FedEx Express has reopened its international road hub in Duiven in the Netherlands, since redeveloping it in 2021.
The new hub has been designed to increase handling capacity, provide better reliability, and improve the working environment for team members. The 24,000m2 hub sits on a 148,000m2 site and features a new sorter, which can process approximately 200,000 parcels per day. With a more than threefold increase in the overall capacity compared to the previous road hub, it also features more dock doors and improved yard operations, including new gates for quicker entry and a 20% increase in the trailer parking area. Additionally, the hub and outside areas have been designed to improve safety with a full split between employee and operational movement as well as a separate parcel and freight processing, increasing efficiency and reducing forklift movement.
The ability to move both parcel and freight in a single network is a feature of the FedEx Europe value proposition, meaning customers can ship both with a single provider and using a single interface. And a number of sustainability features and improvements to working conditions have also been integrated into the hub, such as LED technology for internal and external lighting, electric forklifts, and a new parcel sorter that produces 20% less noise.
The hub is centrally positioned within the ‘Blue Banana’, a large corridor of urbanization and economic prosperity stretching from Northwest England to Northern Italy and has connectivity to every other FedEx road hub in Europe. The new hub in Duiven is one of the 28 European road transit hubs in the FedEx European Road Network, which connects 700 stations as well as its air hubs and gateways, with a weekly total of 50,000 linehaul movements across 45 countries, using more than 5,400 trucks and trailers. The hub is one of two major road network infrastructure projects coming online in 2023; in June, FedEx will officially open a new state-of-the-art road hub in Novara in Italy.
Martin Gussinklo, senior vice president of road network for FedEx Express Europe, said, “The European Road Network is the core of our European business, offering a cost-effective and reliable service by road, and Duiven is at the heart of this proposition. We’re particularly excited that we can reopen our enhanced facility to customers in the 50th anniversary year of the FedEx company, making this a celebration of our proud heritage and the exciting future ahead.”
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