As an international hub for trade and logistics, the Benelux plays an important role in the field of transport. DPD has therefore invested more than 250 million euros in the expansion and improvement of the hubs and depots in the Benelux. This results in a significant increase in capacity to 750,000 packages per day. DPD also continues to invest in the growth of the number of European network connections from the Benelux with higher delivery reliability. With this, DPD strengthens its position as market leader in international parcel transport by road and the organization responds to changing customer needs.
DPD’s 3 sorting hubs in the Benelux – the logistics centers where parcels are collected and sorted – are located in Eindhoven, Veenendaal and Brussels. Despite the fact that these centers in Eindhoven and Brussels were opened recently and Veenendaal was completely modernized this year, DPD continues to invest in these locations. For example, DPD has introduced state-of-the-art artificial intelligence for parcel recognition, which ensures faster and more accurate work.
Expansion of the international DPD network
DPD, part of Geopost, is the market leader in road parcel transport in Europe. The modern hubs in the Benelux are part of the unique international Geopost network with its own operations in 21 European countries, giving DPD customers one reliable partner from pick-up to delivery.
Erik Uljee, CEO DPD Netherlands: “By investing in our sorting locations but also in new depots in Amsterdam, Brussels, Goes and Maastricht, our network has been expanded to 3 hubs and 20 depots in the Benelux. We are proud of this position and keep moving. We have therefore worked hard throughout the Benelux to increase sorting capacity and connections with Europe and the rest of the world. This leads to reliable delivery times to more destinations.”
Richard de Haas, CEO DPD Belux: “From the Benelux, next working day delivery to a large part of Europe is already standard within a range of approximately 700 kilometers from the Benelux. We also see that due to the current economic conditions, customer demand is increasing for predictable and cheaper shipping within Europe compared to traditional express transport.”
The updated 3 hub strategy enables DPD to coordinate deliveries within the Benelux even more efficiently. This allows DPD to offer a reliable door-to-door service to customers in the Benelux. In the depots it is now possible to sort by packages that are delivered or collected from the DPD parcel shops and lockers. This means DPD is able to respond well to the increasing demand in the market for flexible delivery options. The investments give DPD customers the opportunity to deliver parcels faster with more options for parcel recipients; both in the Benelux and in Europe, where Geopost has the largest network of parcel shops and lockers in the market, with more than 100,000 locations.
Sustainability impact
DPD’s mission is to be climate neutral by 2040 and to further reduce its carbon footprint every year. This is 10 years earlier than it should be according to the climate agreement. These plans have been approved by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). Part of the investments has included providing both the hubs and depots with charging infrastructure for the fleet of electric vehicles that will continue to be expanded in the coming years.