FedEx Express today announced the opening of three new stations in central Germany while Britishparcels carrier City Link has opened a new depot in southern England.
FedEx said it has opened new stations in Dresden, Leipizig, and Sohnstedt near Erfurt, inthe ‘metropolitan’ region of central Germany. The new locations represent a key component of thegrowth strategy in both Germany and Europe, the company said.
Shipments from regional customers are sorted and bundled at the new locations before beingdelivered to recipients in Germany, Europe, and around the world. While the Dresden locationprimarily serves customers in the capital of Saxony, the collection area of the Leipzig stationcovers Leipzig and Halle. In addition to Erfurt, the Sohnstedt collection area includes Jena,Eisenach, and Weimar.
Since last year FedEx has doubled the number of its stations in Germany to more than 50, andhas increased employee numbers by 300 to more than 1,900 across the country.
“As we continue to grow, we are making more locations available to our customers. Thisboosts both our proximity to customers and our flexibility,” said Carl Graham, managing director,operations at FedEx Express Central and Eastern Europe. “With companies in the automotive,mechanical engineering, IT, chemistry, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries, centralGermany needs fast, reliable connections to international trade partners throughout the globalmarkets. Our services provide simple, quick access to more than 220 countries and regions aroundthe world.”
FedEx said it offers a broad portfolio of shipping services inside Germany, Europe, andacross continents to its customers, which include companies of all sizes, institutions, officialagencies, and private individuals, as well as customised solutions for numerous industries such ashealth services, automotive and mechanical engineering, and chemistry.
Meanwhile, UK parcel carrier City Link has opened a new depot in Southampton, on the southcoast of England, to meet the increasing demand from local customers.
The new, 5,946 sqm site is 30 per cent larger than the previous location so the increasedcapacity will help the company further expand its operations in the region. The depot is alreadyserving a number of postcodes previously served by neighbouring depots, with the capacity toaccommodate further growth. City Link collects shipments from around 2,000 customers in and aroundSouthampton and delivers to countless more business and home addresses. The new facility willhandle various goods ranging from high tech components to bicycles and from medical equipment tosurfboards.
City Link said it has invested £500,000 in the expanded depot placing the focus on security,with a secure “caged” operating model. It is equipped with state of the art track and trace ITsystems and has dedicated bays for all vehicle types. The increased warehouse enables the companyto load and unload all vehicles indoors offering enhanced security and protection for parcels.Operational processes and visibility have also been improved. The warehouse is configured to allowfull sight of the vehicles at all times as they come in and out of the depot.
The depot is based on the Fareham Industrial Park in Fareham, close to Southampton, andemploys 77 staff operating 56 collection and delivery vehicles. It handles 4,200 consignments pernight, with volumes expected to double during the peak Christmas period.
Marc Carson, City Link Southampton depot manager, said: “The move to the new depot offers atremendous opportunity to enable us to further grow and expand our customer base within the region.Indeed although still early days, the move has already made a substantial difference to ouroperation.”
City Link operates a nationwide network of 60 depots, 3,500 vehicles and has nearly 4,000employees.
