Hence it is important to get trained,” said Yeravdekar.

The SIHS is recognised as an International Training Organisation by the AHA. It is also a Chapter of the International Trauma Life Support Organisation, USA.

“SIHS is authorised to conduct and certify training programmes in first-aid . Accredited by international agencies, candidates are awarded certificates and identity cards on successful completion of their training programmes which are recognised and accepted globally,” said Yeravdekar.

Renowned emergency physicians like Prasad Rajhans, Shiva Iyer, L.V. Pillai, Pradip D’Costa , Ursekar, Pinaki Sengupta and others will conduct these training programmes.

Emergencies like heart attacks, strokes, road accidents, burns, choking, drowning etc. are ubiquitous. Availability of EMS-trained personnel often, if not always, determines the effectiveness of medical treatment given later.

“Till date, SIHS has conducted first aid training programmes for several companies , like Persistent Systems, KPIT, Forbes Marshall, Hoganas India, Frankfinn India , DSM Engineering, Pune Police and schools,” he said.

The brigade has received an encouraging response from the CII, MCCI and Agriculture, Top Management Consortium and other such organisations.

WILMINGTON, Ohio -

Nearly 200 people packed an Ohio legislative meeting Tuesday to hear testimony on the impact of DHL plans to switch to UPS cargo delivery - a move that would cost an estimated 8,000 jobs at an air park in this southwest Ohio city.

Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher said in testimony before the joint legislative committee meeting that the state is evaluating the DHL air freight hub in Wilmington for other possible uses while it also tries to save the jobs that could be lost if DHL hires United Parcel Service (nyse: UPS - news - people ) to fly its U.S. cargo.

“The stakes for Wilmington, Clinton County, this region and our entire state are very high,” Fisher said. “The Wilmington Air Park is a priceless asset. Right here, quietly nestled in this community, is the largest privately owned airport in the United States.”

Also testifying were other state and civic leaders as well as officials and employees of ABX Air Inc., which now transports DHL packages through the air park along with ASTAR Air Cargo.

Fisher said the state has directed consultants to evaluate the hub’s facilities for possible redevelopment, even while Ohio begins legal steps to try to prevent a DHL-UPS deal. Ohio Attorney Nancy Rogers sent letters Tuesday to European Union leaders and other government officials in Europe asking them to examine whether the proposed deal would limit competition in their shipping market, Fisher said.

The joint hearing held at the air freight hub was convened by the House State Government and Elections Committee and the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee.

State Rep. David Daniels, R-Greenfield, said the meeting was informative and he hopes it can help lead to a solution that benefits all parties.

“This is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue,” said Daniels. “This is about the people of this community and how we can work together to deal with this situation and save jobs.”

Local officials said the job losses would be devastating.

“This is not just a company moving out, but it’s a ripping out of the community,” Wilmington Mayor David Raizk said.

In May, Deutsche Post World Net, the German company that owns DHL, said it was losing about $1.3 billion a year on its U.S. operation and would hire UPS to replace ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo in transporting DHL packages.

That would mean much of the work normally handled at Wilmington Air Park would be transferred to a UPS facility in Louisville, Ky., although DHL and UPS have not finalized a contract.

DHL owns the facility about 30 miles southeast of Dayton and hires ABX Air to transport packages as well as unload, reload and sort them. ASTAR Air Cargo also transports parcels.

ABX employs 7,000 workers at the freight hub, ASTAR 1,000 and DHL 720.

ABX will lay off 200 aircraft maintenance employees in two months because DHL said it would no longer require use of the planes the workers service for DHL, Joe Hete, president and chief executive of Air Transport Services Group Inc., which owns ABX, said Tuesday during a break in the hearing.

Later on Tuesday, ABX announced that an agreement with DHL had been reached on severance packages for the upcoming layoffs. ABX will serve notices to the 200 employees next week. More reductions are expected through 2009 as DHL gradually eliminates its use of ABX’s DC-9s.

“We saw this day coming when we heard the news from DHL on May 28,” ABX Air President John Graber said in the statement. “Working with DHL, we have been able to offer many of our employees a fair and meaningful severance package.”

