DHL Global Forwarding is merging its Atlanta operations into a new 220,000 sq-ft facility with 18 dock doors adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. It is designed to serve as the southeastern U.S. gateway for international air freight and ocean freight services, as well as the domestic pivot for the company’s heavy freight network.
The new facility will house DHL Global Forwarding’s Atlanta-based multi-modal transportation, customs house brokerage and distribution operations. It will also be equipped with security infrastructure certified under Technology Asset Protection Assn. (TAPA) guidelines, said Rob Betzer, DHL’s district manager for Atlanta.
The company may also build a cold-chain logistics operation at the site, primary to serve the needs of the pharmaceutical industry, he added.
Betzer said the new facility combines the now-integrated operations of the former DHL Danzas Air & Ocean and Exel Freight Management. Each of these operations previously did business at separate locations in Atlanta. The new location, which will have 190,000 sq-ft of warehouse space and 30,000 sq-ft of office space, is 40,000 sq-ft larger than the two former facilities combined, he said.
“Our relocation was driven both by a need for more space … as well as the desire to have a centralized location in close proximity to the airport and the surrounding Interstate highway system,” Betzer pointed out. “Prior to the integration, the two facilities had been located 20 minutes apart from each other and it was critical that we consolidate all our Atlanta-area services under one roof to [generate] faster response times and to deliver a stronger, more geographically cohesive service.”
