FedEx Express: The European Road Network is the core of our European business
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., today celebrates the reopening of its international road hub in Duiven, Netherlands, together with the 50th anniversary of the company. Transformed since 2021, the new hub will increase handling capacity, provide better reliability, and improve the working environment for team members.
A key facility within the European Road Network, Duiven is one of the largest and most technologically advanced FedEx road hubs in Europe. It is centrally positioned within the ‘Blue Banana’, a large corridor of urbanisation and economic prosperity stretching from Northwest England to Northern Italy, and has connectivity to every other FedEx road hub in Europe – placing it at the heart of the FedEx European value proposition.
The new 24,000 square metre hub sits on a 148,000 square metre site and features a new state-of-the-art sorter, the most advanced of its kind, which can process approximately 200,000 parcels per day. With an increase in overall capacity of more than three times 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 enhance safety with a full split between employee and operational movement as well as 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 unique feature of the FedEx Europe value proposition, meaning customers can ship both with a single provider and using a single interface.
“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,” said Martin Gussinklo, Senior Vice President Europe Road Network for FedEx Express. He added, “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.”
A number of sustainability features and improvements to working conditions have been integrated into the hub, such as LED technology for internal and external lighting, electric forklifts, and a new parcel sorter which produces 20% less noise.
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 (Italy), which together with Duiven gives FedEx customers access to one of the largest and fastest road networks in Europe for parcel and freight.
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 our air hubs and gateways with a weekly total of 50,000 linehaul movements across 45 countries, using more than 5,400 trucks and trailers.