DHL opens $5 million Tampa facility to handle international e-commerce

Shipping and logistics provider DHL Express has spent $5 million to build a service center in Tampa, Fla., that will help it accelerate package processing and meet the growth of international e-commerce shipments, the company said Monday.

DHL has already relocated local operations to the 35,000-square-foot facility, twice the size of its former one, and is using its upgraded material handling equipment to process up to 2,000 pieces per hour, spanning items from small parcels to palletized freight, the firm said.

The move will allow DHL to provide earlier delivery times for customers using e-commerce and other international trade services in the Tampa Bay area, according to the company. That ability will put DHL customers such as importers and exporters in a good position to trade in the international marketplace, Chet Paul, DHL's senior vice president and general manager, southeast area, for DHL Express U.S., said in a statement.

The new Tampa building will serve both DHL customers—who can drop off shipments at the facility anytime between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the week—and the DHL trucks that will ferry shipments to and from the company's aircraft at Orlando's international airport, just over 100 miles to the east, according to DHL.

DHL said this is the company's latest investment in a facility that supports U.S. exporters and importers, following expansions or openings in Seattle; Chicago; Dallas; New York; Long Island City, N.Y.; and Irvine, Fresno, and Ontario, Calif.