GLOBAL FORWARDING/FREIGHT

Business units and market positions

In March 2008, the LOGISTICS Division was dissolved and replaced by the new GLOBAL FORWARDING/FREIGHT Division and the new SUPPLY CHAIN/CIS Division. The business units of the division are still called Global Forwarding and Freight.

We create global transport solutions

DHL, with its Global Forwarding and Freight business units, is the world’s largest provider of air and ocean freight services and one of the leading overland freight forwarders in Europe and the Middle East. Our job as a freight forwarder is to plan and implement global transport solutions for our customers, to supply the necessary capacity and to co-ordinate the flow of goods in more than 150 countries. To do so, we rely on the competence of our around 41,000 qualified employees along with our many reliable partners.

Our business model involves us acting as a broker between the customer and the carriers. We combine demand from different customers in order to reach a volume that allows us to buy cargo space and charter capacity from airlines, shipping companies and freight carriers at competitive prices. We also make use of the air freight capacity of the EXPRESS Division. Since we purchase transport services rather than providing them ourselves, we are able to operate our business with a very low level of fixed assets.

World market leader in air and ocean freight

DHL is the world market leader in the air and ocean freight sector. Around 30,000 employees in 150 countries work to ensure that shipments of all kinds are transported to their destination by air or by sea. We also support our customers by providing special transport-related services: We store customers’ goods, collect them, deliver them, handle customs formalities and insure the load. In this way, we guarantee the safety of the goods even beyond national borders.

Our customer base consists of large-scale enterprises along with small and medium-sized businesses operating primarily in the technology, pharmaceutical, automotive, mechanical engineering and commerce sectors. We also plan and implement major logistics projects, in particular for the petroleum and energy industry and the aviation and aerospace sector.

Presence expanded in growing air freight markets

The fastest way to transport goods is by air. In the year under review, the air freight market decreased by 4% in contrast to 4% growth in the previous year. However, we continued to expand our presence in growth markets such as Asia, Africa and the Middle East, where we are the clear market leader with a share of 11.9% (2007). This figure cannot be compared with the prior year, since market volume is now reported in tonnes transported rather than in revenues as it was previously the case.

 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

 1 | 2 | 3 | 4