DHL plans to open a new East Coast distribution facility in Allentown, PA, next year, the Plantation, FL, company said last week.
DHL expects to invest $107 million in developing the facility, which will serve as a key distribution center for its network in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions.
Planned as the principal East Coast DHL distribution center, the Allentown facility will benefit customers in Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, eastern Pennsylvania and New York as well as parts of West Virginia and Massachusetts.
The center will increase capacity, allowing for more rapid and accurate sorting of customers' materials by using state-of-the-art software and sort-system equipment. It will handle a variety of shipments, including letter-sized items and parcels as well as palletized and container freight.
The infrastructure investment in Allentown is part of a $1.2 billion North American network expansion DHL began in June 2004. As part of this program, the company has announced the location of a new West Coast distribution facility in Riverside, CA, the build out of an expanded DHL air and ground hub in Wilmington, OH, and seven new regional sort centers.
The center will replace two smaller sorting facilities in Allentown and initially employ at least 340 people when fully operational in fall 2006. Construction begins next month.
The completed center will have a base footprint of 290,000 square feet with another 200,000 square feet of mezzanine work space and 12,000 square feet of office space. By the end of 2006, 57 stations will be served by the Allentown facility, and there will be daily truck runs to 10 regional hubs nationwide.
Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
