French express operator Chronopost has started construction of a new €2.7 million regional depotclose to Mulhouse in eastern France.
The new site at Didenheim, close to Mulhouse, will enable the La Poste subsidiary to expandabove all in the automotive, health and hi-tech sectors, and also increase its cross-borderbusiness.
The depot, which replaces a smaller and more distant location, will cover about 2,340 sqm onan 11,700 sqm site and is due to go into operation in November. It will include eight truck docksand 60 doors for light vans, and will feature complete video surveillance as well as a new sortingsystem.
The new Mulhouse depot will also improve Chronopost’s coverage of several nearby departments,including Haut-Rhin, Belfort, Sud Bas-Rhin and the eastern Vosges. In the Alsace region, Chronoposthandles about 25,000 parcels a day at its two depots of Strasbourg and Mulhouse and increasedrevenues at the two sites by 15 per cent to €8.1 million last year.
“This new site will enable us to respond in a better way to the strong demand of ourcustomers for express parcels, which we estimate at a 30 per cent growth rate in the medium-term,”said Chronopost managing director Christian Emery.
The new location was conveniently close to the motorway and had direct access to the citycentre, which meant the company could use electrical delivery vehicles in Mulhouse in themedium-term, added depot manager Laurent Geyller.
