Miami—July 7, 2011—DHL, now is offering a new direct Less than Container Load (LCL) service from New York City to Durban, South Africa. This service will serve as a gateway for U.S. customers interested in breaking into the African market with the option of transporting small amounts of cargo. The LCL weekly service schedule that went into effect June 23, 2011 will have sailings every Thursday from New York City.
As the largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere, Durban serves as a strategic location for the transportation of goods to and from 18 destinations on the southern part of the African continent. This service will allow U.S. exporters and Southern African importers to ship cargo to and from New York City directly, rather than routing via Europe. This weekly service will reduce transit times, freight costs and carbon footprint, ultimately benefiting customers interested in growing their business in the African market.
“With a considerable amount of freight coming from the Midwest to the East Coast, this service allows DHL to be a conduit for expanding trade between Africa and the entire U.S.,” said Tara Caputo, director LCL Services North America. “Customers will benefit from this service not only through accelerated transit times, but also added services such as IT management systems that control shipping transactions and DHL’s Track & Trace offering full tracking visibility.”
New York has the largest port on the East Coast of North America and in 2010 had a 16 percent increase in cargo volumes. Since 2000, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has invested $2 billion to prepare for the Port’s future growth. The Port of Durban handled more than 74 million tons of cargo during the 2008/2009 fiscal year, with some of its main commodities including corn, metals, minerals, and oil and petroleum products, among others.
DHL Global Forwarding is one of the leading LCL freight forwarders in the world with complete end-to-end supply chain management that includes pick-up at origin, consolidation and deconsolidation, delivery at destination and customs clearance. With service from 34 stations throughout the U.S., DHL is able to ensure a smooth transition from freight collection to delivery by offering exceptional assembly and distribution networks at origin and destination.
“With the expansion of direct LCL service out of the U.S. and into Africa, DHL has further strengthened its ocean freight business and market leading position,” said Joseph Oguta, director of Ocean Freight and head of LCL Management Africa. “U.S. customers will have the opportunity to connect more easily with trading partners in Africa; while at the same time increasing their business efficiency and competitiveness.”
DHL recognizes LCL as being a crucial part of its total Ocean Freight offering. It handles close to 2 million cubic meters of LCL freight annually via 45,000 point pairs within the DHL in-house system.
