DHL has recently expanded its operations in New York City to support international trade growth from area customers and the continual rise of international e-commerce.

“Keeping pace with the speed of global trade growth in New York City – and making meaningful investments to support it – is essential in helping importers and exporters expand beyond their borders,” said Greg Hewitt, CEO of DHL Express U.S. “We saw two locations where we could really address a need for customers, and we’ve invested more than $13 million in making these facilities state of the art.”

DHL invested more than $10 million in a new service center in Long Island City, in Queens, a 47,000-square-foot facility that can process more than 3,000 packages an hour. Customers in Queens, the facility’s major service area, will enjoy earlier deliveries and later pickup cutoff times, along with a convenient location for direct drop-off or pickup of packages. The facility also enables DHL to better serve residential areas in upper Manhattan, northern Brooklyn and the South Bronx.  It employs more than 50 people, and will soon introduce new, fully electric and hybrid-electric vehicles and forklifts with charging stations.

The new foot courier facility situated in Manhattan’s Midtown East, offers green courier service by foot rather than in vehicles. It’s the second DHL facility to offer this; there’s also one in Lower Manhattan.

The new facility provides local pickups and deliveries for businesses in densely populated Midtown, along with a new convenient location for drop-offs. Its 22 couriers handle small flier packs and documents for customers from 59th Street south to 23rd Street, and from the East River west to Fifth Avenue.

Both facilities support the new Deutsche Post DHL initiative to reduce all logistics-related emissions to net zero by 2050. This includes an interim goal to operate 70 percent of its own first- and last-mile services with clean pickup and delivery solutions, such as by bike, foot, and electric vehicle.

“Delivery services that use alternative fuel vehicles or foot power are important steps in reducing our overall carbon footprint as we continue expanding our portfolio of green products and services to help customers achieve their own climate-protection objectives,” said Hewitt.

Both facilities have earned certification from the Transport and Asset Protection Association (TAPA), an international organization dedicated to eradicating cargo crime.

Other DHL locations in the New York area include the DHL Express JFK gateway, which serves as a key connection between the eastern United States and the rest of the world; service centers in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Hauppauge, and Springfield Gardens, as well as the smaller foot courier facility in Lower Manhattan.