DHL eCommerce Solutions, a division of DHL Group, announced it is investing more than $300 million in the U.S. in the next five years.
DHL eCommerce Solutions said the investment will expand its footprint in the U.S. by adding 70 percent more square footage across its network. In addition, the company will add automation in all of its U.S. distribution center facilities and upgrade its IT operating system platform.
As a result of ongoing international e-commerce growth, DHL eCommerce Solutions is also investing in dedicated export gateways for international shipments in Carteret, N.J.; Franklin Park, Ill., and Whittier, Calif.
“As our network grows and we become more efficient through automation, our customers will benefit by getting their goods quicker to their eager consumers,” Lee Spratt, CEO of DHL eCommerce Solutions, Americas, said. “We are investing long-term because we believe consumers will continue to buy more online and we will see additional online shops popping up, so we want to be prepared to meet this future demand.”
The company’s Franklin Park 69,000-square-foot international export gateway opened on July 17 and includes a TSA screening area. The company will continue processing domestic parcel shipments from its second Illinois location in Melrose Park.
DHL eCommerce Solutions’ Whittier distribution center opened at the end of 2020 and expanded in August. The Whittier location extended by 100,000 square feet directly next door to its current location, where international parcels and packages are being processed.
The international export gateway in Carteret will open this month. The new, permanent, 50,000-square-foot building will include a TSA cargo screening area. DHL eCommerce Solutions opened its first fully automated distribution center in Avenel, N.J., in November 2018 and will continue to process domestic shipments from this location.
DHL eCommerce Solutions currently has 19 distribution centers and three corporate offices in the United States with approximately 4,200 employees. The division is focused on servicing B2C online merchants, shipping lightweight packages and parcels domestically and internationally.