DHL says that a new service, Consolidated Distribution Service, will cut brokerage fees and chop delivery times for high-volume U.S. importers. CDS is particularly useful for customers in textiles, electronics and pharmaceuticals where a single importer-of-record has multiple final delivery points within the United States, DHL says.
CDS combines the international heavyweight capabilities of DHL Danzas Air & Ocean with the DHL U.S. Express domestic network. "By linking the unique capabilities of DHL's heavyweight and express operations, we are now able to create a virtual moving warehouse in the air or over water," says Hans Toggweiler, chief executive officer of North America for DHL Danzas Air & Ocean.
The process starts by placing U.S. domestic shipping labels on packages. After arriving at a DHL Danzas Air & Ocean U.S. import gateway, the shipments clear customs as a bulk clearance under one customs entry. Shipments are then broken down and inducted into the DHL U.S. Express delivery network, where they are sorted at one of 21 hubs and regional sort centers and routed to the appropriate DHL service center for final delivery. The customer receives one invoice for the entire CDS move, including clearance charges, duties and taxes.
Visit www.dhl.com for more information on CDS.