DHL Freight, one of the leading providers of road transport services in Europe, inaugurated a new DHL Freight terminal in the town of Erlensee, in Germany’s Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Helping to increase efficiency and service quality across DHL Freight’s European road transport network, some 260 employees will, among other things, handle less-than-container and full truck loads at the state-of-the-art site. The new transshipment facility near Frankfurt am Main includes a cross-dock terminal, a warehouse for specialty chemicals and general manufacturing goods and office space. Housed in the former air base’s listed control tower, the office space has been extensively renovated. In addition to opening the new Freight terminal, DHL Freight is deploying two electric trucks. Part of a recent partnership agreement between Volvo Trucks and DHL Freight, the vehicles will make local customer deliveries and collections with zero exhaust emission more sustainable.
“Demand for road transport and customized logistics services means we need to continually expand our network,” said Thomas Vogel, CEO DHL Freight DACH. “The new terminal in Erlensee represents an important hub in the Frankfurt am Main area. Its opening has allowed us to significantly expand capacity once more and to offer our customers better solutions and services. We are also proud to make an additional contribution to our Group’s sustainability strategy by providing modern and sustainable solutions at the site,” he explained.
The facility, which spans around 82,840 sq.m., was built in accordance with the latest construction and environmental standards derived from Deutsche Post DHL Group’s Sustainability Roadmap, which also stipulates sustainable building. The warehouse and the gatehouse buildings have green roofs covering a total of 11,300 sq.m., and energy-saving LED lighting is installed both indoors and outdoors. Working with research institutes and other businesses, DHL Freight also supports the CiLoCharging (City Logistic Charging) project, which strives to integrate and optimize charging, energy, and route management in metropolitan area logistics. To test the project’s progress to date, two electric Volvo trucks will be operating from the new Erlensee logistics center. These will be used primarily for the collection and delivery of customer goods in the Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which takes in both suburban as well as urban routes. With a payload of 16t, the vehicles are capable of covering up to 250 km on a single charge.
Developed by real estate specialist Faeth Immobilien, the new site in Erlensee (Main-Kinzig district) is conveniently situated close to the BAB 66 and 45 freeways just some 25 km from Frankfurt am Main. Around 260 employees have moved to Erlensee from DHL Freight Maintal and DHL Freight Euronet. Over the short to medium term, the number of employees on site is expected to grow to around 300. The move sees DHL Freight add additional capacity to its European groupage network and helps meet the enormously high demand for road freight transport solutions.
In addition, to a 12,000 sq.m. cross-dock terminal, the site boasts 3,800 m² of office space as well as a 10,500 sq.m. warehouse for specialty chemicals and general manufacturing goods. Partly housed in the former air base’s listed control tower at the Fliegerhorst II business park, the office space has undergone extensive refurbishment and been integrated into the new Freight terminal. The specialty chemicals warehouse complies with Germany’s Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and Ordinance on Installations Requiring a Permit (4. BImSchV). As such, it meets the highest safety standards.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held as recently as August 2021. The grand opening ceremony on June 10, 2022, was attended by Tim Scharwath, CEO DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, Uwe Brinks, CEO DHL Freight, Thomas Vogel, CEO DHL Freight Germany, Austria and Switzlerand, Goetz Hanningsmann, Site Manager DHL Freight Erlensee as well as Thorsten Stolz, District Administrator Main-Kinzig District, Sylvia Braun, Mayor of Bruchkoebel, Stefan Erb, Mayor of Erlensee and the building owner Ferdinand Faeth, Managing Director Bau- und Immobilienverwaltung Faeth.
