DPD to invest £200m in UK expansion

DPD UK

DPD has seen a surge in demand for courier services since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. It has responded to this by announcing its intention to invest £200m this year on expanding its next-day parcel capacity, with half of the sum going toward new vehicles. The company is adding an extra order of 100 Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units to its original 2020 requirement of 50 units. It has said that all vehicles will be 4×2 variants with Active Drive Assist technology. Since late last year, it has been running 25 new-generation Actros vehicles featuring the first Level 2 autonomous driving system to enter series production.

Even before lockdown restrictions were announced in March, the UK public’s increasing reliance on online shopping had resulted in soaring demand for DPD’s services, a trend it says shows no sign of slowing, as established online retail customers experience a sales boom and new customers develop their own online propositions. 

The company explained it operates a ‘line haul’ fleet of approximately 1,150 tractor units, which pull double- and single-deck semi-trailers between four hubs in the West Midlands – a fifth is scheduled to open in Hinckley before the end of the year – as well as its network of depots and customer locations.

Source: Parcel and Postal Technology International