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DHL rotates leaders at forwarding, supply chain divisions

Logistics giant also makes changes in European trucking unit

Eric Kulisch
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DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer delivers a speech at the company’s annual general meeting on May 2. (Photo: DHL)
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Key Takeaways:

  • DHL Group announced several leadership changes, including Oscar de Bok becoming CEO of DHL Global Forwarding and Hendrik Venter succeeding him at DHL Supply Chain.
  • Tim Scharwath, former CEO of DHL Supply Chain, is retiring after modernizing the division's IT and improving customer service.
  • Markus Voss was appointed CEO of DHL Freight, focusing on digitizing customer services.
  • A new European Transportation Board was created to improve collaboration and efficiency across DHL's land transport divisions.
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DHL Group executives have been playing a game of musical chairs in the past month. On Tuesday, the parent company’s board announced the transfer of Oscar de Bok, the chief executive officer of DHL Supply Chain, to head DHL Global Forwarding. He will succeed Tim Scharwath, who will retire from the company.

Hendrik Venter, currently responsible for Supply Chain in mainland Europe, Middle East and Africa will move up to lead the Supply Chain division. The leadership changes take effect on Aug. 16.

Management credited Scharwath with modernizing Supply Chain’s IT infrastructure, accelerating digitalization, and improving customer service. 

Deutsche Post AG is the legal entity that does logistics business worldwide as DHL Group. Post and Parcel is a separate unit that provides national mail service in Germany.

De Bok joined DHL Group in 1999 and was managing director of DHL Supply Chain for several countries and regions, including Italy, the Nordics, and Asia. He was named CEO of DHL Supply Chain in October 2019. De Bok will lead Global Forwarding, Freight until August 2030.

Venter has more than 15 years of management experience at DHL Supply Chain. 

Last week, DHL named Markus Voss to succeed Uwe Brinks as CEO of DHL Freight, effective Sept. 1. Voss currently is chief development officer at DHL Supply Chain. He will report to de Bok. One of his top agenda items will be to digitize more customer-facing products and services. Brinks built up DHL’s road freight business for nearly nine years. 

DHL also said it established a European Transportation Board to enhance cross-divisional collaboration in land transport among DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Freight, and DHL Supply Chain. The initiative aims to deliver more integrated and efficient solutions for customers while unlocking further business growth opportunities. 

Earlier this month, DHL named a new CEO for Forwarding in the United States, as well as a new leader for DHL eCommerce Americas. And in June, DHL promoted Mark Kunar to CEO of DHL Supply Chain North America  


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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Parcel and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com