Industry sources are reporting to PARCEL that DHL Express will end domestic ground service by the end of November this year and end domestic air service by February 1, 2009. Our efforts to get a confirmation or denial from DHL Express or its parent company, Deutsch Post, got this response from Jonathan Baker, DHL Express Corporate Communications, "We are continuing with our restructuring efforts, but as you know we cannot respond to rumor or speculation."

As of yesterday, UPS stated that it was still in negotiations with DHL Express on the package hauling agreement but indicated that the agreement may be revised in light of less DHL volume. UPS executives indicated that they hoped negotiations would be completed by the end of the year.

DHL Global Mail is not affected by these developments and will continue to provide service as usual.

We will continue to follow developments closely and inform you as soon as we hear of anything further. If you are a DHL Express shipper, it would be prudent to have a "plan B" in place.

Sincerely,
Dan O'Rourke
Editor
PARCEL
mailto:dan.o@rbpub.com - dan.o@rbpub.com