With courier operations continuing to boom, DPD has announced that its latest depot in Mannheim, Germany, has begun operations.
The company says that around 16,500 parcels per day will be processed there initially, however, on completion of a startup phase, it hopes the facility will be able to sort as many as 20,000 parcels a day. DPD notes that, if necessary, it will be possible for the center to process 3,500 additional parcels per day at peak times. The site’s sorting equipment was installed by Budde Fördertechnik, a long-standing partner to DPD, which says the machinery is equipped with extremely low-consumption, low-noise motors and drives.
Operations will be carried out by around 180 employees and DPD hopes the opening will provide significant relief for its depot in nearby Worms. According to the company, the Worms depot had reached the limits of its capacity, and further expansion was no longer possible. At the same time no suitable site for a new building was available in the region. As a result, DPD acquired and refitted an existing building in Mannheim, to serve both that city and those of Heidelberg and Walldorf.
Depot manager Daniel Ay believes that the Mannheim location, apart from relieving the pressure on its existing facilities, also offers further advantages. “By moving to Mannheim we are crossing the Rhine, which is a natural border. Until now drivers had to cross the river every morning – with a limited number of road bridges. We now save a lot of time because we’re 35km and therefore about half an hour closer to the delivery area, which also cuts down on travel distances and CO<span style=”font-size: 50%; vertical-align: sub;”>2 </span> emissions.“ In addition, the depot is in an ideal location with the motorway just 10 minutes away and the city of Mannheim and the adjacent Rhine-Neckar region are easily accessible.”
This close proximity to various metropolitan regions also offers an opportunity for DPD to expand its electrically powered vehicle fleet. In summing up these advantages Ay stated, “We see enormous potential in terms of converting our vehicles to environmentally friendly delivery, which we are already implementing in the form of cargo bikes in Heidelberg, for example. But it’s not only the surrounding cities that are suitable for such a delivery service. Some peripheral areas are also potentially suitable for delivery by electronically operated vehicles.”