Business View Caribbean | May 2016

44 May 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - May 2016 45 DHL Jamaica Specialists in international shipments Like many big companies, DHL Express, the worldwide shipping company, began with one person who had a very good idea. When Larry Hillblom was a young law student at the University of California, he earned some extra money by running courier trips between San Francisco and Los Angeles, picking up packages for the last flight of the day, and returning on the first flight the next morning. In 1969, Hillblom expanded his courier business when the Matson Navigation Company, a cargo company with container ships traversing the Pacific between the west coast and Hawaii, needed a way to transport its bills of lading faster than could be accomplished by the U.S. Postal Service. Hillblom’s plan was to pur- chase airline tickets for passengers who could take these shipping documents along with their luggage, and get them to Matson’s customers in Hawaii in time to receive their freight when the ships arrived. When other companies in Hawaii heard about this nov- el way to deliver time-sensitive documents, Hillblom was off and running. With two friends, Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, whose initials formed the company name, DHL, he soon transformed his firm into an inter- national delivery company and the first to offer over- night service to its global customers. Today, DHL has a presence in over 220 countries and territories, making it the most international company in the world. The Jamaica office of DHL was started in 1988 with two employees. Its current General Manager, Donovan James, says that since Jamaica is one of the biggest countries in the Caribbean region, it made sense for DHL to make it a main location for its air and freight services. DHL Jamaica is a fully-owned subsidiary of the parent company, which in turn is owned by the Ger- man company, Deutsche Post. DHL Jamaica now has 92 employees and a fleet of 20 vehicles. Along with some of its retail partners, such as Western Union, who are licensed agents, DHL has about 58 points on the island at which its customers can pick up and drop off their shipments. “We service all industries,” says James; “man- ufacturing, tourism, agriculture, small and me- dium enterprises, almost anybody who wants to ship internationally. It’s mainly a business- to-business model. However, in recent times, we’ve actually seen a lot of B2C, business-to- customer, on the residential side; we’re see- ing an explosion in that, especially with ecom- merce, primarily driving that.” Principally an international company, Donovan adds that in some specific instances, it will transport do- mestic freight, like it does for the U.S. government, when handling its visa deliveries throughout the island. James says that the Jamaican landscape is competi- tive; there’s FedEx and UPS, as well as the commercial airlines and other freight transporters. Even so, DHL Jamaica has captured about 51 percent of the local market. “People are finding more and more cost-effec- tive ways to send shipments internationally,” James explains. “So you’ll find that these other carriers – the AT A GLANCE WHO: DHL Jamaica WHAT: A subsidiary of the worldwide shipping company WHERE: Kingston, Jamaica WEBSITE : www.dhl.com.jm