ABX employees and a union that represents postal workers started a petition drive and letter-writing campaign to try to persuade DHL to abandon its plan to switch to UPS.

Politicians hopped on board, including presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and the chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said a hearing requested by Ohio’s congressional delegation would be held when Congress reconvenes in September.

McCain called on the Justice Department to begin an antitrust investigation, and wrote a letter to Deutsche Post CEO Frank Appel urging him to visit Wilmington.

Appel responded with a letter Monday in which he said the decision to switch to UPS was “unavoidable and irreversible,” and that DHL was committed to setting aside about $300 million toward severance and other benefits to ease the economic blow to southwest Ohio.

“The DHL family and I personally deeply regret that this unavoidable and irreversible decision will cause severe hardships to many families in Wilmington and Ohio,” Appel wrote. “My colleagues and I will do our best to be of help.”

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

DHL Express’ plan to use Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. for its U.S. air cargo operations does not constitute unfair competition, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Wednesday, according to a report by the Dayton Daily News.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher had written to Peters, asking the Department of Transportation to block the deal, announced by DHL’s parent Deutsche Post AG in May.

DHL’s air cargo shipping and sorting operations are currently handled by ABX Air Inc. and ASTAR Air Cargo at DHL’s airport in Wilmington, Ohio. If UPS takes over the operation, moving its Worldport hub at Louisville International Airport, Wilmington will lose more than 8,000 jobs, Strickland and Fisher argued.

“While I understand your concerns over Deutsche Post AG’s proposed restructuring of DHL, it is our view that this restructuring would not constitute an unfair or deceptive practice or unfair method of competition,” Peters responded, according to the newspaper.

Union officers representing freight shipping workers at the Wilmington Air Park in Ohio where thousands of jobs hang in the balance are praising federal legislators’ recent decision to conduct a hearing on a proposed DHL-UPS partnership.

The office of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Friday confirmed a hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16 to review a planned move by DHL to have Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) take over its sorting and shipping operations and shift the work from Ohio to Louisville, Ky.

If DHL makes the move, Ohio risks losing more than 8,000 jobs. Wilmington’s ABX Air Inc. and sister shipping company Astar Air Cargo handle operations at the Wilmington airport for the subsidiary of privately held Deutsche Post World Net.

Mark Overberg, secretary of the Teamsters Local 100 in Cincinnati representing Astar dispatchers, called the hearing a “welcome step by Congress to determine if any antitrust violations have occurred as a result of this proposal.”

State officials have reached out to the federal Transportation and Justice departments, asking they investigate the agreement. The Transportation Department responded in August, saying the deal wouldn’t be considered an unfair or deceptive practice and wouldn’t render the U.S. shipping market less competitive.

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Sept 4 (Reuters) - German mail and logistics group Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it was making progress in talks with rival UPS (UPS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as part of a $2 billion restructuring of its loss-making DHL Express unit in the U.S.

Deutsche Post said in May it hoped to conclude a deal for UPS to haul DHL’s express, deferred and international packages within the United States and between the U.S., Canada and Mexico by the end of August.

Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland newspaper reported that it could take Post two more months to reach a deal.

A Deutsche Post spokeswoman said the companies just had to iron out some details as part of the 10-year agreement, designed to help Post stem losses at the DHL U.S. business. (Reporting by Matthias Inverardi, editing by Will Waterman)

This episode of WHIO Reports focuses on the DHL facility that has plans to cut thousands of jobs in Wilmington, Ohio.

The guest discuss the possible job cuts and what they can do to the local economy and what affect it will have on the workers and their families. This all stems from DHL wanting to outsource to UPS in Kentucky.

Mayor Raizk mentions that DHL plans to cut 10,000 jobs if this outsource occurs.

Mr. Daniels focuses on what the state is doing to help these workers and to help the state if this happens. He discusses the economic taskforce that the state has set up and that he along with the Lt. Governor Lee Fisher are really pushing for DHL to not let this happen.

Mr. Riddell focuses on what DHL workers are going to do if this happens since they won’t have health insurance. He says that he noticed the hospital has picked up business in the past couple of months with DHL workers opting for elective surgeries that they have been putting off but want to get taken care of in case they loose their job and their health insurance.