DHL Commits Professional Disaster Relief Resources to the Americas Region
in Partnership with UN System
PLANTATION, Fla., May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- DHL, the world's leading
express delivery and logistics company, today announced the launch of the
DHL Disaster Response Team (DRT) Americas. Based out of the DHL Americas
Corporate Headquarters in South Florida, the DRT Americas will provide
logistical support to ensure that relief goods will quickly reach victims
of major sudden-onset natural disasters, primarily in Latin America and the
Caribbean, but also in northern South America and the southern United
States, as needed.
The DHL Disaster Response Team applies its professional knowledge of
logistics and transportation to help governments organize the handling,
warehousing and loading of relief goods for onward transportation in an
efficient manner, ultimately reducing bottlenecks at the airport close to
the scene of a major sudden-onset natural disaster.
"By setting up the DRT Americas we are making a significant
contribution to preparing for the upcoming hurricane season and to support
relief efforts in the case of a natural disaster anywhere in the region,"
said John Mullen, Chief Executive Officer for DHL Express Americas. "We are
committed to sharing our core competence in logistics and transportation as
well as our expert manpower to support disaster relief efforts, not only in
our South Florida home but where we are needed most in the Americas."
DHL has considerable experience in direct disaster management
worldwide. DHL employees were actively engaged in providing humanitarian
assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the United States in
the summer of 2005, after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and in the
aftermath of last year's South Asian earthquake in Pakistan and India.
The DHL DRT Americas has been established as part of a worldwide
network of Disaster Response Teams to support the UN and the international
community's humanitarian relief efforts. The DRTs are the first initiative
to result from a strategic partnership between DHL and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the area of disaster
management. In April, DHL inaugurated the DRT Asia Pacific which will
provide coverage in disaster situations throughout that region.
"The DHL Disaster Response Teams show how valuable the support from
companies can be for supplementing the existing disaster management
system," said United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) representative Carlos Monteiro-Pereira.
The DRT Americas draws on a pool of approximately 80 trained DHL
employees, who, in addition to their normal jobs at DHL, have volunteered
to take part in humanitarian missions with the DRT. Disaster Response Teams
include experts in cargo handling, warehouse management, inventory control,
customs clearance, road operations, communications, safety, security and
other areas. The teams will normally be deployed for a period of up to
three weeks following a major sudden-onset natural disaster. By that point
in time, the initial surge of international charter aircraft bringing aid
supplies has normally decreased to a more manageable level.
The DHL Disaster Response Teams' services are provided as an in-kind
donation. In addition to the existing work in the field of disaster
response, the strategic partnership between DHL and the UN System will also
cover other areas of disaster management such as disaster preparedness.
About DHL
At DHL, Customer Service is back in shipping. Our mission is to provide
the most flexible, personable and enjoyable experience in the shipping
industry for our customers.
DHL is the global market leader of the international express and
logistics industry, specializing in providing innovative and customized
solutions from a single source. DHL offers expertise in express, air and
ocean freight, overland transport, and contract logistic solutions as well
as international mail services, combined with worldwide coverage and an
in-depth understanding of local markets. DHL's international network links
more than 220 countries and territories worldwide with over 285,000
employees dedicated to providing fast and reliable services that exceed
customers' expectations.
Founded in San Francisco in 1969, DHL is a Deutsche Post World Net
brand.
For more information on DHL, please visit http://www.dhl.com.
SOURCE DHL
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Related links:
http://www.dhl.com
CONTACT:
Jonathan Baker, Director, Corporate
Communications of DHL Americas, +1-954-888-7114,
jonathan.baker@dhl.com
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