Point-to-point tracking for international shipments to their final destination point within the U.S. across all modes is the latest addition to DHL’s “virtual warehouse.” The service was developed for U.S. importers to reduce or eliminate the need for costly distribution centers.
Officially known as, “Global Forwarding Consolidated Distribution Service” or simply “CDS,” DHL’s virtual warehouse is designed to help shippers reduce brokerage fees and shorten delivery times for shipments originating in Asia, Europe and Latin America having destinations in the U.S.
“The relocation of manufacturing bases worldwide has required businesses to operate on a global scale, with products moving greater distances across multiple borders,” said Bruce Grout, senior vp of CDS. “We created CDS to speed up shipments through this lengthened supply chain … so bulk shipments sent from overseas can be broken down and inducted directly into our U.S. express or global forwarding network for final delivery to the end consumer, bypassing time-consuming warehouse stops.”
Grout noted that when palletized shipments reach a DHL U.S. import gateway, they clear U.S. Customs as a bulk clearance under one Customs entry, thus lowering brokerage fees. The shipments are then broken down and inducted into DHL’s U.S. express or heavy weight delivery network, then routed to the appropriate service center for final delivery. The customer receives all inclusive, door-to-door pricing – a single invoice includes clearance charges, duties and taxes, he added.
Grout explained that the web-based tracking addition to this service now allows customers to get full visibility of their goods through the CDS service. From point of production to point of purchase, they can track shipments from a single tracking site and obtain near real time information on the status of shipments as they transfer from bulk international air or ocean line-haul shipments to smaller units within DHL’s heavy weight freight handling network.
