The company said the service can shorten transit times of existing services to Seattle from 16 to 12 days.
Danmar Lines, DHL's in-house non-vessel operating common carrier, will operate the service. Less than 3 percent of DHL's LCL volumes are arranged by outside consolidators. Chinese exporters in other cities can take advantage of the service by tendering freight to nearby DHL terminals for transport via Shanghai.
LCL service allows shippers with smaller loads to move freight more cheaply by allowing a logistics provider to bundle it with shipments from other customers in a container rather than shippers buying use of an entire container that they may not be able to fill. Several other companies, including UPS and FedEx, have extensive LCL networks. Direct services do not involve any transshipment at another port.
DHL is one of the largest global providers of LCL service with almost 2 million cubic meters of LCL freight moved annually. It operates more than 30 direct LCL services between China and the United States.
