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Global courier firm DHL, battered by five years of trying to take on the giants of the US package delivery industry on their home turf, has announced it will cease deliveries between US cities and eliminate 9500 jobs.
DHL Express, which has lost more than US$6 billion since 2003 when it began to aggressively compete with UPS and FedEx in the US, will have shed more than 13,000 jobs this year.
DHL was foundedin 1969 by three entrepreneurs in San Francisco.
Today, its global headquarters is in Germany, after an acquisition by Deutsche Post in 2002.
In New Zealand, DHL has a joint venture courier business with NZ Post. Yesterday NZ Post said it was confident that arrangement would continue.
NZ Post chief executive John Allen said his company understood Deutsche Post's decision related only to the US domestic market.
"We do not expect any change in the volume of goods coming in from overseas and there is no suggestion that our joint venture courier arrangements in New Zealand and Australia will change."
After the latest cuts, DHL Express will have about 3000 to 4000 remaining employees in the US.
"This is the best path forward for our company," John Mullen, DHL's global chief executive, said in a statement.
- STAFF REPORTERS
