Dive Brief:
- DHL eCommerce relocated its Elkridge, Maryland, distribution center to a new, 138,500-square-foot facility in Manassas, Virginia, to handle growing volumes, according to a Feb. 21 press release.
- The new facility is twice the size of the previous distribution and has 41 dock doors used to load trucks. The trucks travel to other DHL distribution centers or to the United States Postal Service, COO Craig Morris for DHL eCommerce, Americas told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
- DHL plans to operate the facility with approximately 130 employees and support customers based in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic states.
Dive Insight:
DHL eCommerce continues to expand its operations by re-locating to larger facilities while leveraging warehouse automation.
The new Virginia facility is using two large line sorters that can each process 14,000 parcels and packages per hour, according to the release.
In addition, the company is using the Washington Dulles International Airport, located approximately 30 minutes away, to send and receive day-definite shipments from the Manassas distribution center. DHL’s day-definite shipments are those goods that ship using the company’s Expedited Max product.
The relocation to Virginia is part of DHL’s five-year growth plan announced in 2021, which was a result of anticipated demand for e-commerce growth. In 2023, DHL eCommerce located facilities in Arizona, Utah, Florida and Kentucky.
“In 2024, we are planning to relocate three more distribution centers and two more in 2025,” Morris said.
