DB Schenker, GLS to handle parcel shipments in Germany

DB Schenker and GLS Group announced an agreement Friday to jointly provide parcel delivery services throughout Germany.

   DB Schenker and GLS Group announced an agreement Friday to jointly provide parcel delivery services for businesses, as well as e-commerce customers, throughout Germany.
   GLS, based in Amsterdam, will now deliver national parcels in Germany for the logistics affiliate of Deutsche Bahn and will handle international consignments. In return, DB Schenker will transport palletized loads for GLS’s customers. This expansion means that the two companies are now working together in the parcel segment in four countries, including Denmark, Sweden and Austria. 
   Rico Back, GLS Group’s chief executive officer, called the collaboration in Germany with DB Schenker “another milestone in the partnership between the two companies.” He also noted the companies completed the required IT interfaces for the joint service prior to its announcement.
   For DB Schenker, the deal allows it to encourage German shippers to consign all their shipments, for individual parcels to full loads, under its own brand, said Ewald Kaiser, head of land transport at Schenker AG.
   “The master agreement for the strategic partnership at the European level, which the two companies signed in September 2015, was fleshed out in a European parcel cooperation agreement in February to clear the way for the partners to finally begin collaborating in Germany. The partners are already preparing to expand their non-exclusive collaboration to other countries,” DB Schenker said.